Philadelphia Eagles: Miles Sanders’ strong 2020 debut is encouraging
By David Esser
For the most part, Philadelphia Eagles RB Miles Sanders was really good in his 2020 debut.
If we all just agree to forget about the opening drive fumble for a second, Miles Sanders had a really strong start to his sophomore season. The Philadelphia Eagles running back finished Week 2 with 23 touches for 131 yards (95 rushing, 36 receiving) and scored a touchdown late in the second quarter.
The former Penn State back was one of the few bright spots during an otherwise miserable Eagles showing, and it’s promising to know that he’s still someone worth getting excited about.
During their opening loss at the hands of the Washington Football Team, the Philadelphia Eagles sorely missed Sanders running ability. Both Boston Scott and Corey Clement couldn’t get anything going at the line of scrimmage, and both backs struggled when it came to pass protection, hanging Carson Wentz out to dry a handful of times.
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It must have looked even worse to the Eagles coaching staff when they went back and watched film, because free agent RB Devonta Freeman was called in for a workout visit just few days later. Howie Roseman has pretty openly stated that he doesn’t want to spend anymore money this season, so him flirting with the idea of signing a veteran back spoke volumes about how they felt regarding their current RB room.
Luckily for Roseman and the Eagles however, Sanders came back roaring at 110% this past Sunday. Minus his one ugly fumble to start off the ballgame, Sanders was really effective carrying the ball behind his blockers, averaging over 4.7 yards per carry on runs primarily designed up the middle.
Sanders struggled with bouncing too many runs to the outside during the early stages of his rookie season, so seeing him fully correct that this offseason is a welcome sight.
Sanders wasn’t as dynamic in the passing game as he has been in the past, with him and Wentz looking noticeably out of sync on a handful of would-be completions. Hopefully that cleans itself up sooner rather than later.
Next. Issac Seumalo’s injury will test Philadelphia Eagles coaches once more. dark
There’s not a whole lot to be excited about regarding the Philadelphia Eagles current roster, as a lot of the major players are old, injured, or both old and injured. A good chunk of the team’s recent draft picks can’t even see the field (looking at you Davion Taylor), so having someone as exhilarating as Sanders to root for is a small victory to be had on a team that has yet to record an actual victory here in 2020.