I have very very mixed feelings on the player.
On one hand he was a generational talent at RB. On the other I don't think most teams could have ever won a championship with him being a key part of their offense. That's a weird thing to say about a player that is so talented and had so many big plays.
I see Sanders like one of those outside WRs looking to hit big plays down the field. Only each incompletion doesn't only lose you a down, but yards as well. Overall you get a huge net gain and a lot of scores but what isn't on the stat sheet is how many drives were wasted because he tried to make a big play happen. In all honesty it's a bit of a selfish style. You get big yards and stats but at the cost of sustainability and consistency.
On the Lions it didn't matter as they were desperate for big plays anyway they could get them and probably couldn't sustain long drives in any case. On a championship team that could sustain drives you have to wonder how they would feel about such a style. Maybe that team would honestly be better off with a back willing to run behind a solid offensive line and get them into manageable downs as well as convert 3rd downs rather than go boom or bust in their running game.
Yes he'll give you a score a play he'll make all by himself but what about the other drives he sabotages (for lack of a better term)?
I just am not a fan of it as part of a winning formula, yet I'm in awe of the ability.
