Few, if any NFL franchises can boast a list of starting quarterbacks as long as the Cleveland Browns’ track record at the position. After years of tumultuous play under center, the franchise hopes to find a long-term answer. In that search, incumbent starter Joe Flacco now heads to the bench in Week 5 in favor of third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel. The former Heisman Trophy finalist brings upside, but whether he captures it at the professional level remains uncertain.
Looking towards this week in particular, can Dillon Gabriel serve as a capable quarterback streamer in fantasy football? Or is his first NFL start doomed to fail from the jump?
Analysis
The Browns shocked the world when they selected Gabriel in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft despite Shedeur Sanders still sitting on the board amid his historic slide. Plenty of laughs were had on social media about the selection, but it feels as though people are more dug into their priors regarding Gabriel’s reputation online rather than the actual numbers and eye test surrounding his play. For just a moment, try and remove the name from the equation and just listen to the accolades.
With 64 games as a starting quarterback under his belt at the Division I level across both Group of Five and Power Four programs, this signal-caller brings plenty of experience to the table. He led his conference in both passing yards and touchdowns twice, and also paced his conference in completion percentage and passer rating once each. He took care of the football and never threw more than seven interceptions in a season with just one campaign above an INT% of 1.8%. He posted a TD% above 7.0% in five of two campaigns, and his 155 career passing touchdowns set a new FBS record. In particular, his final two years as a starter at Oklahoma and Oregon saw him develop into a real collegiate star. Over that two-year span, he completed 71.2% of his passes with 289.1 passing yards per game, tossing 60 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions for a 5/1 TD/INT ratio. During his final campaign, he finished third among Heisman Trophy finalists.
That’s quite the collegiate resume, no? If his name wasn’t Dillon Gabriel, football fans would’ve been all over the quarterback while posting highlights and hoping he’d come to their NFL franchise. We’ve also seen in recent years how older quarterbacks with an extra season or two of starting experience can quickly acclimate to the professional level — just look at Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix during their standout rookie campaigns in 2024. With 64 games to his name, who’s to say that Gabriel doesn’t bring a better ability to see the field and read a defense than younger quarterbacks do?
To hone in on Week 5’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, well, he’s in line for quite the tough professional debut. Brian Flores is a boogeyman of sorts among NFL defensive coordinators and will surely throw some disgusting coverages and blitzes at Gabriel to try and disrupt the rookie’s rhythm. This is a very difficult defense for any quarterback to face, but the fact that the game takes place in London, England only makes the situation more complicated for the Browns, who will travel overseas this week. To top it off, the Vikings played in Dublin in Week 4 and didn’t come back to the United States between games, so their team will surely be adjusted to the time zone without needing to worry about the jet-lag concerns that come with international games and frequently turn them into messy affairs.
With all of those factors in mind, Gabriel basically walks into a nightmare environment for his first career NFL start. He’s probably not a quarterback on the fantasy football streamer radar in Week 5 due to the various reasons listed above. However, he’s obviously a talented quarterback with the ability to post big numbers while limiting turnovers and distributing the ball efficiently. He’s not the most physically gifted player to come out of the draft in recent memory at just 5-foot-11 without standout athleticism, which is why he didn’t carry higher capital. With that said though, he clearly boasts plus arm talent and belongs on watch lists moving forward this season, so consider adding him to the bench anyways as a stash for later on in the campaign.
Disregard the reputation and focus on the elite college production because Gabriel could truly be a diamond in the rough.
