The Cleveland Browns have already announced that veteran Joe Flacco will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2025. This leaves rookie QBs Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in a battle to see who can become Cleveland’s heir apparent to the QB1 position next year and beyond. But what if we saw how that experience panned out right now?
Using Madden 26 as a simulator, we released Flacco from the Browns and gave both Sanders and Gabriel a chance to see who could have a better season in 2025. Each was allowed to have a full season under center. Granted, each of these players has a sub-70 OVR rating, so stunning results aren’t likely. But then again, nobody expects the Browns to be competitive in 2025 anyway, so it’s whatever.
So, between Sanders and Gabriel, which one performed better? Here are the results of the simulations.
The Browns’ Season Under Shedeur Sanders Couldn’t Have Been Worse
For the record, I’ve never had any of these simulated seasons go so bad that I’m fired from my GM position as a result. But that was exactly how bad Shedeur Sanders’ rookie campaign was with Cleveland.
The numbers were truly awful for Sanders in 2025’s simulated season. Here’s a roundup:
- 3,097 yards
- 58% completion percentage (279-for-474)
- 18 touchdowns
- 24 interceptions
- 69.9 QB Rating
- 354 yards rushing on 95 attempts
- 3 rushing touchdowns
While Sanders was able to make a small splash on the ground here and there, his throwing game was putrid. In fact, the QB play was so bad that the Browns were unable to make up for it anywhere else, finishing with a nightmarishly bad 1-16 record on the season. It was the worst finish in the NFL, and by a lot.
The Browns Have A Better Season Under Gabriel, But The QB Still Struggled
For one, I wasn’t fired by the time I finished my season-long simulation with Dillon Gabriel under center for the Browns, so that was a good sign. But how did the season actually go? Well, not bad, by Cleveland standards.
The team finished 8-9 on the season, which honestly would be an overperformance for the Browns in 2025. But how did Gabriel do at the QB position? Well, not too great.
Here were the stats for Gabriel’s rookie campaign:
- 3,093 yards
- 62% completion percentage (282-for-452)
- 19 touchdowns
- 19 interceptions
- 79.0 QB Rating
- 266 rushing yards on 86 attempts
Credit where it’s due — it was a better season in terms of numbers than Sanders’ was. That said, like his rookie teammate, Gabriel struggled with ball retention during his tenure as QB1. Throwing for only 19 touchdowns and 3,093 yards in your rookie season is somewhat acceptable, so long as you aren’t turning the ball over every five seconds. And a 1:1 TD-to-INT ratio ain’t good.
Overall, these simulations are a sample size. And maybe when each is given several chances, the simulation results would surely vary. That said, these are the surface-level simulation results for the Shedeur Sanders-Dillion Gabriel experiment in Madden 26.
For other fun experiments, see what happened when we made every player in Madden 26 Franchise mode injury-prone. Also, consider checking out our Franchise mode sim to determine which NFL teams may overperform in 2025.
