We’re 37 days away from the Panthers kicking off their 2018 season. That means today’s countdown piece is about running back Cameron Artis-Payne.
Cameron Artis-Payne
Bio
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 215 lbs
Age: 28
College: Auburn
NFL Experience: 4 years
Artis-Payne is the second Cameron the Panthers have drafted out of Auburn during Ron Rivera’s tenure as head coach. While both are offensive players, Artis-Payne’s career has been some what less noteworthy than that of the other Cameron, a quarterback named Cameron Newton. This difference can be largely explained by their relative draft positions, years, and roles on the field.
Newton was selected with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft to play quarterback, a position that some experts argue as the most important on the field for the offense. Artis-Payne, meanwhile, was selected somewhere in the 5th round of the 2015 draft as a running back. Newton has had some clear advantages in circumstance.
Artis-Payne has done admirably with what he has been given. He has sat behind first round running backs Jonathan Stewart and Christian McCaffrey and even had to fight for back-up duties with coaches’ favorite Fozzy Whittaker. For all of that, Artis-Payne has continued to earn a roster spot with the Panthers every year and has produced solidly — if, perhaps, unspectacularly — whenever he has seen the field.
This season he is still sitting behind two stellar running back talents in McCaffrey and former Denver Broncos star CJ Anderson. Artis-Payne’s roster spot is probably safe so long as his training camp performance lives up to his history of production in the Panthers’ offense. He will, however, face challenges from Kenjon Barner and Elijah Hood. Production in preseason games will be the key to how the Panthers settle on their running back rotation and how they decide which players make the cut.