The closer we get to the NFL draft, the more likely it seems that Miles Sanders will be drafted in the second round
Before the NFL combine Miles Sanders was not receiving much press and was looked at as a third or fourth round pick in the Chicago Bears reach. Mel Kiper paired the two together pre-draft and the Bears did meet with the Penn State running back.
However, Miles Sanders met with a lot of teams that weekend, and then went to the combine and had a solid day. After gaining steam at the combine, it started to become a question as to whether or not he would be selected by pick 87.
In fact, last night Lance Zierlein of NFL.com tweeted that he will be a round two selection. This may not be a surprise to some as long-time Chicago Bears scout Greg Gabriel added last week that there “there is no chance” that Miles Sanders will be available for the Chicago Bears.
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With the draft nearing and teams are beginning to have some of their boards leaked it is becoming apparent that the national media is catching on to Sanders while the NFL has consistently viewed him as one of the best backs in the class.
As we noted yesterday, five running backs are likely to be taken before the Chicago Bears pick. It is started to sound more and more clear that Sanders is a stone-cold lock for one of the top five.
This does bring the question, should the Chicago Bears trade up for Miles Sanders? This is tough to answer without knowing how far he will fall. If he fell to the late 70s, it would be different than seeing him fall to 35th overall.
The Bears got some compensation for Jordan Howard, but that is in the form of a conditional late round pick. That is not going to move the needle.
While it is tough to say that they will be able to or have the equity to do so, one thing seems to be clear. If they do move up, it will be for Miles Sanders. The team has kept interest the entire time, and he is the perfect fit. While they have not looked into the other top backs expected to be gone by then, they have consistently kept their eyes on Sanders. We will keep an eye on where he gets drafted as well.