RB Miles Sanders, Penn St.*

5’11” – 211 lbs. – 4.49
Played sparingly on offense in his first two seasons with the Nittany Lions, filling in behind Saquon Barkley and posting lines of 25-184-1 as a freshman and 31-191-2 as a sophomore, also returning kicks in his first year with the team. Took over the starting role this past season and went 220-1,274-9 rushing with another 24 receptions before declaring for the draft. A pretty well-built runner who proved he can carry the load this past season. Did most of his work out of the shotgun, with a balance of north-south and east-west attempts. More of a patient runner than an explosive one; does a good job of letting his blocks develop and sliding to find rushing lanes. Has enough lateral quickness to bounce runs outside, or make cutbacks to get upfield. Shifty back with nice footwork in the backfield and the ability to make defenders miss in one-on-one situations; very impressive jump-cuts and overall balance. Not the most powerful runner but does a good job of getting low into contact and can run through some arm tackles. Works in a stiff-arm when he gets into the defensive backfield. Has serious fumbling problems, having coughed up the ball ten times over the past three years, including five fumbles as a junior. Not quite as valuable on passing downs as he is in the running game. Blocking leaves something to be desired; seems a little bit slow to process and finds himself out of position too often, struggling to square up and engage. Does give good effort and demonstrates the ability to engage from his feet, although he has a tendency to throw his body at opponents instead of using his arms. Also has some experience leading the way as a run blocker on sweeps. Appears to have pretty reliable hands but was limited to releasing into the flats and catching swing passes or throws off of delayed releases, with less than six yards per catch this past season. Lined up in the slot on rare occasions; looks like it would be worth trying to get him in one-on-one matchups against opposing linebackers and cornerbacks. A runner with impressive pure running skills, mixing vision, footwork, and elusiveness, but who has issues with ball security which he’ll need to clean up in order to stay out of the doghouse at the next level. Seemingly on the fringe between the second and third days of the draft.