General consensus during the draft was the Browns reached on Dillon Gabriel because of his lack of plus physical traits. However, there was some hope he could survive in the NFL because of his accuracy, processing, and poise to make plays under pressure. The Browns agreed with this assessment to the point where they said he has "computer-like processing" before the draft and during offseason workouts. While that might have been the case on his college tape and during camp, it hasn't shown up much during his first five professional starts.
It wasn't just the Browns who thought Gabriel's poise and ability to process a defense could make him good enough for the NFL. Dane Brugler of The Athletic listed the following bullets in Gabriel's strengths in his pre-draft big board, giving the rookie a fourth-round grade: "Shows outstanding feel to patiently sort through rush, elude pressure and buy time," Brugler said. "Keeps eyes downfield and doesn’t panic when locating secondary progressions."
Dillon Gabriel's supercomputer processing hasn't been as advertised through five starts
After watching the offensive all-22 film, it was clear there were numerous answers for chunk plays that were not hit. Not all were on Gabriel, as sometimes the offensive line allowed pressure before the play had a chance. There were even a few cases where the right read was made, but either the throw was inaccurate or it was dropped - which pretty much sums up the Browns' offense in 2025.
Gabriel doesn't seem like he's confident in what he's seeing, and his internal clock is sped up way too much. He had a few out-breaking routes that he appeared to be looking at, but didn't throw. Other times, he bailed to the checkdown too quickly in a clean pocket instead of trying to get to the backside digs, or he didn't get to the backside in-breaker altogether.
The most notable example was the fourth-and-one near the end of the game when it was a one-possession game. Gabriel had a sail route from David Njoku and an out from Jerry Jeudy, who was lined up in the backfield. The offensive line slid right, making Gabriel responsible for the blitzing corner.
He could have thrown to either Jeudy or Njoku with a bit of anticipation at the top of his drop, but didn't and instead took a sack to turn the ball over on downs. Cedric Tillman was open on a sit route as well, but it's understandable not to get to that when he had to account for the free rusher on the opposite side.
Perhaps his physical shortcomings play into his timidness on out breakers, and he seems to have little trust in the protection, but regardless, Gabriel isn't appearing to process defenses at the level expected coming into the year. If he wants to stick around this team in any capacity, he's going to have to do better at seeing things unfold downfield and getting to the open answers when they're open in structure.