Philadelphia Eagles news: A new UTR take questions Miles Sanders again

Training camp approaches, and Philadelphia Eagles star Miles Sanders, for the second season in a row, is one of the more talked-about topics. During 2020’s offseason, everyone was still buzzing because he had just passed both DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy in the team’s record books. By doing so, his name sits atop the franchise’s records for all-purpose yards and rushing yards by a rookie.

That led to questions about what he’d do for an encore and everyone’s thoughts about Duce Staley and the rest of the coaching staff stating that he was ready to shoulder the ‘full load’. Half of our staff at Inside the Iggles was more than ready to see it happen. The other half had another theory.

Sanders is five-foot-eleven and 211 pounds. He’s basically an inch shorter than Michael Vick and a pound or so lighter than 7 was in his playing days. We don’t want to see Sanders hammered up the middle on running plays 25 times a game, do we?

Philly’s seen him get hurt a time or two, and it appears they’ve grown in the decision-making process. They’ve gotten him some help via free agency (Kerryon Johnson) and the draft (Kenneth Gainwell), and folks, Gainwell is going to be a monster. It appears that’s all part of the thinking that led to another hot take that was delivered recently containing Boobie’s name.

The Philadelphia Eagles star is being mentioned as a possible Fantasy dud.

Similar to most of you, Philadelphia Eagles fans are having a hard time with having to wait on these guys to get back so we all can discuss training camp, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to talk about.

Recently, NFL.com’s Maurice Jones-Drew almost came this close to putting 26 in the bottom fourth of the league’s starting running backs. Sanders wound up at 27. Only Tevin Coleman, Damien Harris, Mark Ingram, Devin Singletary, and Myles Gaskin finished lower. We’ve discussed MJD’s mental lapse on that one, but here’s another take on Sanders that you might find interesting, especially if you’re looking to strengthen your Fantasy football squad for 2021.

Pro Football Network‘s Tommy Garrett labeled him as one of the top nine Fantasy football busts for the coming 2021-2022 season. Wait! What? We don’t want to take one of the game’s best dual-threat backs in Miles Sanders?

It seems baffling until you realize that Garrett brings the conversation back to one about workload. Take a look at some of what he had to say:

"I really want to buy in and love Miles Sanders as some, but everything the Eagles have done screams timeshare…Sanders has averaged just 15 total touches per game in a relatively low volume role through two seasons. He averaged 3.1 receptions per game in 2019, but that number fell to just 2.3 per game in 2020. Due to this, Sanders has been a somewhat inconsistent fantasy scorer — producing RB2 or better numbers in just 14 of 28 games."

None of that can be denied. Hold on a second. Here’s more.

"From Weeks 14 through 16, while Jalen Hurts was the starter, Sanders carried the ball 46 times. Hurts, meanwhile, had 38 rushes. Sanders will never be a three-down back, and missing games for three separate injuries makes a case for the Eagles to rely on him even harder.The Eagles now have Kerryon Johnson, Jordan Howard, and drafted arguably the best pass catcher in Kenneth Gainwell. Throw in Hurts’ prolific rushing ability, and even as the “leading” back, Sanders’ touches are drastically reduced. Sanders going anywhere inside the second round has him firmly inside bust territory for fantasy in 2021."

To be honest, if all of that leads to what was suggested earlier, sharing the load to reduce the chances of injury, then, count the ITI staff in. NBC Sports’ Dave Zangaro appears to agree as well. He recently ranked the NFC East’s starting running back and, on the subject of Sanders, had this to say:

"The hope was that Sanders would take a huge jump in Year 2 but that didn’t happen as he struggled with injuries, fumbles, and dropped passes. He was actually a more efficient runner in 2020 but wasn’t the same pass-catcher… But there’s no doubt that he’s a talented runner and the new coaching staff ought to be able to get more out of him than Doug Pederson did. Expect Sanders to get more carries in 2021 but also to be better utilized in the pass game."

Think of this as well. Linebackers are six-foot-five sometimes and run the 40-yard dash in less than five seconds. The punishment running backs take is the reason guys like Eddie George and former Philadelphia Eagles star LeSean McCoy deteriorated faster than we would have liked. We don’t want Boobie to have a short career, right? Just look at how tired Ezekiel Elliott looks already with the Dallas Cowboys.

In the end, don’t hear what isn’t being said. We get it. There’s nothing like winning that Fantasy football office pool or winning your leagues, but as Philadelphia Eagles fans, most of us would rather see 26 contribute to wins on real football fields than see him represent a point total in your respective leagues.

That Super Bowl win feels like it was ten years ago. Birds fans are starving for a winner. Having a healthy and fresh Miles Sanders all season long goes a long way in ensuring that happens.