There were actually lots of clues towards Gabler's victory, and he was the only one all season who consistently interjected every episode about how doing one thing or another was getting him closer to winning. They only do that for winners, everyone else was super inconsistent edit-wise, and Jesse (most people's top pick) wasn't introduced until like 40 minutes into the premiere just to say something circumstantial about Nneka and Justine lol

Gabler was also never wrong in any of his confessionals throughout the season. The other players might have made fun of him but he never said anything factually incorrect

Edgic still works, I think people just REALLY wanted a Jesse win and didn't see the red flags.