Shedeur Sanders faces one of the toughest battles of his life. Last season, he went up against rookie Dillon Gabriel for the QB1 spot. This time, it will be against a veteran who's managed nearly 5000 yards and 45 touchdowns when healthy.

But it's a battle he's going to win, per former Colorado Buffaloes and NFL star Phillip Lindsay. And it all comes down to his tough rookie year.

In an exclusive interview with Action Network, Lindsay, now a Denver radio host, revealed he believes Sanders will hold the QB1 spot.

"Everybody at some point in their life, they get humbled. They get brought back down to reality. I think that it was a learning lesson for him. It’s not a good feeling. The worst feeling I ever felt was the three days during the draft when I did not get drafted."

Despite finishing eighth in the Heisman ranking, Sanders was drafted as the 144th overall pick. What followed were tough months. After receiving limited snaps in the pre-season, Sanders sat on the bench until Dillon Gabriel was injured. In the following games, he managed only 1400 yards and eight scrimmage touchdowns while throwing 10 interceptions.

If you look at his college numbers, it's a sharp drop-off. In his final year with the Buffaloes, he had 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. As Lindsay explained, the first year in the NFL has been humbling.

But as a rookie who had a tough first year in the NFL, Lindsay knows the way through. As fans may remember, he was an undrafted rookie back in 2018 before signing as a free agent with the Denver Broncos and then became the first undrafted offensive rookie in NFL history to be voted to a Pro Bowl.

"You’re sitting there questioning yourself like, ‘Why doesn’t anyone want me?’ “It puts you in a situation where you don’t want to feel that way, and you’re going to work as hard as possible to change people’s minds, and never put yourself in that situation again. So I think for Shedeur, you’re going to get the best version of him this year," he added.

And that seems like the case this year. When the minicamp kicked off for the Browns, reporter Mary Kay Cabot talked about Shedeur taking the most snaps.

"I thought it was very significant that when we showed up for the very first day of mandatory minicamp, the player taking most of the first team reps on that day, on the first day of mandatory minicamp was Shedeur Sanders, I just thought that was significant," she wrote.

And it's clear that Sanders wants to push himself to the limit to get the spot.

Shedeur Sanders' perspective echoes Lindsay and Cabot's analysis

In a vlog posted on his YouTube account, Shedeur Sanders talked about what he learned in the last year and what he's taking into 2026.

"When I compare my situation in life or anything, or even in football to somebody else’s, then at that point I would never be happy. The best thing I got out of everything is more tools I could use in life and understanding. I was able to understand a lot of things from a different point of view... I’m not content just being on no team, you feel me? Like I’m trying to get it right. I’m trying to be one of the greatest. You got to be thankful, but no, it’s still more," he said.

Last season, one of the biggest talking points about Sanders' game was his decision-making in the pocket. With 10 interceptions in less than half a season, there were serious questions raised. But according to Todd Monken, Sanders has made a massive improvement in that regard.

In any case, Sanders has his objective clear. Deshaun Watson is his primary competitor, and he will have to defeat the veteran as he comes back from injury.

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Written by

Siddharth Shirwadkar