The Carolina Panthers signed RB Miles Sanders in free agency this offseason with hopes he could be the feature back in this Carolina offense. Is he flying under the radar as a potential RB1 in the middle rounds of your fantasy football draft? Let’s take a closer look.
Behind in research? Get a trade offer in your dynasty or redraft league? Not sure who to start or sit this week? Leverage PFN’s FREE fantasy tools — our Fantasy Football Draft Kit, Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer and Calculator, and Start/Sit Optimizer! Put the finishing touch on your A+ draft with 1 of our 425+ fantasy football team names.
Miles Sanders’ Fantasy Outlook for the 2023 NFL Season
Sanders finished his four-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles on a high note. His stat line of 259-1,269-11 on the ground proved he was capable of being an efficient lead RB in a high-powered offense.
Unfortunately, Sanders’ career year in Philly wasn’t enough to prevent the Eagles from letting him hit the open market this offseason.
Well, the Panthers jumped at the opportunity by signing him to a four-year, $25.4 million dollar deal with $13 million of that amount being guaranteed. In today’s RB market, that is an accomplishment.
Looking forward to 2023, Sanders enters a Panthers backfield where he is by far the most accomplished back on the roster. The current collection of RBs behind Sanders include Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear, and Spencer Brown. Outside of Hubbard, there doesn’t appear to be any real threats to Sanders’ workload.
Sanders’ contract suggests he is likely to see much of the rushing work from this backfield.
None of the other options on the roster feel like a threat to getting him off the field in goal-line situations. Not to mention, he won’t have to contend with Jalen Hurts anymore for carries inside the red zone.
And you can make an argument Sanders is the best pass-catching RB on the roster. It feels like forever ago, but Sanders caught 50 passes his rookie season.
Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to see Sanders in preseason action yet after suffering a groin injury.
However, it appears likely he will be available for Week 1.
RB Miles Sanders appears to be back in the mix…
Sanders has been recovering from a groin injury #Panthers | #NFL pic.twitter.com/gBmCUZcOcV
— DaShawn Brown (@DaShawnWSOC9)
Is Sanders a Good Fantasy Pick?
Middle-round RBs are always tricky to sort through. There are generally valid concerns that drop them out of the first three rounds. Yet, what major concerns do we have about Sanders not returning RB2 value this season?
Do we see a real threat elsewhere on the roster to threaten his workload? I don’t.
Does he project to be a three-down back in this offense? I’d say yes.
Does the offensive line project to be one of the worst in the league? I’d say absolutely not.
Does this offense project to be one of the highest-scoring units in the league? Objectively, no.
This is probably the biggest concern for fantasy managers trying to convince themselves to select Sanders in the middle rounds. I would argue, though, that a high-volume RB doesn’t necessarily need a high-scoring offense to be a great fantasy asset.
The Las Vegas Raiders finished 12th in scoring last year but produced the RB1 in standard formats because Josh Jacobs saw 393 total touches and remained efficient with that high volume.
If you want to switch the format to PPR, which I believe favors Sanders this year, the New England Patriots’ offense — which finished 17th in PPG — produced the RB7 with Rhamondre Stevenson. If you want more proof, Antonio Gibson was RB10 in 2021 on an offense that finished 24th in ppg and QB Taylor Heinicke under center.
MORE: 2023 Dynasty RB Rankings
If you are completely out on the Panthers’ offense with a rookie QB under center, I imagine you won’t have any shares of Sanders this year.
However, the RB2 floor looks pretty clear for me in the case of Sanders in 2023. He is a good pick to make in the middle rounds of your fantasy draft.
- PFN Consensus Rankings: 46th overall
- ADP: 48th overall
