Gabriel is a good decision-maker whose experience showed up in his six starts, but he projects more as a quality No. 2. Coaches I’ve talked to think Gabriel is slightly further along in his development than Sanders, who has the bigger arm and frame.
Cleveland can come out of this season with some idea whether Gabriel or Sanders can be a solid backup or if one of them is a project the team is willing to continue to work on. Best-case scenario is Sanders lights it up and the Browns enter the offseason thinking he can be the guy long term. I’m not sure how likely that is at this point, but there is no harm in finding out.