The 2025 NFL Season is officially less than a month away and the NFL’s pre-season is in full swing. We’ve got various quarterback battles going on across the league right now, so let’s jump right into the QB Rooms of these teams and try to decipher what we’re going to see from each squad this year.
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QB1 | August 6
The quarterback position is one of, if not the most important position in all of football. Your quarterback is your offensive leader, the voice that echoes in the huddle and the one guy on offense most responsible (usually) for a win come Sunday. This year we’ve got multiple teams with their QB situation still up in the air and today we’re here to break it down and give you some insights into these QB battles and who’s looking like they’ll come out on top.
Cleveland Browns
Was there any doubt that we’d be starting with the Cleveland Browns? One of the most intriguing situations in the entire league, the Browns enter 2025 with no clear cut QB1. Cleveland entered the 2025 NFL Draft with the #2 overall pick, but traded said pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Browns traded their #2 pick, a 4th rounder and a 6th rounder in this year’s draft, for the #5 overall pick in this year’s draft, the Jaguars’ 2026 1st rounder, and two more picks in this year’s draft. Cleveland drafted DT Mason Graham with the #5 pick and snagged both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the 3rd and 5th rounds; respectively.
Cleveland’s got one of the strangest Quarterback rooms in the league. They’ll likely start Joe Flacco in Week 1, with Kenny Pickett slated to be his backup before he suffered a hamstring injury in late July. Pickett’s remained limited at camp and it’s opened the door for both Gabriel and Sanders to potentially fill that QB2 spot.
The Battle for QB2
The Browns played their first game of the preseason over the weekend, allowing Sanders to take a majority of the snaps under center. Shedeur went 14/23, threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders looked great in his debut, making tough throws, putting points on the board and most of all; taking care of the ball.
Dillon Gabriel was drafted ahead of Sanders in this year’s NFL Draft, so I guess it stands to reason why he’s listed as this team’s current QB3. Gabriel started camp looking great, completing 33/50 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Day 3 of camp is when we started to see Gabriel start to slump just a little bit, completing just half of his passes and turning the ball over.
The Browns play in one of the toughest divisions in football and haven’t had elite QB play since Baker Mayfield was traded to Carolina. Nothing has changed in Cleveland and it’s why their win total currently sits at over/under 5.5; juiced towards the under.
Indianapolis Colts
Anytime your franchise has a quarterback competition taking place, it can make it tough on the entire team. Now if that that competition is taking place between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, you might be in store for an incredibly ugly season.
Succession
Being tasked with succeeding Andrew Luck is no easy task. The Colts have had nine different QBs since Luck retired in 2019, having played in just one playoff game over that time frame. Back in 2020, it was Phillip Rivers who found himself under centre in Indianapolis, going 11-5 and losing in the wild card round.
Since then, it’s been a steady diet of old QBS, way passed their prime and just bad young quarterbacks. The Colts drafted Anthony Richardson with the 4th overall pick in 2023, making him the highest drafted QB the team’s drafted since Andrew Luck.
Richardson’s shown flashes of big play ability in his first two seasons, but a lack of availability and leadership have really held him back. Richardson threw just eight touchdowns in his sophomore year, but somehow still managed to throw 12 interceptions.
Enter, Danny Dimes. The Colts signed the former Giants’ starter this off-season and have made it abundantly clear; QB1 is up for grabs.
Through camp so far, both QBs have looked good at times. Improved footwork for Anthony Richardson being highlighted along with Jones’ ability to get the ball out deep. Both QBs have struggled in the redzone, Jones finishing with multiple interceptions and Richardson struggling to hit receivers in stride.
We talking about Practice? (Preseason)
In the Colts one and only preseason game so far, Anthony Richardson got the start; before leaving on the first drive with a dislocated pinky. The third year quarterback failed to identify the blitz and we saw him hit the turf like a ton of bricks.
Jones entered the game after Richardson’s departure, throwing 10/21 for 144 yards and no touchdowns. Richardson now remains day to day and with neither QB really turning heads, that over/under 7.5 wins total is looking a little high.
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