CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Browns selected Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel with the 94th pick in the draft, the collective reaction from fans was bewilderment. Then, when they traded up to grab Shedeur Sanders at 144, that confusion transformed into full-blown controversy. Was this a strategic masterplan or a scattershot approach to the quarterback position?
According to those closest to the team, the Browns knew exactly what they were doing — they just kept their intentions remarkably well-hidden.
“I wasn’t surprised about Dillon Gabriel because I knew they really liked him a lot and I knew that they were targeting him in this draft and that they were probably going to end up with him at some point in this draft. So they did have a plan going in. And their plan was Dillon Gabriel,” explained Mary Kay Cabot on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast.
What makes this particularly fascinating is how the Browns’ internal evaluation differed dramatically from public perception. While draft analysts and fans focused on names like Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, and Tyler Shough, the Browns had quietly fallen in love with Gabriel all along.
In fact, the team went to extraordinary lengths to conceal their interest in the Oregon quarterback. As Cabot revealed: “This flew completely under the radar. They flew out to Eugene, Oregon, the day before they went to Colorado, to Boulder to take Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders to dinner. That happened on April 3rd. The day before that, they flew to Eugene… they snuck in this private visit and dinner with Dillon Gabriel out in Oregon. It leaked out nowhere.”
The selection of Gabriel at 94 still strikes many as puzzling given the team’s other needs, particularly when they already had Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on the roster. Ashley Bastock voiced the skepticism many felt: “I’m still questioning the strategy of doing that at 94, because to me it felt like the strategy was so clear from the first three picks on Friday… And then like the Dillon Gabriel pick comes in and we’re all like, wait, what? You’re taking a quarterback now?”
This disconnect between public analysis and internal evaluation highlights an interesting aspect of draft preparation. While fans and media scrutinize certain prospects, teams often develop strong convictions about players that never surface in public discussions.
As for Shedeur Sanders, the Browns viewed his fifth-round slide as an opportunity too good to pass up. The front office evaluated his potential as significantly higher than what his draft position might suggest. When he was still available at 144, they made the calculated decision to trade up for him despite having just selected Gabriel 50 picks earlier.
What’s most surprising is that the team genuinely appears to have prioritized Gabriel over Sanders. As Cabot noted, “They do like him better than Shedeur Sanders. We don’t have to guess about that. We know 100% that they liked him more than they liked Shedeur Sanders because they passed on Shedeur Sanders six times, including at number 94 when they absolutely turned that card in without hesitation on Dillon Gabriel.”
Whether this unexpected quarterback strategy proves brilliant or bewildering remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the Browns had a definitive plan at quarterback — it just wasn’t one anyone outside the building saw coming.
Want to hear more insider details about the Browns’ draft strategy and what these quarterback selections mean for the team’s future? Listen to the full Orange and Brown Talk podcast where Mary Kay Cabot, Ashley Bastock, and Dan Labbe break down all the angles of this fascinating draft weekend.
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Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Orange and Brown Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
