Shedeur Sanders’ fall in the 2025 NFL Draft will be talked about for years. Teams will either have to admit they made a huge mistake, or that everyone was right to “take him off their draft boards.” The 23-year-old rookie is set to compete for a roster spot and is even aiming to try to compete for the starting job.
However, it may not be getting off to the best start.
Breaking: Shedeur Sanders Just Got Horrible News From The Cleveland Browns
At rookie minicamp over the weekend, the Cleveland Browns got a look at the team’s new quarterback depth:
While initial reports indicated that Sanders was far superior to Gabriel, it turns out that may not have been the case.
Despite Gabriel being taken higher in the 2025 NFL Draft, Browns’ beat writer Zac Jackson recently discussed how the two quarterbacks look against each other and stated Sanders has looked better throughout the rookie minicamps.
“In just throwing the ball, it’s not close — [it’s] Shedeur Sanders,” Jackson said in regards to the battle between Gabriel and Sanders.
“This is rookie minicamp. No pads, no full-speed competition, nobody coming to knock your head off. They go both pick up a ball and throw it; it’s no question.”
On the other hand, Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland and The Land on Demand made his case for Gabriel.
“I thought, [on] both days, Dillon Gabriel looked a little bit better,” Grossi said.
“He throws a tight spiral, he throws a beautiful ball, he’s very assertive. He knows the pocket. You could tell that even though they’re not rushing. He just has a pocket presence.”
While many believe Sanders has the upper hand through the rookie minicamp, he still has to compete against two veteran quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett.
Both Gabriel and Sanders spoke with media members over the weekend, and reporters asked each young QB questions about the other.
“Yeah, I love it. You know, I love it because of who it is,” Gabriel said.
“I think just for us both, you can learn from one another. But also, it’s not just us two in the room. At least for right now, it is, but going into the year, Kenny [Pickett], Joe [Flacco], and even Deshaun [Watson] — just a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball that we can all learn from one another.”
Sanders also faced questions about Gabriel.
“Cool. Yeah, even normal,” Sanders said of his early interactions with Gabriel.
“He’s a real cool guy overall. You could tell he always have a great mood. He’s always in a good mood. I only been around two days though, but he always has a great mood. But overall, I could tell he’s a pretty good person.”
Here is a look at Gabriel’s college stats:
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2019 | UCF | 13 | 12 | 9–3 | 236 | 398 | 59.3 | 3,653 | 9.2 | 29 | 7 | 156.9 | 71 | 78 | 1.1 | 4 | |
| 2020 | UCF | 10 | 10 | 6–4 | 248 | 413 | 60.0 | 3,570 | 8.6 | 32 | 4 | 156.3 | 72 | 169 | 2.3 | 2 | |
| 2021 | UCF | 3 | 3 | 2–1 | 70 | 102 | 68.6 | 814 | 8.0 | 9 | 3 | 159.2 | 24 | 125 | 5.2 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Oklahoma | 12 | 12 | 6–6 | 230 | 367 | 62.7 | 3,168 | 8.6 | 25 | 6 | 154.4 | 89 | 315 | 3.5 | 6 | |
| 2023 | Oklahoma | 12 | 12 | 10–2 | 266 | 384 | 69.3 | 3,660 | 9.5 | 30 | 6 | 172.0 | 93 | 373 | 4.0 | 12 | |
| 2024 | Oregon | 14 | 14 | 13–1 | 326 | 447 | 72.9 | 3,857 | 8.6 | 30 | 6 | 164.9 | 75 | 149 | 2.0 | 7 | |
| Career | 64 | 63 | 46–17 | 1,376 | 2,111 | 65.2 | 18,722 | 8.9 | 155 | 32 | 160.9 | 424 | 1,209 | 2.9 | 33 | ||
For All NFL And College Football Content:
Follow me on X (formerly Twitter) at @mcquadewarnold. Also, do not forget to follow us at On Twitter for even more great football content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in the world of the NFL – especially with all the trade rumors swirling around and free agency news – college football, and more, click here!
