For two seasons at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders always knew where he stood.
He was QB1.
Numerous storylines surrounded the Buffaloes during the first two years of Coach Prime's era. The quarterback position wasn’t one of them.
Sanders came to Boulder with his father, Deion Sanders, and quickly took command of the offense. He became one of the faces of the program, a team leader, and eventually one of the top quarterbacks in college football.
Things are much different now.
Shedeur is competing with Deshaun Watson for playing time with the Cleveland Browns. The quarterbacks have worked with different groups throughout training camp, which means people are tracking who is getting what reps.
Just don’t expect Sanders to join in.
“I don’t know what ones and twos are, honestly,” Sanders said this week. “I’m telling you, it switches every day. So what’s ones and what’s twos? It’s just work. What work are we getting today?”
A very different situation from Colorado
It’s hard to imagine Sanders ever having to answer that question in Boulder. Everyone knew who the starting quarterback was.
Now, as Shedeur prepares to begin his second NFL season, every practice can spark new speculation. Spending one day with a certain group can become a headline. A few throws can shift the conversation about the competition.
Sanders seems determined not to focus on any of it.
“That doesn’t even phase me or get to me or I think about that at all,” Shedeur said. “I’m just thankful to be able to practice...Sometimes you got to sit back and reflect on why would I feel negative in this situation if last year was a totally different situation, so I think about things that I’m thankful for in life and not that I really want. If you live in that want world then you can always be searching.”
When asked where he’s improved most, Sanders didn’t choose one area.
“I wouldn’t really say improve most,” Sanders said. “I’ll say every area I try to improve. It’s like a chart within myself and seeing, okay, if I got 10 different areas to improve, let’s improve each area every day.”
The confidence fans saw at Colorado is still there. What’s different is the situation around it.
Sanders Is showing another side of leadership
Before taking questions this week, Sanders apologized to Browns reporters for how he handled his previous media appearance.
“First, I want to apologize for how things were last time I came up here before y’all,” Sanders said.
He explained that he doesn’t like to see division between the team and those around it, or how people get “painted a certain way.”
“I feel drained when I express myself to people and places and cameras when it’s not received and taken the right way or we’re trying to divide the team or anything like that,” Sanders said.
He continued to explain his viewpoint. He wasn’t backing down from his beliefs. Rather than letting a bad interaction linger, he faced it directly and moved on.
Shedeur also defended Browns coach Todd Monken when the conversation turned to how the quarterback reps have been handled.
“I just don’t really appreciate sometimes if things happen and y’all just jump on the coach like he’s just tripping or something,” Sanders said. “I don’t really like that because it creates just extra.”
Leadership looks a bit different when you’re the undisputed starting quarterback. Sanders had that comfort at Colorado. He could lead, knowing that when Saturday came around, the offense was his.
He doesn’t have that assurance right now.
But we’re seeing what happens when Shedeur Sanders has to compete without knowing exactly where everything will lead.
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