Browns' Joe Flacco Reportedly Expected to Be Benched for Dillon Gabriel vs. Vikings

It took four games for the Cleveland Browns to switch to a rookie quarterback, but it won't be Shedeur Sanders.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported on Tuesday that the "current belief" is that the Browns will start rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel over veteran Joe Flacco in Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Flacco is still listed as the Browns' No. 1 quarterback in their "unofficial" depth chart that was released on Tuesday, but the writing is on the wall for his eventual demotion.

Gabriel saw some brief action for the second time this season in Cleveland's 34-10 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 4. He was off the mark with his only pass attempt of the game. He also played in the Browns' 41-17 blowout loss against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, completing all three of his passes for 19 yards and a touchdown.

Flacco won the starting job for Cleveland during training camp, but he's struggled to get anything going this season. He's thrown for under 200 yards in three straight games and has just 815 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions this year.

Gabriel was named the No. 2 quarterback behind Flacco and ahead of Sanders, who is the third-string signal caller. Gabriel was selected in the third round of this year's draft, two rounds ahead of Sanders.

The Browns are likely heading for another lost season, so it would make sense for them to start evaluating their young quarterbacks sooner rather than later. It appears that Gabriel will have the first chance to showcase his skills while Sanders continues to wait in the wings.