I have these theories about Miles Sanders, next man up in the long line of great Nittany Lion running backs.
So, on Saturday, I shared a few of them with the man himself, Miles Sanders.
In turn, Sanders offered a few thoughts on Sanders as well.
In total, they not only explain where Sanders has been. But also where he’s going.
• • •
It was a few minutes before the start of the annual Lift for Life in Holuba Hall. And for Sanders, it was nine Saturdays before he could once again start making the runs of his life.
Again.
Sanders was the nation’s No. 1 high school running back prospect in 2015, when he capped off a stellar career at Woodland Hills High School during which he carried the ball 508 times for 4,573 yards and 59 touchdowns.
Over the past two years at Penn State, Sanders has touched the ball just 102 times — only 56 of them on runs (plus 38 kickoff returns and eight receptions). Now, with Saquon Barkley gone, but hardly forgotten, it’s Sanders’ turn to carry the ball. Figuratively and literally.
Which leads to some theories — his, mine and ours:
1. Theory One: Miles Sanders is as cool about it all as Miles Davis.
“I’m not really stressing,” said Sanders, calm, collected and matured (having turned 21 in May, and just 83 days younger than Barkley). “I’m just going to be me. That’s all I can do.”
2. Theory Two: Sanders has never really felt in the flow of it all — save for the Fiesta Bowl.
Sanders did return 33 kickoffs as a true freshman in 2016 (ranking No. 2 on Penn State’s single-season list, with 688 yards). And he did appear in 25 of the 27 games over his first two seasons.
But, he’ll be the first to tell you — as he did on Saturday — that waiting was difficult. He had a single carry in the Sept. 17 Iowa game last year, and then over the next 48 days and five games he carried the ball just six times — all in the Michigan game, all but one in the final 199 seconds of the game, with Penn State ahead 42-13. He didn’t see the field at Ohio State.
How long is 48 days? Almost an eternity when Penn State’s 2017 regular season lasted only 84 days and you were Mr. 2015 Pennsylvania Football and you barely touched the football on Saturdays. Finally, his itched was scratched in the Fiesta Bowl, when Sanders tied his season-high for carries (six) and saw more snaps at running back than he had in any of the previous 26 games.
“The Fiesta Bowl definitely taught me a lot,” Sanders said. “That was my first game actually playing. Saquon and I switched every drive. I was a little comfortable. It was a good experience.”
Had he been uncomfortable leading up to that?
“Kinda, yeah,” he said. “It’s hard being comfortable when you come in for one or two plays.”
3. Theory Three: Sanders loves to run vertically; that is, go upfield with a minimal amount of hesitation or horizontal waste. True?
“Yes,” was Sanders’ straightforward answer. “You only gain yards moving forward. You can’t get any yards moving sideways. I want to also show that I can do take those 80-yarders. That’s like high school. Once I get comfortable again, the world will see.”
The numbers bear Sanders out. Of his 31 rushing attempts in 2017, only four went for negative yardage. And of that group was the last play of the Maryland game, as the clock ran out. So, it’s really just 3-of-30 — 10%. Overall, about 20% of his carries were for a yard or less.
In contrast, Barkley carried the ball 217 times in 2017. Thirty-four were for negative yards. Overall, not counting Barkley’s five 1-yard TD runs, 69 of his carries went for one yard or less — 32%. Barkley spent a lot of time and effort making things happen with an entire defense focusing on him, but sometimes to the detriment of gaining positive yards. According to Pro Football Focus, on runs where he was contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage, Barkley averaged 00.46 yards per carry — ranking him 57th of out 58 college running backs who qualified for the 2018 NFL Draft.
An 80-yarder isn’t a pipe dream. Sanders can pop the long ones: He had long runs of 16, 15, 29, 15 and 31 yards last season.
4. Theory Four: People don’t realize Sanders has a big per-carry rushing average. Always has.
Sanders averaged 11.2 yards per carry as a high school senior, 9.0 yards for his high school career, 7.4 yards as a Penn State freshman and 6.2 yards as a Penn State sophomore. (That other Sanders — Barry, who won a Heisman at Oklahoma State — averaged 6.8 yards per carry in college.)
Penn State’s Sanders says it’s his positive yardage positive attitude that yields a big per-yard per-carry average. On purpose. With purpose.
“My mindset is that when I get the ball I want to get at least get five yards,” shared Sanders. “The average for a running back is four yards, so if you get that three times it’s a first down. That’s my mindset every time I get the ball.”
5. Theory Five: Sanders will need to excel at catching the football, in 2018 and beyond.
“I’m working on that this summer, trying to be an all-around, all-purpose back so that hopefully I can be like Saquon,” Sanders said. “Saquon did a lot of catching out the ball out of the backfield stuff. Running backs in The League (NFL) right now are perfecting that.”
Barkley went from 20 to 28 to 54 receptions per season in his Penn State career. Sanders had just two catches un 2016 and six in 2017, averaging just 5.0 yards per grab last season. (Barkley averaged 11.7 yards for his 102 PSU receptions.)
Sanders knows he must do better, and has looked to veteran receivers Juwan Johnson and DeAndre Thompkins for guidance. “I’m working with the receivers, like JuJu and Dre, and catching with Trace (McSorley) every day after practice,” he said.
What receiving theories are they teaching you, I asked him.
“Just look at the ball,” he replied.
With that, Sanders pretended to stare a football into his open hands as a small group of reporters around him chuckled. Then he smiled. “That’s all there is to it.”
Sanders gets it. He knows catching success — on the run or as a receiver — is not just a theory, but a practice. And it only comes with practice.
