Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Rookies to watch

Philadelphia Eagles

Miles Sanders, RB

After the Eagles traded for former Bears running back Jordan Howard this offseason, they still used a 2019 second-round pick on former Penn State running back Miles Sanders. That should speak to how highly the Eagles’ organization regards Sanders and his talent as a back. But so far this season, Sanders has struggled to make an impact.

Sanders is an explosive player who can turn a short run into a huge gain with ease. He is also a tough runner who can fight for extra yards at the end of every run, and is also a very good receiver out of the backfield. But Sanders has not really emerged as the workhorse back that the Eagles would like to see.

To be fair to Sanders, he has not been given a true majority of the work. While he does lead the running back group in carries and offensive snaps, Howard and Darren Sproles are not far behind. And to be fair to the Eagles, Sanders hasn’t been ultra effective with the touches that he has been given (3.1 yards per carry), and fumbled twice last week against the Lions.

As our Dan Schmelzer outlined recently, the Eagles need Sanders to get going if they want to turn their 1-2 start to the season around.  As Dan mentions, Sanders may be trying to do a little too much when he gets the ball. With his somewhat limited workload, he may be trying to make a huge, impressive play each time he touches the ball, rather than taking what the defense gives him and running back and doing it again.

Sanders is pretty clearly the most talented and versatile back in the stable for the Eagles, and they would love to see him assert himself as a top playmaker in the league. He has that sort of talent, but just needs to find himself and find what works for him in this offense against NFL defenses.

As great as the Packers defense has been against downfield passing so far this season, they haven’t been nearly as effective against running backs. Dalvin Cook ran for 154 yards and a touchdown against Green Bay in week two, and also caught three balls for 37 yards. Phillip Lindsay ran for 81 yards and two touchdowns and caught four balls for 49 yards versus the Pack a week ago.

While Sanders may not be at the level of those two backs, he has the talent and versatility to take advantage of mismatches that the offense comes across against the Green Bay defense tonight. The Packers have been great at shutting down receivers down the field and pressuring the quarterback, but running backs, both running the ball and catching it out of the backfield, seems to be the defense’s Achilles heel.

After his fumbles last game and his relative ineffectiveness throughout the first three games, Sanders will look for a breakthrough game tonight. He doesn’t want the media to be asking his coach about his playing time and ineffectiveness. He wants them to be asking about his great performance. Sanders should be given the opportunity to prove himself this week, and needs to take advantage.