Seahawks' Sam Darnold offers crucial advice for Shedeur Sanders ahead of Browns' QB battle

One of the NFL's biggest storylines this preseason volition beryllium successful Berea, Ohio, arsenic the Cleveland Browns volition person an intriguing backmost contention featuring their fifth-round pick, Shedeur Sanders. 

Sanders, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and third-round prime Dillon Gabriel volition each beryllium vying for the aforesaid job, but the spotlight volition beryllium agleam connected the Colorado awesome caller aft his NFL Draft descent to the 5th circular made nationalist headlines. 

Sanders went from being a first-round fastener to a fifth-round enactment that had galore scratching their heads, debating astir his acceptable successful Cleveland aft they conscionable selected Gabriel to marque him the 3rd backmost connected the extent chart, adjacent to Flacco and Pickett. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Colorado Buffalos backmost Shedeur Sanders, #2, looks connected anterior to the crippled against the Arizona Wildcats astatine Arizona Stadium successful Tucson, Arizona, connected Oct. 19, 2024. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

While it is expected Flacco volition get the archetypal ace astatine winning the job, Sanders volition person chances to vie with his caller teammates to perchance onshore the starting role. 

A backmost contention is thing Sam Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks' caller quarterback, has been done successful his career. He had a spot of proposal for the young Sanders, who is getting his archetypal sensation of a grooming campy battle.

"I deliberation the biggest happening is having respect," Darnold told Fox News Digital, portion discussing his clip with the Lowe's Foundation astatine SkillsUSA National Signing Day successful Seattle. "Having respect for the teammates that you’re competing with."

TRUMP DETAILS HIS INVOLVEMENT IN SHEDEUR SANDERS' CLOSELY-WATCHED FALL IN NFL DRAFT

While it is simply a competition, it is important to retrieve these are besides teammates chasing the aforesaid goal: winning a Super Bowl. 

After his failed stint with the New York Jets, who took him 3rd wide successful the 2018 NFL Draft, Darnold bounced astir aggregate teams and had to combat his mode into the presumption helium was with the Minnesota Vikings past season. Even there, Darnold fought to triumph the starting backmost role, and helium earned his spot to take his adjacent squad successful escaped bureau this offseason. 

Darnold specifically looked backmost astatine his clip with the Carolina Panthers, wherever the subordinate who went 2 picks earlier him successful that 2018 draft, Baker Mayfield, was his main contention successful 2022. 

Minnesota Vikings backmost Sam Darnold, #14, looks to propulsion against the Atlanta Falcons during the 2nd 4th astatine U.S. Bank Stadium. (Matt Krohn-Imagn Images)

"I was successful a backmost contention successful my 2nd twelvemonth successful Carolina with Baker. Me and Baker are inactive truly adjacent to this day, and we some had specified a genuine respect for 1 another," Darnold explained. "Sometimes, it wasn’t precisely wide who was getting the 1’s reps oregon 2’s reps that day. But erstwhile our fig was called, whether it was maine oregon Bake going retired determination with the 1’s, it was conscionable like, ‘All right, spell retired there.’ 

"Then, successful the idiosyncratic drills that day, if I was getting the 1’s reps, Bake would fto maine instrumentality similar Christian [McCaffrey] connected a way oregon D.J. Moore connected a route. It was ever that respect. Then, if it was flipped, if Bake was taking the 1’s reps, I would fto him instrumentality each the guys helium was going to beryllium moving with that day. 

"I deliberation whether it’s Shedeur oregon anyone else, I deliberation conscionable having respect for those guys successful the quarterbacks country and helping everybody get better. That’s the biggest happening astatine this constituent successful the season, helping everybody get better. When you bash that, you get amended yourself, much than you adjacent know."

As of now, determination is simply a bully accidental Sanders is not the 1 nether halfway successful Week 1 to statesman the Browns' 2025 campaign. How helium handles waiting successful the wings for his clip to radiance volition besides beryllium successful the nationalist spotlight. 

Colorado Buffaloes backmost Shedeur Sanders, #2, against the Arizona State Sun Devils astatine Mountain America Stadium successful Tempe, Arizona, connected Oct. 7, 2023. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

If that infinitesimal comes, Darnold wants Sanders to deliberation squad first. 

"When Bake got the motion for Week 1, I was like, ‘I’m present for you. Anything you need, if you privation maine to ticker portion of definite third-down looks oregon immoderate blitz packages the defence mightiness have, I’m present for you,'" Darnold said. "It’s that benignant of mode successful the quarterbacks room, and there’s thing that simulates that successful the existent world."

CELEBRATING NEXT GENERATION OF TRADE WORKERS

While Darnold is getting his bearings successful his caller city, helium made definite to halt by Lowe’s Seattle store ceremonial for SkillsUSA National Signing Day, which is simply a solemnisation mirroring the excitement of diversion signings but for aboriginal electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs and builders. 

Lowe’s rolled retired the bluish carpet and each for students, who were amazed by Seattle’s newest shot star, and this inaugural is 1 that hits adjacent to location for Darnold. His father, Mike, has been a plumber for 30-plus years.

Sam Darnold poses with commercialized students connected SkillsUSA National Signing Day with the Lowe's Foundation. (Lowe's Foundation)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"It was unbelievable," Darnold said of the experience. "I’ve seen the hard enactment that helium enactment successful his full beingness to it. So, conscionable being capable to spot these kids and spot the hard enactment they’ve already enactment in, get to conscionable them and speech to them astir the way that they’re headed, and conscionable however passionate they are astir it. 

"I deliberation there’s truthful galore much opportunities retired determination successful the accomplishment trades world, and maine and my dada person talked astir it, however there’s not a batch of kids doing that anymore. It’s a peculiar accidental for kids to interaction their communities successful ways they astir apt don’t adjacent cognize they’re going to."

New information from ADP shows astir 1 successful 5 workers aged 20-24 held blue-collar jobs arsenic of May 2023. While that was a 2% emergence since 2019, the U.S. faces a shortage of 439,000 operation workers.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports sum connected X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.