Only Miles Sanders Until Penn State Football

Five star running back Miles Sanders, recruited as the top runningback in the country, was a standout football and track athlete at Woodland Hills High in Pittsburgh. There he helped lead Woodland Hills to an 11-1 season and the runner-up in the PIAA AAAA state championship,

As the first verbal commit of the Penn State 2016 recruiting class, Sanders set the stage for a solid class and one of the deepest and most talented runningback units Penn State football has seen in years. That’s a nice problem for the Nittany Lions to have, but meant that Sanders saw split playing time as the backup to Saquon Barkley and as a return specialist.

Last year, Sanders played in 13 games, putting up solid performances as a true freshman. He was the Nittany Lions’ top kick returner with 20.8 yards per return, with 33 kickoff returns (a Penn State record) for 688 yards (second in Penn State program history). He finished the season fourth on the team in rushing with 184 yards on 25 carries, and third on the team behind Saquon Barkley and Chris Godwin in all purpose yards with 896. Sanders had two catches for 24 yards and one touchdown, his career first, this nice 25 yarder against Maryland:

What will 2017 look like for Sanders? Fans have high hopes after Sanders' 2016 freshman season.

After a few issues with fumbles last year and a spring injury (sidelined during the Blue White game with his arm in a sling), Sanders has been looking good during summer practices. Plus he’s been adding size to his speed, packing on 19 lbs, up from 205 to 224 to get ready for the 2017 season.

Although Saquon Barkley will likely have the lion’s share of time on the field, Sanders may play more often than last year to give Barkley and his sometimes tweaky ankle a rest, but will share the field with the other members of the talented running back unit, Andre Robinson and Mark Allen.

Enjoy some Sanders highlights from 2016 and get hyped!