The Opening Drive 10/15: How Browns Quarterback Dillon Gabriel Can Help Himself Amidst Chaos
A look into where Gabriel is failing and how he, and the Browns, can help moving forward.
The Browns’ offense continues to be one of the worst units in the league week after week. After watching Sunday’s game three times, including Jake’s Film Breakdown, I initially thought Dillon Gabriel was better than he actually was.
Gabriel is very poised for a rookie quarterback, and that composure, along with the lack of turnovers on Sunday, left me feeling like he played better than he actually did. When examining the Film Breakdown, I see a quarterback who isn’t really trying to push the ball down the field, even when there are open receivers. In his risk-averse approach, he often looks to get the ball out quickly, and in making the short to intermediate throws, he has been inaccurate, frequently missing high or wide. In fact he was the most inaccurate quarterback in the league on Sunday as seen below.
He had two opportunities to connect with Jeudy for a touchdown. The first was when Jeudy broke free behind the defense during a scramble drill situation, and Gabriel missed him out of bounds, not even giving the wide-open touchdown opportunity a chance. The other opportunity saw the rookie quarterback throw the ball to Jeudy’s back shoulder along the sideline in the endzone. The correct read would have been to lead Jeudy into the back of the endzone, as he had the cornerback beat.
It is also worth pointing out that, despite Gabriel’s attempts to keep the ball out of harm’s way, completing passes of more than 10 yards just four times on 52 passing attempts, he threw at least three passes that the Steelers should have intercepted. Pro Football Focus credited him with four turnover worthy plays.
There is no question that a lot has been thrust upon the rookie quarterback, and numerous mitigating factors are impacting his ability to play well. Firstly, the scheme isn’t providing enough answers for whoever is under center. The tackle issue led Gabriel to be pressured 25 times on Sunday and sacked six times. Gabriel isn’t getting any help from his pass catchers either, as they had five drops on Sunday alone and lead the NFL in dropped passes.
The offensive issues Gabriel inherited when he took over the position make evaluating his performance difficult. However, he has to be better than he was on Sunday.
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How can he help himself?
Gabriel is not even considering the downfield opportunities. Despite a scheme that doesn’t create many opportunities, when receivers are open, they are being ignored or dismissed. We want to avoid big mistakes, but Gabriel needs to learn to trust what he sees downfield and rip it when there are open receivers. Teams need explosive plays to put points on the scoreboard.
Gabriel has to be precise in delivery. When passing in the shorter or intermediate areas of the field and receivers are left open, his passes have to be on target and they have to make life easy on this uneven receiver group. The pressure is surely impacting him, and with his size, he often has to find windows to pass through, but this is part of playing the position at this level. While under pressure or in a muddy pocket, he has to deliver the ball accurately to his open receivers. Isaiah Bond runs a fantastic route at about seven yards on Sunday, but the ball is thrown behind him and out of reach. It’s just one example but it serves as a minor recurring theme a quarterback like Gabriel has to rectify to find long-term success.
The drops are inexcusable, but one thing that will help is if the receivers believe that when they are open downfield, they might get the ball, and if they are free in the short game, the ball will be delivered accurately.
It is only Gabriel’s second game in the NFL, and he has faced two good defenses to start his career, so we need to be patient. The game has to slow down for him, and pick up on the nuances of playing at this level. He has a fair amount of learning to do. These are just two critical aspects that need immediate attention if the Browns want to compete in their upcoming stretch of games.
Lastly, the run game has to be effective for any of this to work on offense. Quinshon Judkins getting just 12 touches on Sunday is far from the desired outcome. Improving the running game, which will help keep them ahead of the sticks, will make the game more manageable for Gabriel.
His composure is impressive, and he has a lot to deal with in a bad offense, but avoiding passes down the field and missing on the easy ones are not helping the situation. He can help himself tremendously by giving the downfield passing game the attention it requires, trusting what he sees when it’s there, and ensuring he capitalizes on open receivers in the short to intermediate game.
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