Browns' Dillon Gabriel to be QB1 vs. Eagles Amid Injuries to Shedeur Sanders, Pickett

The Cleveland Browns announced they're expecting to start Dillon Gabriel at quarterback for Saturday's NFL preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The third-round pick went through some final workouts Saturday morning before head coach Kevin Stefanski made the call.

The Browns are resting Joe Flacco, the likeliest candidate to be the Week 1 starter, while Kenny Pickett (hamstring) and Shedeur Sanders (oblique) are both battling injuries.

It's not often a team publicly documents its offseason quarterback battle, but that's exactly what the Browns have done. That speaks to how much attention has been devoted to who gets the nod from Stefanski.

When the dust clears, the depth chart may not look much different than fans will have expected when Gabriel and Sanders arrived through the draft. Flacco will be at the top with Pickett and the two rookies following in some order.

The fight for the backup job provides plenty of intrigue on its own, though, and a lot of fans will be eager to see how Gabriel performs after Sanders' strong showing in the opener.

The former Colorado star went 14-of-23 for 138 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. He displayed some of the reasons why he could emerge as a starter in the near future while justifying concerns over the notable flaws in his game.

But Sanders' oblique injury is a setback when he still has work to do to impress his coaches.

If Gabriel goes out and plays well against the Eagles, then that could effectively be the end of the discussion over who's backing up Flacco. Should he struggle, that will open the door wide open for Sanders.