4 Carolina Panthers players who could be benched after Frank Reich's firing

Miles Sanders - Carolina Panthers RB

Miles Sanders was a Frank Reich and Duce Staley guy from their profitable time together with the Philadelphia Eagles. This led the Carolina Panthers to give the running back a decent contract in free agency following a Pro Bowl campaign in 2022.

Many thought he could replicate this success with the Panthers. It's turned out to be anything but behind a woeful offensive line, which has been a major disappointment considering the off-season expectations.

Sanders looks like a shell of his former self. Groin and shoulder injuries didn't help, but 3.1 yards per carry, a 40 percent rushing success rate, and 30.2 yards per game are damning signs of how his time with the Panthers is unfolding currently.

Chuba Hubbard seems to have taken over lead-back duties, although Sanders got a good volume of touches at the Tennessee Titans with Reich calling the shots. Now that the two men banging the table hardest for him are no longer around, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Penn State product's role diminished entirely.

Again, nobody would shed many tears in this scenario. Sanders is the latest in a long line of veteran acquisitions that couldn't live up to their billing, so allocating his touches to Raheem Blackshear and eating dead-cap money with a release this spring represents a likely course of action.