Ranking Penn State’s 5 most impressive recruiting victories of James Franklin Era

2. Miles Sanders (2016)

Miles Sanders differs from the others on this list because the part of his recruitment we will highlight is during his commitment to Penn State.

Sanders was the first 5-star to commit to Franklin, with him pledging to the Nittany Lions on July 19, 2014, before Fraklin had even coached a game at Penn State. While it was exciting to get the Pittsburgh area star running back in the fold so early, Franklin knew he was in for a battle to keep him.

The offers began to rack up for Sanders as his high school career went on, including the likes of Alabama. As the offers came in, so did the visits. The hometown school, Pitt, became the biggest threat because of Sander’s short distance from the school. Sanders appeared there for a game once in 2015, as signing day approached.

Things had not been exactly going well for Franklin at Penn State in the time since Sanders’ commitment.

The team had back-to-back 7-6 seasons and rumors about Franklin’s job security began to swirl. Schools such as Pitt and Michigan State gave Penn State the biggest challenge, doing in-home visits with Sanders and his family in the weeks leading up to signing day.

There was plenty of negative recruiting ammo between Franklin’s record and the fact that Saquon Barkley just finished his break-out freshman campaign and practically guaranteed that Sanders would be a back-up for at least two years.

Despite all of this, Franklin and his staff held on and secured Sanders’ signature. Sanders ended his rushing for 1,649 yards and 12 touchdowns on 276 carries. He started only one year at Penn State, collecting 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns in 2018. Sanders was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round in the 2019 draft.