What we learned from Dillon Gabriel’s debut with the Browns

Dillon Gabriel became the 17th rookie to start, and lose, for the Cleveland Browns in Sunday morning’s 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.

Before the game rookies were 0-16 when making their first career start with the Cleveland Browns. Gabriel made it 0-17. It was also the first time a rookie quarterback made their first career start in an international game.

Gabriel was better than most in the loss though. The other 16 quarterbacks combined to average 14.1 points per game, throw 14 touchdowns to 22 interceptions and had a passer rating of 65.9.

Gabriel led the offense to 17 points, tied for the most the Browns have scored this season. He also threw two touchdowns and no interceptions while having a passer rating of 94.3.

It was never going to be an easy game for Gabriel. With all the attention on him following the Browns decision to keep Shedeur Sanders as the third-string, everything Gabriel did was going to be examined with a microscope.

Gabriel flashed plenty of potential during his first career start. He opened the game leading an impressive touchdown drive, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Harold Fannin Jr.

He also led a sharp two-minute drill right before the end of the first half, giving the Browns a field goal and a slim lead.

When the Browns were trailing in the third quarter, he had a great series hitting passes off of the attention Quinshon Judkins was drawing with his runs. He hit Judkins on a bootleg for an 18-yard gain, he set up a David Njoku hurdle highlight, and he capped the drive off with a well-placed ball in the endzone for Njoku’s first touchdown of the season.

Finally, Gabriel looked pretty good on the last ditch effort drive. He hit Isaiah Bond over the middle for a 22-yard gain over the middle. He also tossed a 22-yard pass to Jamari Thrash to try and get closer, but Thrash couldn’t get out of bounds. He even showed off a little arm strength on a hail mary attempt that didn’t count. All-in-all, a noble effort on the last drive of the game.

It wasn’t all good for the rookie though. When the Judkins runs weren’t working, the offense looked flat once again.

Gabriel struggled to get his wide receivers involved in the game. He completed just five passes to receivers, two to Jerry Jeudy, two to Bond and one to Thrash. That kind of play doesn’t allow an offense to get any chunk plays. Everything has to go perfect, one penalty can kill a drive, as it did plenty of times in London.

Gabriel’s biggest concern was his arm. That concern didn’t go away after today’s game. When Gabriel was forced to throw more than 10 yards, it wasn’t pretty. He had several passes where a receiver couldn’t have dreamed of catching the ball. The only time the offense seemed willing to throw deep was the final plays of the game.

He did a good job looking mobile though. Gabriel escaped pressure on numerous occasions, he just needed to learn what to do after. The Browns were able to roll him out of the pocket, which is something they should do more frequently now.

Gabriel’s progression was good, he made quick and decisive throws for most of the game. The accuracy wasn’t always there, but for a rookie who had to make his first start of the game in London, that was expected.

This is a promising start for his career. He showed he can manage a game at the worst. If this is the worst version of Gabriel we see this season, he’ll enjoy a long career as a serviceable quarterback.

He’ll still have some things to work on and develop if he wants to be a sure starter in this league though.