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AUBURN AUTHORITY

Cameron Artis-Payne clocks in faster than expected

James Crepea
Montgomery Advertiser
Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne runs the 40-yard dash at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

INDIANAPOLIS --Cameron Artis-Payne felt he'd exceed expectations and he did just that, running one of the best 40 times among running backs.

The SEC's leading rusher last season clocked in at 4.53 seconds, tied for sixth among running backs,

Artis-Payne was tied with Southern Cal's Javorius Allen, and behind Michigan State's Jeremy Langford, Florida State's Karlos Williams, Texas A&M's Trey Williams, Northern Iowa's David Johnson and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said the "biggest mistake" people and teams make is overreacting about 40 times, good and bad.

Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

"You got to go back to the tape and I trust the tape, I trust my own eye," Mayock said. "To me, it doesn't change my mind on anything. It either reinforces to me that what I saw on tape is confirmed or if a guy runs faster than I expected like Langford I got to go back and check him out a little bit."

With Gordon and Todd Gurley as the consensus top two running backs and projected first-round picks, Artis-Payne was trying to emerge in a deep field.

"It doesn't change my pecking order right now," Mayock said. "What it does is the guys that either run faster than I thought or slower than I thought I go back and cross check."

The top two running back selected in last year's NFL Draft, Bishop Sankey and Tre Mason, ran 4.49 and 4.5 in the 40.

Auburn running back Cameron Artis-Payne runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)