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EAGLES NOTEBOOK: Miles Sanders Honored by PFWA
Miles Sanders gained some recognition for his standout rookie season when he was named to the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team on Tuesday.
The Eagles running back did things that hadn’t been done by any rookie in team history.
Sanders broke the single-season scrimmage yards with 1,327, a mark that had been previously held by DeSean Jackson of 1,008 in 2008, broke LeSean McCoy’s mark of single-season rushing yards of 637 in 2009 with 818, and had 1,641 all-purpose yards to break that record which had been held by Herman Hunter with 1,579 in 1985.
Sanders, the 53rd player taken overall in last spring’s NFL Draft out of Penn State, played in all 16 games, with 11 starts, and was the team’s leading rusher and had the third most receptions with 50 for 509 yards. He also scored six touchdowns, three in the air and three on the ground.
In the regular-season finale, Sanders suffered a low ankle injury that forced him out in the first half, but he played in the wildcard round of the playoffs and ran for 69 yards on 14 carries despite suffering an MCL in the first half.
Sanders returned to play in the second half despite the injury.
Those glittering numbers, however, were not enough to earn Sanders the PFWA’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. That honor went to the Oakland Raiders’ Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs, the 24th overall selection out of Alabama, started 13 games and rushed for 1,150 yards with seven touchdowns and added 20 receptions for 166 yards. He became the first rookie and just the 12th player in Raiders history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season. He tied for the fourth-most 100-yard rushing performances (five) during a single season in franchise history.
Jacobs finished first amongst all rookie rushers in the NFL in rushing yards (1,150) and rushing touchdowns (seven).
The PFWA has awarded an All-Rookie team every season since 1974.
Here is the 2019 PFWA All-Rookie team.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: DE Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: RB Josh Jacobs, Oakland Raiders
DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: DE Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
All-ROOKIE TEAM:
OFFENSE
QB – Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals
RB – Josh Jacobs, Oakland Raiders; Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles
WR – A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans; Terry McLaurin, Washington Redskins
TE – Noah Fant, Denver Broncos
C – Erik McCoy, New Orleans Saints
G – Elgton Jenkins, Green Bay Packers; Dalton Risner, Denver Broncos
T – Tytus Howard, Houston Texans; Jawaan Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars
DEFENSE
DL – Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars; Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers; Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants; Ed Oliver, Buffalo Bills
LB – Devin Bush, Pittsburgh Steelers; Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco 49ers; Devin White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
CB – Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, New Orleans Saints; Sean Murphy-Bunting, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
S – Darnell Savage, Green Bay Packers; Juan Thornhill, Kansas City Chiefs
Special Teams
PK – Austin Seibert, Cleveland Browns
P – Jamie Gillan, Cleveland Browns
KR – Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs
PR – Deonte Harris, New Orleans Saints
ST – Drue Tranquill, Los Angeles Chargers
PREVIOUS PFWA ROOKIES OF THE YEAR: 1966 – MLB Tommy Nobis, Atlanta Falcons; 1967-75 – no selections; 1976 – WR Sammy White, Minnesota Vikings; 1977 – RB Tony Dorsett, Dallas Cowboys; 1978 – RB Earl Campbell, Houston Oilers; 1979 – RB Ottis Anderson, St. Louis Cardinals; 1980 – RB Billy Sims, Detroit Lions; 1981 – RB George Rogers, New Orleans Saints; 1982 – RB Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders; 1983 – RB Eric Dickerson, Los Angeles Rams; 1984 – WR/KR Louis Lipps, Pittsburgh Steelers; 1985 – WR Eddie Brown, Cincinnati Bengals; 1986 – RB Rueben Mayes, New Orleans Saints; 1987 – ILB Shane Conlan, Buffalo Bills; 1988 – RB John Stephens, New England Patriots; 1990 – S Mark Carrier, Chicago Bears; 1991 – OLB Mike Croel, Denver Broncos; 1992-2012 – no selections; 2013 – RB Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers; 2014 – WR Odell Beckham, Jr., New York Giants; 2015 – RB Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams; 2016 – RB Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys; 2017 – RB Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs; 2018 – QB Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns; 2019 – DE Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers.
CATCHING ON
The Eagles are reportedly interested in talking with a pair of former receivers in Hines Ward and Bobby Engram, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ward, 44, played with the Pittsburgh Steelers and began his coaching career as an intern with them in the summer of 2017. He became a full-time coach this past season with New York Jets as an offensive assistant.
Engram, 47, has more coaching experience after a career with the Bears, Seahawks and Chiefs. He is currently the tight ends coach for the Baltimore Ravens, but coached receivers from 2014-18 and did the same thing with the Steelers from 2012-13.
The Eagles have had a different position coach every year since Doug Pederson was hired as the head coach in 2016. Pederson’s first receivers coach, Greg Lewis, also had been a receiver in the NFL but had limited coaching experience.
AMAZON PRIME
A film crew from Amazon TV followed the Eagles around all season long and now the fruits of their labor will be shown on Feb. 7, when Amazon Prime debuts “All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles.”
There will be eight episodes narrated by Emmy-Award winning actor Jon Hamm.
This is the fifth season of the HBO Hard Knocks styled show. Other NFL team to have been featured in past seasons are the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, and Carolina Panthers.
