Philadelphia Eagles' 2020 season could hang on second-year leap from Miles Sanders
Can the Eagles become the first repeat NFC East champions since 2004? It might depend on Miles Sanders.
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Clearly, the most important offensive player on the Philadelphia Eagles is Carson Wentz. The quarterback is the most important offensive player on every team in the NFL and always will be. However, CBS Sports lists second-year running back Miles Sanders as the key player on the team who is still on his rookie contract. We examined Bears receiver Anthony Miller and Patriots running back Sony Michel in similar situations earlier this week in the NFC North and AFC East, respectively.
Sanders didn't get a chance to touch the ball much at Penn State his first two seasons in Happy Valley because the Nittany Lions had a pretty good tailback by the name of Saquon Barkley. Sanders finally became the featured back in 2018 and rushed for 1,274 yards and nine scores. Philadelphia took him with the No. 53 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The only running back taken ahead of Sanders was Josh Jacobs to the Raiders at No. 24.
Jordan Howard entered last season as the Eagles' starter and Sanders averaged just 8.3 carries per game over the first eight. In the final eight games, however, Sanders played 72 percent of the snaps and averaged 18.4 touches. He finished with 818 yards rushing and three scores on 179 carries with 50 catches for 503 yards and three scores. Only a handful of rookies in league history have accounted for 800 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards (Barkley was one).
Sanders could be in line for a much bigger workload this year with Howard and Darren Sproles both gone. The former Penn State star's backup is 2018 sixth-round pick Boston Scott. It is thought that the Eagles would like to add a veteran for insurance – perhaps signing Devonta Freeman or bringing back LeSean McCoy.
As CBS Sports' Patrik Walker notes, the Eagles need Sanders to help keep opposing defenses honest in their attempts to go after Wentz, who hasn't exactly been injury-proof in his career. Sanders and the Eagles already have had one big blow, though, losing three-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Books to a season-ending injury.
Philadelphia is given an Over-Under win total of 9.5 for this season at William Hill sportsbook. No individual player statistical props out yet, but Sanders should be set around 940.5 rushing yards and a huge long shot to win the rushing title.
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