Cleveland Browns Receiver Makes Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders Roster Prediction

During a recent appearance on “The Comeback” podcast, Johnson said that he sees Pickett, his former Pittsburgh Steelers teammate, as the current starter following mandatory minicamp.

Johnson implied that Flacco would be the second choice behind Pickett. Should things play out that way, this would leave rookies Gabriel and Sanders stuck deep on the end of the bench.

"I'm going to roll with Kenny for right now," Johnson said on “The Comeback” podcast. "I've been seeing Kenny, right now, with the ones — and then Joe [Flacco] will come in. I think they're probably gonna roll with [Pickett], just to see — coming off the season he was with Philly and having a Super Bowl."

Johnson and Pickett were teammates in Pittsburgh together for two seasons in 2022 and '23, so it's possible there is some harmless Steelers bias in play. While Johnson's thoughts on the quarterback battle certainly hold significant weight, there simply remains too many training camp and preseason practice reps left this offseason to call the competition at this point.

Gabriel might not start Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but given the experience and steady approach he brings to the position, it's hard to rule out the possibility of the former Duck starting and seeing significant action as a rookie, especially when considering his performance at mandatory minicamp.

Ducks fans will be eagerly awaiting Cleveland training camp to see if Gabriel can rise up the depth chart.

In the five minicamp practices open to the media, Gabriel went 48 of 83 passing for eight touchdowns and no interceptions, according to ESPN Cleveland. It's best not to get too wrapped up in minicamp statistics but it's hard to deny that Gabriel's numbers were impressive.

Regardless of what happens leading into the season, he's only focused on what he can control.

"Just continuous improvement," Gabriel said. "In this profession, I think there's a bunch of progression and regression, but just your ability to manage that as fast as possible, I think that allows you to create improvement at a faster pace. So I just been approaching it like that, and eager to learn every single day. Just approach this like a student."

In his only season at Oregon, Gabriel started all 14 games while going 326 of 447 passing for 3,857 yards, 30 touchdowns and six interceptions. He added seven touchdowns on the ground.

Gabriel will likely make his preseason debut alongside Sanders when the Browns begin their three-game exhibition slate on Aug. 8 against the Carolina Panthers.