Breaking Down Dillon Gabriel's 1st Start

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel made his first career start in Sunday's 21-17 overseas defeat to the Minnesota Vikings. Gabriel looked like he belonged. It was a performance he can build on moving forward.

Gabriel completed 19-of-33 passing attempts for 190 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. The third-round selection played an efficient game. Gabriel's ability to avoid critical errors against a tough Brian Flores-coached defense was impressive. He became the first Browns QB with multiple touchdowns and zero interceptions in their first career start since 2008.

Gabriel's first career touchdown was a well-designed play by head coach Kevin Stefanski. Gabriel faked the hand-off on 2nd-and-goal before finding a wide-open Harold Fannin Jr., who beat linebacker Eric Wilson at the line of scrimmage. That's a QB-friendly play call at the goal line.

Gabriel's second TD was arguably his most impressive passing attempt. It was a decisive, accurate ball to David Njoku on 3rd-and-goal, who had three Vikings defenders around him at the catch point. It was a tight-window throw by Gabriel in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown.

As impressive as Gabriel's raw numbers were, a deeper dive indicates he was tasked with being a game manager. Stefanski crafted an incredibly conservative game plan with designed first-read throws. It's understandable, given that Gabriel was a first-time starter against a tough defense in London, England.

Gabriel's average time-to-throw was 2.54 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats. Heading into Monday Night Football, that was tied for third-fastest among all quarterbacks in Week 5. Gabriel was making efficient, timely decisions and one-read throws. He was not tasked with cycling through his progressions very often.

Gabriel's average completed air yards (CAY) was just 3.8 yards. That was fourth-lowest, with Carson Wentz (3.7) and fellow rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart (3.0) among those with lower averages. His 5.8 yards per attempt was tied for the third-lowest. Most of Gabriel's completions were around the line of scrimmage. Next Gen Stats attaches an "aggressive" score to quarterbacks by tracking the number of passes a quarterback attempts into tight coverage. The percentage is calculated by the number of attempts into tight windows over all passing attempts. Gabriel's 3% aggression score is by far the lowest across Week 5.

Gabriel also routinely threw the ball short of the sticks. His average air distance compared to the first-down marker was -4.5 yards short of a first down. Again, that's how Stefanski helped ensure Gabriel played a mistake-free game. This wasn’t an aggressive passing attack.

Gabriel's completion percentage was 57.6%, -6.4 points lower than his expected completion percentage (64%). The difference was the worst in Week 5. He was occasionally inaccurate.

The Browns installed a QB-friendly game plan for Gabriel's first career start. The former Oregon standout was a passenger, not the driver, of Stefanski's offense. The approach almost worked, with the Browns nearly executing an upset victory over the Vikings. Gabriel must showcase more starting-caliber qualities if he's to develop into the long-term solution, but Sunday's showing was a quality first step.