Former Auburn RB Cameron Artis-Payne lands backup role with Panthers
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Former Auburn RB Cameron Artis-Payne looks to have secured the backup running back spot on the Carolina Panthers with another strong preseason outing.
Artis-Payne logged 18 carries for 77 yards, along with two catches for 18 yards, in Carolina’s 18-6 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer said that Artis-Payne’s performance demonstrated that he could take on a full workload in the case of injury to first-string running back Jonathan Stewart.
The ex-Tiger was complimentary of his teammates Thursday night.
“The push that the offensive line got,” Artis-Payne said of the reason for his first-half stats. “They’ve been playing great tonight. They’ve just opened up some holes.”
The Panthers selected Artis-Payne in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he appeared in seven games, recording 45 carries for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Carolina opens the regular season Thursday against Denver.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.