Miles Sanders Week 11 Outlook - Lions at Panthers

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Thu, Nov 19th 2020, 8:41am EST

It was frustrating to watch both Scott and Corey Clement score touchdowns last week, but you have to look at the positives for Sanders. One, he looked fantastic and 100 percent healthy. Two, he totaled 20 of the 25 opportunities available to Eagles running backs. Don't let a few one-off plays deter you from a running back who's totaled at least 80 yards on the ground in 5-of-6 games. He's the clear-cut workhorse here on a team that's struggling to throw the ball. He's also seen eight-man defensive fronts on a league-low 3.49 percent of carries, which should allow for continued success. Still, based on yards before contact and defensive fronts, Sanders has averaged 1.01 more yards per carry than he was expected to, according to NFL's NextGenStats. That ranks as the seventh-best number in the league. Against the Browns, wide receivers are outscoring running backs by a massive 21.6 PPR points per game, which is the third-largest gap in the game. It doesn't help that running backs have seen just a 14.7 percent target share. They're one of just four teams who've held running backs below a 15 percent target share. On the ground, the only running backs who've totaled more than 57 yards were Josh Jacobs and James Conner, who both hit the 20-carry mark. Sanders has gotten to the 20-carry mark just twice in his career, though he's never exceeded it. The downside here is that the Browns have faced the second-least amount of weighted volume against running backs. The Steelers and Falcons are the only two teams who've faced fewer than the 223 touches the Browns have. Sanders should be started as a low-end RB1/high-end RB2, though the matchup favors the passing game more than the run game. Due to lack of volume, particularly through the air, Scott should not be considered as a streaming option.