Christian McCaffrey and Chuba Hubbard will be the Panthers' one-two punch out of the backfield but the third spot on the depth chart is still up for grabs.
When the Panthers broke camp last season and set their 53-man roster, only three running backs made the cut (McCaffrey, Mike Davis, and Trenton Cannon). Cannon is seen as a reliable special teams player that can also line up at receiver from time to time. So for those reasons, I'm excluding him from this discussion. That leaves Reggie Bonnafon, Rodney Smith, Spencer Brown, and Darius Clark as the four remaining backs fighting to secure a roster spot. There is a chance Carolina carries four running backs but with McCaffrey and Hubbard expected to handle the overwhelming majority of the reps, carrying four isn't a necessity.
Bonnafon and Smith may have a little bit of an edge as they were both on the roster last year and served in a backup role to Mike Davis when McCaffrey was out. However, there's one back that keeps turning heads and has put himself in a position to possibly steal that 3rd spot on the depth chart - undrafted free agent Spencer Brown (UAB).
Despite only rushing for 25 yards on nine carries in last Sunday's game against the Colts, head coach Matt Rhule liked what he saw. 'I thought when Spencer Brown was in there at running back you could feel him."
During Thursday's media availability, Rhule further complimented Brown and talked about the importance of his production over the next two weeks.
"Your greatest ability is your availability and Spencer is in there day in and day out. We know he's a good runner but there's so much more to being a running back. Blitz pickup, running the right routes, playing on special teams and Spencer is trying to develop in those areas but you can see he's got the fundamental gift of running the football. I think he's got a good future. These preseason games for guys like him are really, really, really important."
Brown totaled 4,011 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns for his career at UAB and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. If the other aspects of his game come along, he could make a strong push for a roster spot and at the very least, be considered a practice squad candidate.
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