Dallas Cowboys Draft: 10 Running Back Prospects To Know

Miles Sanders, Penn State

What’s Good: Catching, Athleticism

What Ain’t Good: Vision, Ball Security

When you watch Sanders play, you want him to play like SaQuon Barkley. He’s constantly moving his feet and trying to play with the same juice as his predecessor. Unfortunately, that didn’t help Sanders very much. Sanders has some of the likable qualities that SaQuon had coming out of college, but he is lacking in some areas.

His vision is inconsistent when running between the tackles. It feels at times when he isn’t patient enough, he gets stuck in the middle. When he is patient, he uses his burst to gain solid yards through the middle or bounce outside for a solid gain. (There’s the SaQuon trait) He doesn’t bounce outside often, which is good for its effectiveness, but he needs some consistency when running up the middle. This mattered in games against good defenses like Ohio State and Michigan where he simply didn’t produce anything.

His ball security is an issue at times. He didn’t record many turnovers but he had the propensity to lose the football from his grasp. For a guy who didn’t show up against better defenses, this isn’t an advantage you want to give the opposition. Ball security should be a point of emphasis in his training seeing as how he has the ability to play in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage.

However with Sanders, there’s more good than bad. He produced well when given the bell-cow back role, he can line up from anywhere on the field, and he has the athleticism to play at the next level.

Perhaps the only concern with those mentioned are he doesn’t have a significant burst and that he plays at a single speed, but he’s fast enough to play against NFL linebackers so I can’t see that being a grave concern.

Could he be a Cowboy?:

Yes. He has the complementary skill set that would be an ideal pair to Zeke, but, at what cost? Sanders has the production and ability to go as early as Day 2, so would the Cowboys be willing to invest that high in the running back position? Finding a new running back to help Zeke and the offense is important, but how important? I suppose time will tell…