INDIANAPOLIS — Given they have a third-year player in starting running back James Conner and a second-year player in backup Jaylen Samuels, the Pittsburgh Steelers probably aren’t going to use one of their seven picks in the NFL Draft on the position.
That hasn’t stopped Woodland Hills graduate and former Penn State player Miles Sanders from dreaming about playing for his hometown team.
“I would love to play for Mike Tomlin,” Sanders said Thursday at the NFL Combine. “I asked certain people on the Steelers staff how he is. They said he’s a cool dude, laid back. I know a lot of Pitt players who run into him at the facility. I’d be honored to play for the Steelers.”
If the Steelers decide to draft a running back for the third year in a row, Sanders likely will be available in the middle rounds. He is viewed on the lower end of the top 10 running backs available, according to several draft projection websites.
Sanders left Penn State with one season remaining after convincing his mother he would return to school to graduate. Sanders said he is two semesters short of getting a diploma.
“I feel like I’m ready,” Sanders said. “I’m confident, and I’m ready to produce.”
Sanders is 5-foot-11, 211 pounds and has less mileage on his legs than most other running backs in his class. He had just 276 career carries at Penn State, most of them in his junior year.
Sanders left Woodland Hills as one of the most sought-after running backs in the country. But at Penn State, he spent two years sitting behind Saquon Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick last year.
“Coming in, I was expecting to play a lot as a freshman being highly recruited. When I got there, it wasn’t how I expected it,” Sanders said. “I was expecting it to be a 1-2 punch type of thing. I ended up learning a lot from him, picking stuff from his brain, seeing how he learns, prepares for games, like film-wise and how he works.”
Given a chance to start after Barkley’s departure, Sanders rushed for 1,274 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. As he prepares for life in the NFL, Sanders is hardly lacking in confidence.
“I think I’m a great running back,” he said. “I feel like I can be that Todd Gurley, Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott type of running back. I can do whatever to help a team win a Super Bowl.”
