People want the Browns to keep Dillon Gabriel, but Todd Monken seems to have other ideas

The Cleveland Browns may have settled their starting-quarterback debate, but Dillon Gabriel gave them one more reason to reconsider how they view the rest of the room.

With Deshaun Watson already named the starter, Gabriel delivered Cleveland’s most convincing quarterback performance of the preseason in Thursday’s 37-13 win over the New England Patriots .

He completed 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, leading five consecutive scoring drives without throwing an interception. That was enough for Kirk Herbstreit to make his position clear.

“There’s no way, see, this was not a one-night Dillon Gabriel thing for me,” Herbstreit said during Amazon Prime’s broadcast. “I’ve seen this kid do exactly what he did tonight almost every start he made in college, whether it was at UCF, Oklahoma or Oregon.”

He added: “I don’t know how you let him go, personally. There is no way I would let him leave.”

More than padding preseason numbers

What made the performance stand out was the way Cleveland’s offense operated with Gabriel in control. The Browns scored on all five of their first-half possessions, with three touchdowns and two field goals.

Gabriel repeatedly pushed the offense into favorable situations, including a 52-yard completion to Ben Patterson after rolling left out of the pocket. He also found Luke Floriea for two touchdowns and hit Ahmani Marshall for another on third-and-goal.

“What a great half, happy for him,” Monken said. “Guys played well around him. Certainly took advantage of the opportunity.”

That opportunity came at an interesting time. Watson has already been named Cleveland’s starter, but the decision has drawn scrutiny after he was booed by Browns fans during the preseason.

Shedeur Sanders has also generated significant public support, making Cleveland’s quarterback room one of the league’s most closely watched.

Tape matches Gabriel’s college career

The strongest part of Herbstreit ’s argument was that Thursday didn't change his opinion of Gabriel . It reinforced it.

The broadcaster pointed to what the quarterback showed across three college stops and argued that the poise and efficiency on display against New England were consistent with the player he had already seen.

Former NFL defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko was even more pointed in his reaction.

“The best quarterback play of the Browns preseason we saw tonight,” Fehoko wrote. “Dillon Gabriel is the guy who got screwed in this QB competition.”

Whether Monken has any interest in reopening the Week 1 decision is another matter. But Gabriel at least made one part of the conversation harder to ignore.

If Cleveland doesn't see him as the starter right now, it still has to decide how highly it values keeping him around.