Heading into the 2017 NFL Draft, it was believed by most that current Jags running back Leonard Fournette was widely viewed as the best player at his position. We can now officially count the Carolina Panthers as one of the organizations who were high on him as Pat Kirwan of Sirius NFL Radio recently revealed the team tried to trade up to the No. 2 overall pick to acquire him.

Pat Kirwin said on NFL radio that the Panthers tried to trade up to 2 to grab Fournette. Sounds right. — Jeremy Igo (@CarolinaHuddle) July 19, 2017

As fans are aware, the No. 2 overall pick was originally held by the San Francisco 49ers, who later traded one spot back with the Chicago Bears for a monumental deal in draft history. Needless to say, whatever the Panthers offered the 49ers likely didn’t come close to the Bears’ offer. Instead, the Panthers would remain at the No. 8 spot to draft RB Christian McCaffrey out of Stanford.

As for Fournette, one could see why the Panthers would make such an attempt as some analysts labeled him as the next Adrian Peterson. If he turns out to be remotely close to the player that Peterson was earlier in his career, the Jaguars and their fans certainly would be fine with the selection as they’ve struggled mightily to run the ball in recent history.

It won’t be long before fans will get to see Fournette with their own eyes as rookies and first-year players are scheduled to report for training camp Wednesday. On the following week, the Jags will hold their first practice open to the public on Thursday, July 27.

In 2015, Fournette had an impressive season rushing for 1,953 yards and 23 touchdowns. Due to injury, he had a bit of a drop off in 2016, but still managed to run for 843 yards and 8 touchdowns.