The Cleveland Browns made the unorthodox move of drafting two quarterbacks in the middle rounds of the draft, taking Oregon standout Dillon Gabriel in the third and, surprisingly, Shedeur Sanders in the fifth. Now, the Browns have a quarterback room crowded with two rookies, 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco, the injured Deshaun Watson, and former first round pick Kenny Pickett.
No one knows how it will shake out, but former offensive lineman and two-time Super Bowl champ Damien Woody is adamant about which direction the Browns should go.
Damien Woody picks between Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel
Woody appeared on a segment of NFL Live on ESPN and made his stance crystal clear.
“If I’m Kevin Stefanski, my focus would be on the two drafted players,” Woody said. “We know what Joe Flacco is and we know what Kenny Pickett is. We know in 2026 that have two first round picks, so I think for the Cleveland Browns, the priority should be trying to find out if one of these two rookie quarterbacks could be your long-term solution,” Woody stated.
“Kevin Stefanski is one of the best play callers in the National Football League and so I think both these guys are going to have a great opportunity to really try to establish themselves this year and this year only.”
“We know what Joe Flacco is. We know what Kenny Pickett is. … I think for the Cleveland Browns, the priority should be trying to find out if one of these two rookie quarterbacks could be your long-term solution.”@damienwoody wants to see if Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders… pic.twitter.com/PALSWQ2uMC
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) May 1, 2025
The 2026 draft class is poised to be packed with talent and the Browns have decisions to make on how they handle the 2025 season. Do they go for stable play and stand pat with Pickett or Flacco, or do they see whether or not Gabriel or Sanders might be “the guy?”
The top quarterback prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft include Arch Manning (Texas), Drew Allar (Penn State, Garrett Nussmeier (LSU), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), and Cade Klubnik (Clemson). It’s speculated that Manning could follow the paths of his uncles Peyton and Eli and choose to stay at Texas for his senior year.
It’s an interesting conundrum for the Browns. If they were to find out that Sanders or Gabriel is the answer, they’d be in position to trade for even more draft capital with their two first round picks. If they aren’t, and the season goes sideways, then they could be in position to grab the best quarterback available.
It’s a difficult choice and the Browns have made some interesting picks, filling a lot of needs on both sides of the ball after boldly trading the second overall pick and, essentially, the rights to Travis Hunter. Now it’s a matter of picking a direction and executing a plan at quarterback, something that hasn’t been the case in Cleveland.