The Browns decided early in the offseason that only two quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, would get a chance to compete for the starting job. The other two, Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green, were there solely to compete for the No. 3 spot.
But a funny thing happened in the preseason: Gabriel and Green looked better than Watson and Sanders.
Watson, despite an ugly preseason that matched his ugly play throughout his tenure in Cleveland, has been named the starter. Sanders also did not play well in the preseason and will be No. 2. Gabriel and Green played in Thursday night’s preseason finale, and they both played well.
Gabriel completed 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards, with three touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks. Green completed five of seven passes, and while he only gained 27 yards through the air, he showed off his spectacular athleticism by running the ball eight times for 66 yards.
Browns head coach Todd Monken said after the game that he liked what he saw from his third and fourth quarterbacks, but he sounded skeptical of the idea of going into Week One with four quarterbacks on the 53-player roster.
“That’s why we played them,” Monken said. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. I thought they both did some really good things. The way they played is how I thought they’d play. Dillon within himself, very poised, and then Taylen was going to have some splash plays, some plays where you get him on the perimeter, use his athleticism, and keep working to refine his passing. 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.”
The logical thing for a rebuilding team that can’t keep everybody would be to cut Watson, but the reality of the enormous sunk cost the Browns have already put into Watson means he’s not going anywhere. Sanders is entrenched at No. 2. The Browns appear to have a decision to make between keeping Gabriel or keeping Green, and that decision got harder with their play on Thursday night.
