Ralph Vacchiano
NFL reporter
During the majority of the first two nights of the NFL Draft, the biggest surprise was the fact that Campal de Colorado Mariscal Shedeur Sanders was not selected.
But then, at the end of the third round, the Cleveland Browns found a way to overcome that.
When they made their selection with the general selection 90 on Friday night, their fifth selection of the first two days, they did not simply did not go to Sanders again. They passed it in favor of a field marshal almost no one would go in the first three rounds. The Cleveland Tok Oregon field marshal, Dillon Gabriel, a 24 -year -old boy who is only 5 11 -inch feet and was a six -year owner in three different schools.
No one, anywhere, thought he had an opportunity to be recruited before Sanders. At this point, Sanders was already having a miserable draft experience. But the choice of the Browns had to make it worse.
Of course, for the Browns it made a lot of sense. Clearly, they are desperate by a field marshal of the future, since its current QB room consists of Joe Flacco, 40, Kenny Pickett and Deshaun Watson, who have demolished twice. But like everyone else in the NFL, obviously they have reassessed Sanders, who was not considered one of the two main quarterbacks in this draft.
Gabriel with the fate of deciphering the top 10 on most lists, but the Browns somehow decided that it was worth doing the tasks of the fifth field marshal outside the board. They seemed to love the extensive game movie they saw of him lasting his time in the center of Florida, Oklahoma and then Orgon. And they look at Senior Bowl very well, where the Browns assistant coach and the special team coordinator, Bubba Ventrone, trained against his team.
“Decorated university career, very precise, very balanced, launches in advance, good mobility,” said Browns Andrew Berry’s general manager. “We simply think he had a very well rounded game. The greatest negative one you say about him is that he does not have an ideal height, but that is not something that seemed to appear in his game.”
Its height of 5-11 may not have been a problem in the university, but a special talent is often needed to make it a problem in professionals. Gabriel clearly exceeded his duration of his six university seasons, launching only 32 interceptions in the 64 games he played. In two seasons in Oklahoma (2022-23), he launched 55 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. And it was outstanding in its year for the Ducks, completing 72.9% of its passes for 3,857 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions. He finished third in Heisman’s vote.
However, at no time, someone seemed to consider it at the same level Asers: a player who not long ago some Draft experts thought the Browns could take the second general selection. In fact, Gabriel not only considered a much lower perspective than the other four quarterbacks who had already written on the legs: Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Arhugh and Jalen Milroe, but rarely was mentioned in the state that was called is called Kyle McCord of Andasas Syracuse.
So what do Browns think that know that no one else does?
“We really firmly feel about Dillon through this process,” said Berry. “We feel that it is a really strong, very good perspective. We believe he is an excellent player.”
They also keep those scared by their age. “The guy has been a regular field marshal since he was 18 years old,” said Brown coach Kevin Stefanski. “So we don’t feel that it was a great detriment in terms of your profile.”
Nor were they worried about their size. “He has a hero who returns in his career,” Stefanski said. “That height is a leg for a long time, and finds a way to do it.”
Sanders, or of course, did it in Colorado, put better numbers and is two -inch. But something about the child of Deion Sanders clearly has not sat well with the NFL. It was widely expected that it was a first round selection, but is waiting for the fourth round when on the 3rd of the Draft begins on Saturday.
The fourth round, by the way, was the most optimistic projection where Gabriel was going to be selected. Given the way in which the NFL evaluators see this kind of field marshal as a whole, it seemed more likely to end up being selected a little later than that.
But all that is needed is one, and for Gabriel that one was the Browns, who have a long history of making decisions of really strange field. Despite all the reasons made or imagined, which has made Sanders face this wild jump, thought it was the safest perspective. Without a doubt, he is humiliated by his draft experience. The Browns could have let it stand for a year, perhaps two, so they could work in their defects and help him reach the considerable rise that once they believed he had.
Instead, they will take their chans in Gabriel, whose roof is almost certainly lower. Maybe they are right, but they are working against their own history of Cruzada Cruzada Mariscal in stars. Sanders would consult a theft for them at the end of the Round 3. But they reached their quartback from the future in the future of reaching a possible star.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL reporter for Fox Sports. He spent the last six years covering the giants and Jet For SNY TV in New YorkAnd before that, 16 years cover the giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow it on Twitter in @Ralphvacchiano.
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Dillon Gabriel