Can the Browns make a TRUE EVALUATION of Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel in less than 6 starts?

Can the Browns make a TRUE EVALUATION of Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel in less than 6 starts?

Yes, so we have discussed at nauseam the Shadoor Sanders, Dylan Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, quarterback conundrum that the Browns are currently facing, and we’ve talked at length who we think will start X amount of games. How many will Shaddoor start? How many will Dylan start? So I asked you guys on Monday, this is good producing on my end, what you guys thought was the most games any of the rookie quarterbacks, either Shaddoor or Dylan could play this season for the Cleveland Browns. You guys all gave me different answers, so I took the average, which came down to 66 games, right? So what I did. I took a plethora of quarterbacks over the last 2 decades or so words smorgasbord in the pre-show meeting plethora here and took the stats from the 1st 6 games that they started in their NFL career. So I wanted to see, is it fair to make an evaluation determination on whether or not a quarterback could be or could be yours. So I think we already know the answer to that, but this is fun I I will show you. OK. So I’ll show you their stats from their first starts and you gotta tell me, yeah, I would commit to that long term or I need more information. OK, there’s a bunch of these. We know the answer to. There’s a bunch of them. We’ll run through some, and then we’ll discuss and then we’ll run through some more. So we’ll run through a couple of these quick. Steve, let’s see the first blind resume here. Would you guys commit long term to a quarterback? That in his first six starts went 2 and 4, completed 58.3% of his passes, threw for just shy of 1500 yards, 8 touchdowns to 6 picks with a quarterback rating of 78. — I’m
— ignoring the records. I’m not looking at records are meaningless. Uh, let’s see, you said 6 games. When you say commit long term, — I
— mean that’s I don’t know what, by the way, it depends on the error, right, because, you know, years ago, 58% is not terrible. The last 20 years, maybe a little. I mean, enough that I’d want to see more. I wouldn’t give up on a guy with those numbers. — Are you
— so let me get this right. Are you asking us, will we take this quarterback or we use the first round pick next year on a quarterback? Is that, yeah, that’s a good way to put it if this was the resume for Gabriel, would you feel confident entering 2026 with that guy and these numbers? Confident? No, how could you? I wouldn’t be confident. I this is like because I don’t, I need to see what it looked like, like alright, he’s 58%. I set up this game. — It’s a lot of things that go
— here’s the thing to me, the biggest factor. Or one of the big factors on whether the Browns will take a quarterback in the first round next year has more to do with who’s available than how these guys played most likely because most likely neither one of them will be able to have the time to do enough that would make us certain to stick with them most likely. I think so. Depends on did they play well enough to the guy we can take is, — is not
— that’s I think with this whole exercise is gonna show us 6 games isn’t a big enough sta to to answer your question, yes or no, to play your game, I would, I would stick with them. — I
— think the best thing to do, Mike, in my opinion, is hard to change your game is say. Stick, want to see more or move on. OK, well, one of them is want to see more. Well, but whatever. I mean, — so
— then you can’t juxtapose it against taking a first quarterback with the first round pick, yeah, because sure I look at those numbers and say I want to see more. Right, but if there’s a quarterback at the top of the next draft that, — oh
— man, that’s really good. You, you broke your glass. I did. Take out the wanna see more. It’s either yes or no. No, I’m not sticking with this guy. No, I, — I’ll stick with
— him. Jason. He’s dealing with his glasses. Alright, let’s see who this quarterback is, Steve. This quarterback is Baker Mayfield first starts again that that’s a good one because with Baker. It depends who the quarterback is, right? Because in the draft to me, there is a line of quarterbacks where I, I think I can win. A championship with this quarterback. And in my opinion. He’s below the line, just below the line. I think he’s near the top below the line. Like maybe if everything was perfect around him, maybe that’s good anyway, next one, Steve, let’s see the next blind resume. This next quarterback also went 2 and 4, completed 62 points. 3% of his passes, threw for 1,449 yards, 10 touchdowns to seven picks, and a quarterback rating of 84.4. I mean, that’s much better than that much different than the other one, but a little better. I probably will stick with this guy. Stick for bow, stick for Tyvis, Jason. You’re telling me I have to pick that or take a quarterback in the first round. Yeah, it’s, it’s that’s the question. It’s a rough. The question I’m, my answer is probably gonna be take a quarterback in the first round. It’s probably the right one because 6 games is enough, but go ahead. I’m gonna say take a quarterback in the first round. So Jason’s not sticking Bull and Davis are sticking. This quarterback was. Daniel Jones. Oh, I made the right decision. Nice. I should have known it was gonna be a because Baker was first, I should have known it was going to be a bum quarterback after that. All right, next up, Steve, blind resume this quarterback’s career, he went 15 5.8% completion percentage, 1,364 yards, 6 touchdowns, 14. There’s no way you can be confident. — I’m
— sticking with it because that’s Josh Allen. It is Josh. Josh Allen’s on this list. I tell you what it is. I think I know who it is. — I think it’s Jared
— G.s on this list. It is not. It is Peyton Manning. — I knew it was gonna be like
— some stud. Alright, next up then next blind resume. This quarterback by the way, Peyton Manning’s numbers were turned out to be. — This quarterbacks 54 8.4%
— quarterback. I’m not I’m sticking with him. Drew Brees, 3 no sticks. Sometimes the 1st 6 games are a good representation of the quarterback because this quarterback was. Johnny Football. Oh wow, I can’t believe it was even that. You’re more than interception. I agree. I thought those numbers would be worse than that. I mean, the passing, the percentage is, is, but he was that first game against the Bengals. He was, that was as bad as I’ve ever seen a quarterback play. — Can I introduce you to Dorian Thompson
— right now? No, he wasn’t that bad. I mean, come on in his career has 1 touchdown, 10 picks. All right, That’s a shame. Mike, did you watch, did you watch that game when Johnny Manziel? I don’t, not, not what was worse, Johnny Manziel, — that was so long ago that was the
— worst. The only thing I remember about Manziel is throwing the ball over his head backwards. I remember that. — I do remember that the
— Bengals went in that game. They wanted to humiliate him. Whoever they, I remember that like they were just, and they weren’t that, you know, I don’t know. — He he was the worst
— ever. Alright, next up, resume here. This next quarterback did not win a game in his first starts. Josh Allen, are both incorrect. Allen didn’t throw that many more interceptions than picks at the start. — We’ll get to
— Josh Allen. He is on this. — This is
— absolutely horrendous. — Is
— that Troy A is not are all more recent than Troy Aikman. Horrendous. I mean, — obviously
— you wouldn’t stick with that. So you guys wouldn’t stick with that because you didn’t stick with that, you would have missed out on two Super Bowl rings because this is Eli Manning, — who
— was awful and the most maybe the most overrated quarterback in the history of the sport. — I agree
— mouth, next up. What would you do with this next quarterback? Good numbers. — He went 2 and 4 through 65.5%
— is not at all, — but I’m definitely sticking with
— you stick with it with those numbers, but there’s no chance he’s a good player. — Is
— that, uh, got off to a bad start. Did he? Oh yeah, he was with the Rams. They weren’t good that year. I remember that was the quarterback. He had the greatest in the history of the NFL he threw 5 touchdowns, and had a legitimately quarterback rating. Robert Griffin, he played well, no, he played a quarterback, not Robert Griffin. This quarterback Steve. Marcus Mariota, wow. Oh my God. Well, he was a top pick. I mean, — he
— was. He was, — he was OK his first couple of years
— he said he went to Tennessee, right? Yeah. Yeah, and he beat Jameis Winston in his first game and he had 5 touchdowns and a 158.3 quarterback all downhill from there. — Next up in our blind
— resume this quarterback 1 and 5, — 5.5% passing 18
— that’s Josh Allen. It’s not Josh Allen. I swear to you Josh Allen before Josh Allen. Uh, the yardage is actually good, but probably because they were Josh Freeman. No. This quarterback actually in his first two games at the end I’m not sure if it still stands, but it’s actually just trying to guess who the — guys are totally destroyed for
— a rookie quarterback in his first two games for a guy who coming out of college was not known for throwing the football. Justin Tim Tebow, number one overall pick. What? Wasn’t known for throwing the football and he was the number one overall pick. Steve, who it is. Kyler Murray. Damn. Cam Newton. All right, we keep it going. Next up, Steve, blind resume. This quarterback did go 4 and 2. 10 touchdowns to just 4 picks and 91.4 quarterback rating, 63.2% completion percentage. 12 yards. — That’s I’m just playing I definitely with that
— one. That’s um. Was this a first round pick? This guy actually was not a first round pick. Oh Jalen Hurts. That’s what I was thinking. Russell Wilson, Dack. This is Dakota Prescott, the goat. Oh. Alright, next up, we’re gonna keep rolling. I got a bunch of these. This quarterback 3 and 3, 53.8% completion percentage 18 yards, definitely taking Arch Manning in the first round. So that means Tys, you would take Arch Manning over let’s guess. Josh Allen. Yeah By the way, I got a clue. Mike started to say that’s because you would take Arch Manning. Oh, what’s he, the way you said that, I knew it had to be somebody good. Thank God we got here. I did this show that 6 games is not enough to evaluate. I think it gives the end goal of this is what I was trying to get to. This next quarterback, 2 and 4, completed 71% of his passes, almost 1500 yards, 7 touchdowns, 6 picks, a quarterback rating just shy of 90. Joe Burrow. No, it’s not borough. Oh, Justin Herbert. Nope. be good enough for you? I know we’re. Yeah, I don’t like the touchdowns ratio, but I’d like to see more, but I’d probably take another quarterback. I’m taking another quarterback. Taking a quarterback would be right if you followed this guy’s career because this guy is. Matt Jones. At first I thought it was Trevor Lawrence and I was like, yeah, when he came out of college, he was very accurate. — He kept that up in the
— league. I mean, his rookie year was great. We kept saying to my God, did it again. Yeah, — they
— went to the playoffs, right? Yeah, and they, they, they smoked the Browns. I don’t know I don’t think he he was OK. when Miles said that we didn’t make any adjustments defensively. No, I thought that was Bailey Bailey. No, it was a game up in Foxborough. Bailey Zapy beat him here. Go double check me on that. — I’m almost positive
— you know. By a lot of teams. I was, I was, you might be right because I was in the hospital that day. 45, you’re right. Yeah, my daughter 3 touchdowns. There you go. I watched that game. — I watched that game
— in the hospital. Zay beat them up there, Max. How many yards did Mac Jones for? In that game, 198. That’s it. That’s 3 touchdowns. That’s probably the only game in his career he threw 3 touchdowns, no. They beat Jacksonville 50 to 10 later that season. He had 3 touchdowns, no picks. Look at that twice. All right, next up. Steve, this quarterback. — I don’t know where he
— is now 52% completion percentage, 65 yards, 3 touchdowns to 11 picks and a 50. It’s not. I know he got off to a bad start. — Joe Burrow was not that
— could be that horrendous. — This is a 1st round
— pick. — 2nd round
— pick. It’s got to be somebody here. 2nd round pick. — 2nd
— round pick. Bull says it’s got to be good. I wouldn’t have put him on here if he was. That bad, would I? No, you would. I mean, you put the. Oh no, — I did sucked and
— sucked for his career. So sometimes the 6 games is enough. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it is not that he was ever going to be good, but in fairness to Dean Kaiser, he had no business playing that year and, and, and that and they just. They just put them out there. They had nobody else to play. I don’t. Alright, next up, Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan. — This next
— quarterback was a number one overall pick, #1 overall ball in his first starts 4, 59. 14, 5.7 ratings. No, you said Joe Burrow, — it’s Joe
— Burrow. It’s not Burrow. Kyler Murray. Oh yeah, Burrow wouldn’t had 7 interceptions. Kyler Murray, — not Kyler
— first overall pick, pick, huh? Could it be Carson Wentz. He wasn’t the first. Jared Goff was. That’s right. Is it Jerry Goff? Yes. No, no, not Jerry. No, he wasn’t, he didn’t throw 9 touchdowns his 1st 6 games, I don’t think. Um, — Double one
— overall. — Sam Bradford was he number
— one overall? Yes, — he was played for
— the played for the Browns. This dude RG3. No, he was number 2 overall. Oh yeah. Steve, let’s couch. It’s got a couple we got, we’re gonna do 2 more. We’ll do, uh, we’ll do 2 more and then I want to have the discussion. Next blond resume, Steve. This quarterback 06 53.5% passing 969 yards, 5. It is. I told you his numbers sucked. — We finally got
— there last one we’re gonna do here, last one. This quarterback. They’re for 4. There you see the stats. 1 and 53 touchdowns, 5 picks, 65 quarterback. Bernie Cozar. No. Tim Couch. No, — he didn’t go back
— that far. He said 20. Well, Tim was rookie 26 years ago. Let me ask this question. Do you think this quarterback turned out to be any good? Yes. Yeah, that’s that’s why you put it on there. Steve, this quarter? No, he didn’t. Uh, we do have one last one that Brady? I didn’t even know who that was. Brady Brady Quinn. Alright, last one. 2 and 4, lots of yards. This guy’s a little older, the oldest of the group. Not super old, but the oldest of the group. So think of the era. It’s era pre the, the wide open passing older than Manning and Brady. Yes, but not as old as Aikman, but not as old as Aikman, knowing that and taking these numbers into consideration. Steve McNair. It’s not Steve McNair, sks the 2nd round pick. — 2nd
— round, 2nd round quarterback. Older than Brady. Older than Brady, you say? Yeah. But not as old as Aikman. — So this was before more than 20 years ago
— this guy was I said this is the oldest guy yeah yeah. Uh, so older than Brady but not Akerman. So we’re talking 90s, right? Second round pick. Steve Young. He was drafted Joe Montana in 911. 00 my God, why do you do that? You say things like that and it gives me 7 strokes. I was. — I already dropped out of college.3
— MVP 91. Man, — I knew
— Kurt Warner. No, he wasn’t drafted. Steve. Oh, now that you’ve seen the blinds and the results of different quarterbacks. He was ripping off people. it be fair and life isn’t fair. I totally understand that. To make an evaluation. Anador or Dillon if they get 6 or fewer starts. No, of course not, yes. — I’d have to see can’t
— have a complete evaluation. But the bottom line is this is gonna come down to. Where The Browns are in the draft next year. — How high they could get
— to, but they’re not picking in the top 5. They probably are picking the top. You can live in la la land all you want thereyvis. The odds are they’re picking in the top 5. And and and this is really not about. Shad Door Sanders and Dylan Gabriel will probably not be able to play enough to be considered a short thing going into next year. Is that fair to say? Depending on how many games they got. I know that, but I’m saying they’re my, my, my hypothesis is they’re probably not gonna play enough where we know for sure they’re, they’re the answer. I’ll give you that, yes. So if that was the case, it’s gonna come down to what quarterback can I get? Is it a quarterback that feels like, oh, this guy’s clearly the next franchise quarterback. If that’s the case, then they’re gonna take him. If it’s not, then maybe you stick with the guys you have and draft, you know, — I just feel like a wide
— receiver or whatever. — I
— feel like this, then I feel like this year is just a waste. Well, it’s I mean, — it’s a
— transition you you just said I don’t I’m agreeing with you. I don’t wanna believe. OK, there’s no way that they, they’ve already done it once and they’re about to do it again. I just don’t understand what’s the point of wasting time. But what was their other option? Oh, now you’re on my side. Well, — you’ve
— been screaming — at
— me for months that this was the wrong call. What was, — what specifically
— tanking and waiting till next year to get a quarterback. — And that’s you
— said what was the other option? I don’t know, draft in the first round this year. I would play Jackson. I would play the young quarterbacks and maybe I could. Avoid drafting quarterback and then I have two high picks to get good players around them. That’s why I would play. I would, if either one of them were close, like we’re ready to go, I would 100% start one of them weekly. I agree, but I don’t think it’s gonna be in the end, the other option, the Browns were not gonna be good this year, most likely, no matter what they did. Because — they suck at quarterbacks
— as of now. So if they, let’s say that they would have drafted Cam Ward, would your thoughts have changed on this season? Of course, yeah, yeah, — you gotta
— be kidding me. They had the 2nd pick in a one quarterback draft. You gotta be kidding me. — What
— if they, if they had a, — if
— they had, wait, wait, wait, hold on, wait a minute. If they had Cam Ward, they would have their quarterback in the future. So let me get this right. If they would have took Cam Ward, you’d be more higher on this season. Oh, — on
— this season, no, no, my outlook on this season would be completely different from what it is because they’ve already got their franchise quarterback in place. But I’m not, I don’t think they’re, I was about to jump over this. No, I don’t think that Cam Ward raises their win total to your delusional level of 89 and whatever like that. No, no, they have the roster for that already. He would, he would have took them to the playoffs. My, my outlook on this season would have changed because they would already have their franchise quarterback in place. They do not, so this season is all about biding time and waiting to have the opportunity to go get a franchise quarterback. I don’t like it. That’s just the reality. — It just
— sounds like tanking to me. — That’s what it sounds like that’s because it’s
— it.

As the Cleveland Browns prepare for the 2025 season, one of the biggest questions looming over the organization is how to evaluate their rookie quarterbacks—Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel—if they’re only given a limited sample size. With a competitive AFC North schedule and a win-now mindset in the front office, either quarterback could face a short leash if the team starts slowly. But is it even realistic to make a true judgment of a rookie signal caller with fewer than six NFL starts?

In this segment, we examine what kind of growth the Browns should expect from Sanders and Gabriel early in the year—and whether a handful of games is enough to decide their long-term futures. We also look at how past rookie QBs across the league have developed over time, and what Cleveland must do to balance immediate performance with long-term investment. The pressure is high, but so is the potential—now the Browns must determine if patience will be part of their plan.

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