Why Miles Sanders is a sneaky fantasy draft value
Yahoo Fantasy analyst Andy Behrens explains why the Philadelphia running back can still be effective alongside Jalen Hurts, despite a crowded backfield.
Video Transcript
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ANDY BEHRENS: The biggest issue facing the Philadelphia Eagles in reality is probably the development of quarterback Jalen Hurts, right? It's going to be his show this year. And they need to figure out if he can level up. They've given him all kinds of receiving talent now with the arrival of DeVonta Smith. That's going to be great. So his situation, pretty good.
But for fantasy, there's not really a lot of doubts about Hurts. He's already pretty great. You look at his four-game sample as a starter last year, he rushed for 272 yards. He had three rushing touchdowns. There's such a high rushing floor there that he's automatically going to be a top 10 fantasy quarterback. You can kind of set it and forget it. I don't think anybody is even worried about him.
The biggest issue related to the Eagles for fantasy purposes is really what we're doing with Miles Sanders, a player that generated a lot of excitement in his rookie year. You look at last season, he really took a step backward as a receiver. He only caught about 54% of his targets, which is an insanely low rate for a running back. That's a worry.
They drafted Kenneth Gainwell, a kid out of Memphis who, not a great inside the tackles runner. But he can sure catch the football. So that's a little bit of a concern.
The thing is, Sanders, to my eye, is better at almost everything than any of the other running backs on this roster are at any one thing, right? They added Kerryon Johnson, but he hasn't really been particularly productive in a couple of seasons. He's dealt with injuries. They still have Jordan Howard. They got Boston Scott. Now they add Gainwell.
Miles Sanders can do anything these guys can do a little bit better. You look back at his rookie year, he caught over 50 passes. So we know that's a skill he possesses. He was really efficient last year. He averaged over 5 yards per carry.
And then you look at what he did in those Jalen Hurts starts, and it was pretty great. He averaged 103 scrimmage yards per game. So I think this is going to be a good season for Sanders. And I think he's a bit of a draft value right now.
You can get him in round three. You don't need to take him at the back end of round one anymore, early in round two. You can get him in round three. He's going to be a great deal. I think he's going to be a solid RB2 for fantasy purposes.
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