Rookie Report Card: Cameron Artis-Payne

Dan Meylor

artis-payne

Each week throughout the season, I’ll cover one or two rookies in the Rookie Report Card and try to always include the biggest performers from that particular week. On top of reviewing my expectations for each player coming into the league and covering how he’s performed at the NFL level to this point, I’ll actually give him a grade in three categories. Those categories are performance to date, 2015 potential and long term upside.

The series continues with a look at Cameron Artis-Payne.

Cameron Artis-Payne, RB CAR
Week 16 Stats: five carries, 49 rushing yards, one reception, seven receiving yards

Despite leading the SEC in rushing in his final season at Auburn, Artis-Payne wasn’t considered along with the top runners in the 2015 rookie class. Coming out of college with a reputation as a stiff-hipped inside runner that lacks the speed and shiftiness to get to the perimeter as well as the hands to contribute in the passing game, there was good reason he wasn’t mentioned in the same breath as Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon and T.J. Yeldon.

Here are my thoughts on Artis-Payne from back in May:

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“Primarily an inside runner, Artis-Payne did a majority of his damage between the tackles. With vision that rivals even the top tailbacks in this class, he showed excellent cutback skills. Always using patience to let blocks develop in front of him, Artis-Payne has an impressive stutter-step and changes directions quickly in the backfield to find backside running lanes.

Once he finds his crease, he displays very good burst through the hole for a guy his size (5’10”, 212 pounds). He runs behind his pads well in traffic and doesn’t run away from contact, instead keeping his feet churning to try to pick up extra yardage. Although he doesn’t break a lot of tackles, he does get yards after contact, especially in a pile, by spinning out of tackles and falling forward.

Even though he’s at his best when between the tackles and shouldn’t be considered an outside runner that can regularly get the edge on pitches and sweeps, Artis-Payne has shown the ability to get to the outside when the middle is clogged. His impressive vision and quick cutback skills allow him to break outside when blocking dictated he has no other choice.

When he finds himself in the open field, he doesn’t have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. His stiff arm is average at best as he often just sticks his hand out waiting for the defender to reach him rather than delivering a blow himself. He also attempts a spin move when facing a tackler one-on-one but despite the effort, nearly always takes contact which forces him to lose his balance and go to the ground.

Although Artis-Payne doesn’t have breakaway speed or flashy moves in the open field, he does display the ability to change directions at full speed. He regularly made college safeties coming down in run support look silly by putting his foot in the ground and slightly changing direction which forces the defender to have the wrong angle on him.

Overall, there are a lot of things to like about Artis-Payne’s game. On top of his impressive vision, great cutback skills and good burst, he’s the kind of tailback who loves contact and wears down defenses as the game goes on. Although all of that is desirable in a primary ball carrier, Artis-Payne also has shortcomings. He doesn’t break tackles well enough for a power back and lacks the balance you’d like to see in a between the tackles runner. His average pass catching abilities and poor pass blocking skills could also keep him off the field early in his career.”

Despite his lack of polish as an outside runner or contributor in the passing game, his skills as a power runner made Artis-Payne a perfect fit in Carolina when he was selected late in the fifth round of the draft, and therefore made him one of my top late round picks in rookie drafts.

Since becoming a Panther, he has been used sparingly. He’s only touched the ball in five games, rushing for 139 yards on 31 carries (4.5 yards per carry) while catching three passes for 41 yards. With Jonathan Stewart out over the last two weeks with a foot injury though, Artis-Payne has seen a bit more action – getting 19 of those carries for 108 yards over that span.

After a strong game a week ago against the Giants (despite a botched handoff that resulted in a turnover) where he accounted for 93 yards from scrimmage, Artis-Payne didn’t get a lot of opportunities against the Falcons. He touched the ball only six times, but made an impact nonetheless.

Midway through the second quarter, with score tied at seven on 2nd-and-seven, Artis-Payne lined up to the left of Cam Newton, who was in the shotgun. He took a delayed handoff to the left on a stretch run and after taking a few steps, put his left foot in the ground and blasted through a well blocked crease. As he reached the second level of the defense, safety Ricardo Allen was bearing down on him so he veered to his left, cut back to the right and made the defender whiff badly on the tackle. He then raced up the middle of the field before being caught from behind for a 31-yard gain.

Some may say that the play was the product of quality blocking from Ryan Kalil and Trai Turner, among others. While that’s true to some extent, it also required good vision from Artis-Payne to select the correct running lane and a great burst from him to blast through the hole. Forcing the safety to miss the tackle without losing speed is what turned a five or six-yard gain into a 31-yard splash play.

That play displayed much of what we already knew about Artis-Payne. He’s a one-cut runner with excellent vision, great cutback skills and a solid burst that allows him to thrive between the tackles. Unfortunately, it also showed his lack of long speed to outrun NFL defensive backs in the open field.

If there was anything that was head scratching at the end of Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, it was why Artis-Payne didn’t see the ball more. After filling in admirably as the starter for Stewart a week earlier, he split time with Fozzy Whittaker, who started the game against Atlanta. Although they each had five carries in the game, it brings up the question of if the Panthers’ coaching staff sees Artis-Payne as a lead tailback – which leads us to what we should expect out of Artis-Payne going forward.

It’s clear at this point that Ron Rivera sees Stewart as his top tailback and has no intention to split the workload in the Panthers’ backfield, which will give Artis-Payne little fantasy value going into 2016. Although he has mid-RB2 upside due to his prowess between the tackles, he’s unlikely to see the kind of workload necessary to reach his fantasy potential without an injury to Stewart and even then, could be in risk of only being the lead of a committee due to his limitations in the passing game.

Although I like Artis-Payne, it seems likely he’ll be a better football player than fantasy football player. If he ever got the opportunity to be a 15-carry tailback like LeGarrette Blount in New England, he could be a factor for dynasty owners and reach his RB2 potential. Until he gets that opportunity though, he’s strictly a handcuff to Stewart and probably a roster clogger on many dynasty rosters.

artis-payne report card

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dan meylor