Rocket Sanders projected 22nd overall in CBS 2024 NFL mock draft

After recording 1400+ yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground in 2022, ESPN named Raheim “Rocket” Sanders the 3rd best returning running back in the country. Now, CBS projects Rocket as the No. 22 overall pick to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers needed a running back after their starter Austin Ekeler requested permission to seek a trade. Former Texas running back Bijan Robinson was thought to be a good fit for the Chargers in the 2023 draft. Instead, the Atlanta Falcons quickly picked him up with 8th pick. Here’s what Ryan Wilson wrote about the Chargers situation in 2024:

“We saw two RBs go in the first round of the ’23 draft and we thought Bijan Robinson would be a great fit for the Chargers had he still been available (he wasn’t). They get that first-round RB here.”

Sanders’ past as a wide receiver could come in handy. The Chargers recorded the 3^rd most passing yards in the league and attempted the second-most passes. In 2022, Austin Ekeler pulled in 127 passes for 722 yards and 5 touchdowns. LA would certainly use Sanders in the screen and passing game, too.

He would also bring the chargers something they haven’t had in a while: size. Ekeler is a freak in the weight room pound-for-pound, but he is incredibly undersized at 5’10, 200 pounds. Ekeler’s backups are also small backs. Former Texas A&M Aggies Isaiah Spiller is the largest at 6’1, 215 pounds.

At 6’2, 237 pounds, Rocket Sanders could be an every-down back LA has desperately needed. He would be able to take the pounding of a 17-game season grind and not lack any of the speed or quickness of their other backs.

“Sanders led the SEC in chunk plays (10 or more yards) last season as one of college football’s top rushers and has a shot at another 1,000-yard season this fall,” wrote Brad Crawford of 247Sports, “new Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos runs a pro-style scheme, which is perfect to set up Sanders for NFL stardom as a potential first-rounder in 2024.”

If Sanders is selected in the first round, he would be the first Razorback since Treylon Burks in 2022. He’d also be the first running back taken in the first round since Arkansas Ledged, Darren McFadden in 2008, further adding to the legacy of the No. 5 jersey for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.