Philadelphia Eagles: 6 Players who stood out for better or for worse vs. Lions

2. Miles Sanders, RB

You would expect a lot more from a second-round rookie running back at this point in the season, but there’s still something that isn’t clicking with Miles Sanders. Again, we’ve said this a million times — it’s not all of his fault. The offensive line deserves blame for poor blocking.

But they aren’t doing a bad job all of the time. Sanders’ vision hasn’t been up to par. He misses holes and tries to do too much in an attempt to create a home run. Instead, he ends up with a loss of yards or no gain. He may be the most elusive runner in the backfield, but what good is his elusivness if he doesn’t have the vision to make something happen?

And what good is his running if he can’t hold onto the football? On Sunday, Sanders fumbled twice. Believe it or not, ball security was an issue for Sanders at Penn State. The Eagles should’ve known to take him out and give Jordan Howard his bulk of the carries afterward, but they remained overly confident in the rookie.

This isn’t a knock on Sanders and calling him a bust. It’s way too early for that. However, it’s okay to say the rookie doesn’t look ready. Something is just off about his game right now, and Jordan Howard should be getting a bulk of his carries.