Former Penn State football RB Miles Sanders off to an impressive start

Former Penn State football star Miles Sanders is looking good at his first NFL training camp so far with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Around this time last year, Penn State football was excited to see what they have in their former five-star running back, Miles Sanders. With Saquon Barkley officially moved on, Sanders was finally getting his chance to take over the backfield in year three. As expected, Sanders had an impressive year. After 220 rushing attempts, he accounted for 1,274 yards and nine scores.

Although Sanders could’ve made his return to Happy Valley to increase his NFL stock, the Nittany Lions running back wasn’t interested in waiting. Sanders would declare for the NFL draft, and participated at the NFL Combine along with his Pro Day in Happy Valley. There is when Sanders impressed NFL coaches from all over. But one team specifically fell in love with Sanders’ game.

The Philadelphia Eagles were raving about Sanders after he wrapped up his Pro Day back in the wintertime. After seeing film from last season, along with running him through drills, the Eagles were willing to spend a second-round pick on Sanders. According to Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager Howie Roseman, the teams’ front office believed that if Sanders were to play his senior season at Penn State, he would’ve undoubtedly worked himself into the first-round.

The Eagles got lucky though. A player they viewed as a potential first-round pick was there for the taking in the second round. Sanders arrived in Philly a day after being selected and even stood out at rookie’s minicamp. Unfortunately, he ended up suffering a hamstring injury though, slowing down his progression this offseason. In the spring, Sanders would miss every single event from voluntary OTAs to mandatory minicamp.

Sanders’ absence on the field concerned many. While his hamstring issues weren’t season threatening, it was still clear Sanders was missing valuable time during his first NFL offseason. Outsiders weren’t sure if Sanders would be available for training camp or not, but the former Nittany Lions running back arrived at the Eagles’ practice facility healthy and ready to work. As expected, Sanders got off to an impressive start with the Eagles so far.

"“He’s healthy. He’s ready to go,” said Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. “We just want to mix him in and see the athleticism, see the talent, see what he recalls from the spring being around meetings and watching practices and stuff like that. We just work him in slowly, get him caught up, then we wait for these games to really see what he can do."

On his first carry against a live defense with minimal contact, Sanders had one goal — make the defenders miss like he knows he can. Sanders did just that. Outside of rookie minicamp, nobody within the Philly local media had the opportunity to see Sanders in action against an NFL defense with experienced veterans on it. So when Sanders got his chance, he created quite the buzz.