The Eagles have missed on a lot of skill player draft picks over the years.

Mack Hollins, Josh Huff, Donnel Pumphrey, guys like that. Throw in Wendell Smallwood and Shelton Gibson if you want.

So if we’re gonna rag Howie and company for those selections, it’s only fair to praise the Miles Sanders pick, which some people considered slightly ‘reachy’ when considering the fact that a lot of experts saw him coming off the board in the third round.

Sunday, Sanders’ 172 yard-performance set a couple of records, which the Eagles PR staff shared this morning:

Miles Sanders established new Eagles rookie records in single-season scrimmage yards (1,120), previously held by DeSean Jackson (1,008 in 2008) and single-season rushing yards (687), previously held by LeSean McCoy (637 in 2009).

That’s great company, yeah? DeSean actually started his career with two-straight 100 yard games while Shady got extra carries as a rookie because Brian Westbrook had some injury issues. It’s a similar situation this year with Sanders and Jordan Howard.

Another stat:

Sanders is the first rookie in Eagles history to produce 170+ scrimmage yards, 1 rushing TD and 1 receiving TD in the same game.

I thought Westbrook might be the best candidate to match something like this, but if you go back to his rookie year he really didn’t get a lot of carries playing behind Duce Staley and Dorsey Levens. Shady had a 100+ scrimmage yard game in 2009 but didn’t get into the end zone.

Another:

Sanders’ 172 scrimmage yards are 5th-most ever by an Eagles rookie in a single game, behind Bryce Brown on 11/26/12 vs. Carolina (189) and 12/2/12 at Dallas (183), Hank Baskett on 12/31/06 vs. Atlanta (177) and Billy Ray Barnes on 12/14/57 vs. Chicago Cardinals (173).

Forgot about those Bryce Brown games. He actually did that in back to back weeks, which was crazy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXH0ZnI2JeE

Another Sanders stat:

His 172 scrimmage yards are the most by any Eagle since Jeremy Maclin on 10/26/14 at Arizona (187). They are the most by any Eagles RB since Darren Sproles on 9/15/14 at Indianapolis (178).

Maclin had 187 in that Arizona loss, the John Brown 75-yard fourth quarter touchdown game. Sproles’ 178 mostly came in the air, if you can believe it. That was the comeback win where he caught 7 passes for 152 yards

One final stat:

Sanders’ 122 rushing yards are tied for the 5th-most ever by an Eagles rookie in a single game, trailing only Bryce Brown on 11/26/12 vs. Carolina (178) and 12/2/12 at Dallas (169), Correll Buckhalter on 10/7/01 vs. Arizona (134) and Keith Byars on 12/7/86 vs. St. Louis (127).

Great stuff, yeah? Sanders had some moments at Penn State but looked a little raw at times and certainly was not the pass catching threat we’re seeing now. The Birds’ coaching staff has done a fantastic job bringing him along during his rookie season.