Former Penn State Football RB Miles Sanders scores first NFL touchdown

Former Penn State football running back Miles Sanders is creating an impact on the Philadelphia Eagles for his first NFL season.

Being a rookie in the NFL is tough. Going from college football to the pros causes every aspect of the game to turn up a notch. Some guys catch onto the speed of the game quickly and do an excellent job of creating an immediate impact for their team.

Other guys tend to struggle a bit and go through what many like to call “growing pains.” Former Penn State football running back Saquon Barkley was a part of the first group last season, as he earned Rookie of the Year honors after his first season with the New York Giants.

This year, Miles Sanders was given a similar opportunity to do the same with the Philadelphia Eagles, but his road hasn’t been as easy. For his first few weeks in the NFL, Sanders has had his ups and downs. He’s struggled in finding the holes on the defense and creating impactful runs.

Through six weeks, Sanders has only averaged 3.5 yards-per-carry off of 57 attempts. With that, he still hasn’t surpassed 200 yards and hasn’t reached the end zone. While Sanders has been struggling with his carries, he has exceeded expectations in two different areas.

One part of his game, which he upgraded, happens to be pass protection. The other? Catching passes. It’s not an ideal situation for the Philadelphia Eagles, but Miles Sanders has become one of their most productive deep threats at this point in the season.

Through six games, the rookie has caught 13 passes for 219 yards, averaging 16.8 yards-per-catch. Just this past Sunday, Sanders finally reached the end zone for the first time in his career. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz launched a ball to Sanders, who had the opportunity to catch and run for a 32-yard score, notching his first professional touchdown.

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Although Sanders and his team didn’t win on Sunday, at least the former Penn State product didn’t go home empty-handed. There was no ‘W’ to celebrate, but Sanders did get to keep the ball that he caught as he will likely hold onto that for life. Hopefully, that was just the beginning for Sanders, who has shown flashes in the NFL so far.