Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders find themselves locked in a quarterback competition with Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. For what it’s worth, Deshaun Watson is also still on the team, although he’s out of the running by default due to injury.
If one goes by pure NFL reputation and draft order, Sanders will get his shot after Gabriel, as Gabriel was drafted earlier. Not so fast, one former Philadelphia Eagles legend has gone on record saying.
Dillon Gabriel Is ‘Not Better’ Than Shedeur, LeSean McCoy Claims
Speaking on the May 20 edition of “The Facility,” NFL analyst LeSean McCoy declared that Sanders was better than Gabriel with emphasis.
.@CutOnDime25 expects Shedeur Sanders to start sooner with the Browns giving all QBs an equal shot:
"You drafted a 1st round QB in the 5th round to teach him a lesson and it backfired." pic.twitter.com/eBOBWFRDQm
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1)
“You drafted a first-round quarterback in the fifth round. That’s the truth of it. You tried to teach him a lesson, now it backfired.” (0:12)
“We know he’s not better than Shedeur,” McCoy said. “We know, the team knows, the player knows. We know that Shedeur is gonna pass him real quick, right? But we got to do the steps, so let’s get Gabriel out the way, because… we’re not going to talk about him like we did before the draft.”
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While there’s plenty of time on the calendar for Gabriel to reverse McCoy’s claims, there is much less time on the football calendar. With only so many practices and three preseason games to work with, Gabriel will have to move fast, taking advantage of every practice rep.
Comparing Gabriel and Sanders’ College Careers
Both Sanders and Gabriel had their selling points heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. However, one could poke holes in both players’ resumes. However, how did the two stack up?
Gabriel spent time with three different college programs, which could be seen by some as a red flag. However, he produced at almost the same level through the air as Sanders’ best season in arguably five separate seasons, throwing for at least 29 touchdowns in four of them.
Sanders, meanwhile, had two impressive seasons in the FBS, tallying 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in that time. However, while Sanders logged the all-time record for career completion percentage per Sports Reference, Gabriel was able to respond by earning the career record for touchdown passes.
Of course, detractors can poke holes in Sanders and Gabriel’s record-setting numbers, as it took Gabriel six seasons of action to set the record. Sanders also played just two seasons, which removed much of the risk of seeing his record-setting completion percentage dip.
Will Sanders, Gabriel, or one of the veterans rise to the occasion in the Cleveland Browns quarterback room?
I saw Shedeur Sanders games at Colorado I wasn’t impressed because Shedeur Sanders threw the ball mostly to Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders father Deion Sanders handed everything to him on a silver plater so now Shedeur Sanders is in the N.F.L. and he will have to work and earn a position on the Cleveland Browns roster so Shedeur Sanders shuold let his game do the talking and speak less