Cleveland closed out the preseason with a 37-13 rout of New England on Thursday night, and it doubled as an audition for two guys fighting for a roster spot behind the starter. Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders both sat out, which meant the entire night belonged to Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green.
“That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie…we’re not quite sure at this point” Al Michaels still has his fastball
Gabriel got the start and made the most of it, going 12-for-15 for 186 yards and 3 touchdown passes in the first half alone, including two to Luke Floriea. He put together a near-perfect 157.9 passer rating before handing it off. Then Green took over for the second half and turned in the play of the night.
Look at my man Taylen Green!!
Green's headline moment came on a 98-yard touchdown drive that ate up 9:26 off the clock. He got it started himself, breaking a tackle near his own goal line for a 30-yard scramble, and finished the night 5-for-7 passing with 8 carries for 66 yards on the ground. It's the kind of dual-threat flash that's forced coaches into a genuinely tough call before Sunday's roster cutdown, since Cleveland almost certainly isn't keeping 4 quarterbacks.
Is Taylen Green the best QB on the Browns?
That's obviously a jab at Watson's up-and-down Browns tenure more than a real QB ranking, but it landed harder given the timing. Green, a 6th-round pick, isn't walking into the starting job over Watson anytime soon — he'd need to clear waivers just to stick on the practice squad if Cleveland cuts him. Still, the fact that fans are even joking about it says plenty about where Watson's stock sits.
That brings in Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's been openly skeptical about Watson holding onto the Browns' job for the long haul. Fitzpatrick has praised Watson's operational readiness compared to Sanders, but he's also made clear he expects Watson to eventually fail and open the door for Sanders to take over.
Ryan Fitzpatrick has zero doubt that Deshaun Watson will fail
Watson and Sanders were both resting Thursday, so none of this preseason finale directly changes the starting picture — Watson is still QB1 heading into the regular season. But Green and Gabriel just made Cleveland's 53-man cutdown a lot more complicated, and Fitzpatrick's prediction means every Watson stumble this fall is going to get magnified. The Browns have until 6 p.m. on August 30 to sort the quarterback room out.