If you only listen to Madden 26 ratings, the Cleveland Browns quarterback competition should have a certain order when it comes to rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. While it hasn’t impacted anything on the field and Sanders has said all the right things, his oversized popularity (given being a fifth-round draft pick) has led to all sorts of predictions, speculations and even conspiracy theories.
The reality is, the Browns selected Gabriel two rounds ahead of Sanders and the entire NFL passed on the Colorado Buffaloes quarterback about four teams each. Given the predraft hype, Cleveland could have selected Sanders instead of DT Mason Graham but, instead, snagged him four rounds later after trading up to do so.
If you only saw the newly released Madden 26 ratings, you would believe that Sanders was drafted ahead of Gabriel and is not far off from the second best QB from this year’s NFL draft:
QB ratings in Madden NFL 26:
(via @brgridiron) https://t.co/dErTlvTP0N pic.twitter.com/0yF1jsMVOZ
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) July 30, 2025
Unsurprisingly, the versatility of Travis Hunter, who the Browns could have selected with the second overall pick, has him at the top of the overall rookie ratings with Graham not far behind.
What do you think about Graham’s rating? Why do you think Sanders is rated ahead of Gabriel in Madden 26?