Miles Sanders should make immediate impact for Eagles during rookie season

The Philadelphia Eagles helped fill a need at running back by selecting Miles Sanders in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Despite pulling off a big trade a few weeks ago with the Chicago Bears by acquiring Jordan Howard, the Philadelphia Eagles were hoping to add another running back in the 2019 NFL Draft to add depth to the position.

Turns out, the Eagles helped fill that need in one of the best ways possible by landing one of the top prospects at the position in Miles Sanders following an impressive career at Penn State.

One can only imagine what kind of pressure Sanders was feeling last season with the Nittany Lions knowing it was up to him to help fill the void left at running back by Saquon Barkley, who went No. 2 during last year’s draft to the New York Giants.

Talent wise, Sanders isn’t anywhere close to the same level as his former teammate, but rushing for 1,274 yards with nine touchdowns is just one of many reasons behind why this is such a great pick for the Eagles.

During the 2017 season when Philadelphia was able to win their first Super Bowl title in franchise history, one of the main reasons behind their success was due to riding the hot hand at running back.

Instead of giving all of the carries to LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, or Corey Clement towards the end of the season, Doug Pederson took the approach of riding the hot hand at running back.

Despite taking a step back last year in this department as a result of numerous injuries, the Eagles would love nothing more than to find this success once again during the 2019 season.

Clearly, Sanders isn’t going to be the No. 1 running back as a rookie, but this selection should result in the youngster being a great compliment to Howard in the backfield.

Keep in mind that Philadelphia never would have gone with Sanders this early in the draft if they didn’t feel confident in him having what it takes to contribute right away as a rookie.

The Eagles on paper already had an offense stacked with weapons for Carson Wentz to work with, and now that Sanders is part of the picture, it’s only going to make the unit that much stronger while putting the team in great position to continue competing in the NFC.