Dawgs By Nature
With the offense struggling, it felt inevitable that a change was going to happen. A quarterback change that is. Reading the tea leaves and the reports, it seems that the Cleveland Browns were leaning towards a change at the quarterback position right after Week 4’s loss. Now official, rookie QB Dillon Gabriel will be making his first start this Sunday overseas when the Browns travel to London to take on the Minnesota Vikings.
With QB Joe Flacco continuing to struggle, it felt inevitable that a change was bound to happen. A QB change might have happened earlier as the team thought about benching Flacco and putting in Gabriel against the Green Bay Packers. Starting against the Vikings might be a difficult chore, but Cleveland’s brass believes in their third round pick.
Gabriel was going to get his shot eventually; however, it comes early in the season and it comes against a Minnesota defense led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Flores, who is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, is known for his schemes and his creativity pre and post snap.
It will be a challenge for Gabriel, but he has shown he’s capable of leading an offense. Granted, it was when the games were out of reach (Week 2 against the Baltimore Ravens and last week against the Detroit Lions) and he did get reps in the preseason, but it’ll a different story. Gabriel was made the primary backup, with the trade of Kenny Pickett, for a reason and head coach Kevin Stefanski has enough trust in him to lead the offense.
With Gabriel being elevated to the starter, people will ask what does that mean for 5th round rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders? Sanders has been in the headlines (mainly for soundbites and being asked specific questions), but people are going to wonder what happens with Sanders with Flacco being benched?
For now, Flacco will be the backup, according to reports. It doesn’t mean Sanders won’t get his opportunity; it will likely happen later in the season. The Browns are doing right by not forcing Sanders out there and setting him up to fail. Sanders is closer to a project than people want to admit it and the Browns know it.
Sanders will get his opportunity; he just has to wait longer than he should.
