DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum QB Dillon Gabriel Activated from IR

Browns activate Gabriel off IR, now have 4 QBs on roster - ESPN
https://www.espn.com.au/nfl/story/_/id/50290389/browns-activate-gabriel-ir-now-4-qbs-roster

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns activated quarterback Dillon Gabriel off injured reserve Monday, giving the team four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.

Gabriel, a 2025 third-round pick, was placed on IR with a back injury at the roster cutdown deadline in late August. He was designated to return to practice Oct. 6 and will now join Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders and rookie Taylen Green on the active roster.

Gabriel, who played in 10 career games with six starts as a rookie, has completed 110 of 185 passes for 937 yards with seven touchdowns.

Watson, who won the quarterback competition in training camp, has started the first seven games for the AFC North-leading Browns (5-2), while Sanders has served as the backup. Green, a sixth-round pick, has been the emergency QB on game days.

I'm curious as to who gets released to make room.... or has someone gone to IR?

We released out 7th round TE

We released out 7th round TE

Everyone is asking questions like, are the Browns going to keep 4 QBs.. Who might get traded, who might get cut. What I want to know is, who will be active on Sunday against Pittsburgh because only one can be the emergency QB.. It might give the Browns an opportunity to actually have Green active on Sunday to throw an extra wrench into the game plan that no one has seen yet this year. Obviously both Green and Gabriel an be inactive with one being designated as emergency.. but if they have been working on any set of plays to take advantage of Green's athleticism... wouldn't this be the perfect time to unveil it?

Good point Irish. I'm not sure if he's "ready" for a big spot like Pittsburgh, but it certainly would be a nice wrinkle to throw him out there for a few plays

Yeah, I would think if they were going to try to break in any plays with Green it would have been more likely against a team like the Titans then depending on the results take it from there.

I don't know. Putting Green in for a few plays against Pittsburgh would be something different that no one has seen. It would throw the Pittsburgh D off some. It could be worth a try. Let him run or throw him a quick pass out of the backfield and let his athleticism take over. He gets in the open field look out!

I am thinking Green on a bootleg reverse, maybe one blocker, I'll ip and throw or run. This wrinkle might disrupt a Blitzberg call..They will be eager; seems they might be ripe for some screens. You cannot be strong in every direction at once. Be nice if Boston showed up. Go, Browns!

I'm hopeful that we can continue to build off what we saw from Sampson/KC/Fannin in the YAC game from Sunday ... we have three guys who can get yards quickly after catch, especially if Boston is drawing a lot of attention

I'm certainly not trying to say it won't happen or even that it shouldn't happen. But I do think one might wish to consider that Pittsburgh has always been a division rival and a tough game in their house.

So while this would be a new wrinkle they haven't seen by the Browns they have seen that same type of thing used by other teams. The only issue I have is that I think this will be a very tough game. I think it could be one big mistake that could costs them the game.

So as tempting as something like this sounds it has just as much of a chance to blow up in their face as it does succeeding.

I definitely understand where you're coming from, especially after reading your latest post just above. But I disagree. If this is on the back burner and a set of plays have been practiced, you want to combine that with the element of surprise. I think it would be more dangerous to tip your cap beforehand with a team like the Steelers.

I understand the point you're making, but wouldn't that then mean by using it during the Steelers game they are tipping their hand to every other opponent they will face for the rest of the season which includes their other division rivals? To me it's actually a two sided coin with no real right or wrong answer. As far as it being a surprise that's only the case once no matter when you use it.

I think it's just a case of looking at the same situation and coming to different conclusions which will only be decided by the results when and if they use it.

They could be key successful plays that help lead the Browns to a win or they could be drive stopping plays that help lead to a Browns loss. Only time will tell. I tend to think that if Green suddenly gets inserted to the line up they will prepare for a trick play and force Green to try and beat the play with his arm.

Valid points. I think the big difference in the timing is that you wouldn't expect to need that to spark something against the Titans; so there would be no huge upside to putting it on tape yet. But yes, once it's on tape, other teams can decide how much time they want to devote to stopping it. I guess the only real argument is whether the scheme needs live game action to prove itself as viable.

I look at Taysom Hill with the Saints as a great blueprint. Nothing was ever predictable and the menu of options got bigger and bigger. You could prepare all you wanted for what had already happened but there was always something new to worry about. The predictable wildcat options didn't do nearly as well because it was only a matter of time before teams knew all the "tells".

Obviously, this is all conjecture; there may be no plans whatsoever. We (as fans) just know there is a fountain of talent in a few different categories and he's taking up a roster spot. Whether anything off-script comes to pass is anyone's guess.

This is exactly where my thinking is. Yeah, they haven't seen us do it with Green, but they've seen us throw backup QBs out there a bunch and they've played against a slew of the same style QB, so it isn't anything that's going to catch them off guard to any great extent. It certainly isn't a chess move. If anything, it's just a different tempo for a play or two, but honestly, I think the only real value is to Green and not our game plan.

Just to clarify a bit. Trying to get him on the field. Do spurred stuff where his athleticism can be a mismatch.Consider: Doing this may change what they had planned to do. Also, you get to see how they adjust or don't. Forcing a reaction that you can trust is an edge. Green forcing action on the edge with Concepcion or Boston or Fannin past the corner is a puzzle I would like to see. But if you hurt them with this, it will demand attention. Lot of delicious wrinkles off this for a clever OC. FWIW