The Cleveland Browns have some hard decisions to make at quarterback.
The Browns named veteran Deshaun Watson their Week 1 starter, with 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders as the backup. But 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and 2026 sixth-round pick Taylen Green showed out in the final preseason game.
Head coach Todd Monken said after the game on Thursday that both players played as he expected, despite a lack of reps in practice.
“[I’m] really proud of our guys,” he said. “It has been an honor to work with these guys every day, and we’re at that point of the year where we can’t keep everybody, and a lot of guys have made it hard on us … couldn’t ask for more from a group of guys. So it was fun to watch those guys compete.”
The two quarterbacks shone in their own way in the Browns’ 37–13 win over the New England Patriots Thursday night. Gabriel completed 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. He added four rushes for three yards.
“It’s great for him,” Monken said of his performance.
“I know it’s been hard. I mean, let’s be real about it. He’s a prideful guy. He’s had a lot of success in his career, and all he does is prepare. That’s all he does—come to work every day, prepare like a pro. You can see he can really operate. I mean, he gets it. He gets what we want to do. He has a certain confidence about him when he takes the field. And I’m fired up.”
Gabriel was drafted by the Browns out of Oregon with the 94th overall pick in the 2025 Draft. He was originally listed as the backup to veteran Joe Flacco to begin the season, but he eventually took the starting spot, and the Browns traded Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Gabriel went 1–5 as the starter, completing 110 of 185 passes for 937 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions; he rushed 14 times for 86 yards. After missing time with a concussion, he lost his spot to Sanders.
Green went five of seven passing for 27 yards; he was the team’s leading rusher with eight carries for 66 yards, including an impressive 30-yard run where he scrambled away from pressure deep in his own end zone and broke free on the backside of the play.
“[I] told you somewhere there was going to be a 20-yard play,” said Monken.
“I didn’t know how. I didn’t expect to be backed up, almost get a safety. That’s what he is, just a tremendous athlete that’s highly intelligent. You saw it. There’s a lot to work with there. We’ve just got to refine it. I’m happy for him that he got a chance to play. He doesn’t get a ton of reps; he just doesn’t. It’s not all his fault. We can’t rep everybody. It’s just the way it goes.”
Green was selected out of Arkansas with the 182nd pick in this year’s Draft. Green is an exceptional athlete, standing 6-foot-6, running a 4.36-second 40-yard dash, and jumping 43.5 inches in the vertical and 11 feet 2 inches in the broad jump.
Monken said he hopes to keep developing both young QBs.
“That’s why we played both of them, right?” he said.
“To try and help us a little bit in terms of where we’re at from a roster standpoint. So, we’ve got a lot to talk about because I thought they both did some really good things.
“I really think the way they played was how I thought they’d play, right? Dillon really within himself, very poised, and then Taylen was going to have some splash plays, some plays where you get him on the perimeter and he uses his athleticism as you keep working to refine his throwing ability—not throwing, but his passing,” Monken added.
“So again, it was fun to watch him play, but just like every position, we’re going to have to cut it down. We can’t keep everybody.”
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