Colin Cowherd reveals who he favors in Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel QB battle

Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd seems to favor Shedeur Sanders over Dillon Gabriel in the quarterback battle between the two rookies. The Cleveland Browns have a lot of QBs in the room, including their two draft picks.

However, Cowherd is of the mind that Sanders, a fifth round pick, is better suited for the role over Gabriel. Perhaps it is as simple as size and accuracy, where Sanders is favored over Gabriel, at least in terms of the college production.

Despite having Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on the roster, Cowherd was the latest to advocate Cleveland going the rookie route. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky also mentioned that Sanders or Gabriel should start in 2025.

“Shedeur is six-two, historically accurate, and I have seen him standing around normal sized people. He’s big. He’s a big six-two,” Cowherd said. “Mahomes is six-one-and-a-half. Aaron Rodgers, you never think about his size. He’s six-one. Big calves, big wrists. Six-three, Matt Stafford. Six-four, Jared Goff. Six-six, Joe Flacco. Eli was six-five, Peyton was six-five-and-a-half or whatever he was. Dillon Gabriel is noticeably smaller and thinner than Bo Nix, and Bo Nix is not an ideal size in the NFL. He is a very, very small guy. Shedeur Sanders, he’s much bigger and much better.”

Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel for Browns in 2025?

It remains to be seen how the quarterback battle plays out over the course of NFL training camp. If Gabriel or Sanders impresses, it might be hard to not start them considering the Draft investment.

Sanders, as Cowherd pointed out, is historically accurate. He has the highest completion percentage for a career in FBS history at 71.8% over the last two years. Sanders finished his time at Colorado with 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a 71.8% completion percentage. But, he had a noteworthy draft slide to the fifth round.

Grabiel, meanwhile, was well traveled at UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. He finished his college career (six seasons) with 18,722 yards, 155 touchdowns (an FBS record), 32 interceptions and a 65.2% completion percentage.

“But if I was Cleveland and because of the trade, and knowing what ‘26 looks like for them, at least as we sit here today with the draft, there’s not a ton of benefit for me starting Joe Flacco, because it doesn’t answer anything with the potential of next year’s class, and then figuring out, long term at least, what’s the situation,” Orlovsky said on The Pat McAfee Show. “So I would start one of those two rookies.”