In the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, with the 53rd overall pick, the Philadelphia Eagles selected Miles Sanders, RB, Penn State.
Sanders' 2018 season was his first as the lead back for PSU, as he sat behind Saquon Barkley for a couple years. In his lone season as "the guy" at Penn State, Sanders ran for 1,274 yards and nine TDs on 220 carries. While it's not fair to compare Sanders to an elite player like Barkley, it's noteworthy that Sanders' career yards per carry (6.0) were better than Barkley's (5.7), though obviously, Barkley was the focus of opposing defensive game plans every week, and Sanders was not.
Sanders has good feet, change of direction, and balance. He has a knack for picking his way through traffic, while also running with some power, and he had a good Combine, shown here:
On the downside, he had just 32 career receptions at PSU. A highlight reel:
Running back was a major need this offseason, and now the Eagles have addressed it with legitimate resources, trading for Jordan Howard, and now adding Sanders in the second round. The Eagles' depth chart at running back now looks something like this:
RB1 | RB2 | RB2 | RB3 | RB 5/6 |
Jordan Howard | Miles Sanders | Corey Clement | Wendell Smallwood | Josh Adams / Boston Scott |
MORE: Updated Eagles 2019 NFL Draft board | Live: 2019 NFL Draft Day 2 open thread | Grading the Eagles' selection of Andre Dillard
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