The Browns NFL draft class has two very accurate quarterback
The Cleveland Browns 2025 NFL draft will either be defined by quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and/or Shedeur Sanders leading the team into the future or they will be just a footnote in the story of the franchise quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL draft. If either Gabriel or Sanders proves enough during training camp, not only could Joe Flacco be the odd man out, but the Browns would be set up for huge success moving forward.
Both Cleveland rookies made their name in college as accurate throwers of the football. While completion percentage is not the lone metric that creates that narrative (dropped passes, great receivers can help that number), it does provide a catch-all for how accurate a quarterback is.
In his two seasons at Colorado, Sanders became the all-time FBS leader in completion percentage at 71.8%, overtaking Colt Brennan’s 70.4%. Gabriel, who played six seasons of FBS football, has just a 65.2% career mark but completed 69.3% (at Oklahoma) and 72.9% (at Oregon) in his last two seasons in college.
Accuracy has always been an important trait in my quarterback evaluations. Going back through the last 10 draft classes, it was clear that accuracy or high-level athleticism drew me to each of the quarterbacks I ranked highly. Interestingly, the top career completion percentages in college history have rarely led to even starting quarterbacks in the NFL:
- Shedeur Sanders
- Colt Brennan
- Colt McCoy
- Kellen Moore
- Graham Harrell
- Grayson McCall
- Will Rogers
- Brandon Weeden
- Case Keenum
- Chase Holbrook
- Seth Doege
- Joe Burrow
- Brandon Doughty
- Spencer Rattler
- Baker Mayfield
Gabriel is in the Top 100 in college history at #83.
The full list can be found on Sports Reference (hat tip to Nick Karns on Twitter)
Of that group, Burrow is the best and Mayfield is the only other starting-level quarterback on the list. McCoy and Keenum kicked around the league for a long time as backups and Rattler still has a chance to take a starting role early in his career.
The rest of the group either never got a chance in the NFL or didn’t do much with the chances they had. Brock Purdy, whom we compared to Sanders recently, was the only other quarterback in the Top 25 to become an established starter in the NFL.
Gabriel and Sanders made their names as accurate quarterbacks and have a shot at becoming immortal if one of them can become a star with the Browns. History just shows that elite accuracy in college doesn’t correlate strongly to success at the NFL level.
Are you surprised that elite college accuracy hasn’t led to NFL success historically? Do you think Sanders or Gabriel will be able to overcome that like Burrow, Mayfield and Purdy?
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