The 2017 preseason rushing leaders for the NFL have something in common - their college. Both played at Auburn - at the same time.

Carolina Panthers running back Cameron Artis-Payne led the NFC and Jacksonville Jaguars running back Corey Grant led the AFC in rushing yards during the preseason.

Artis-Payne ran for 180 yards on 28 carries. His 6.4-yards-per-carry average was boosted by a 43-yard run. Artis-Payne also was the only player to run for three touchdowns in the preseason.

Grant carried the ball 22 times during the preseason and piled up 191 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per carry bolstered by a 79-yard touchdown run and a 51-yard scamper on a fake punt.

Neither player was a lock to make his team's regular-season roster when training camp started, but both were still standing after the cuts to reach the mandatory roster limit on Saturday.

Carolina and Jacksonville used first-round draft choices on star running backs in April, with the Panthers picking Stanford's Christian McCaffrey and the Jaguars choosing LSU's Leonard Fournette.

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After rushing for 610 yards as the backup to Tre Mason during his record-breaking season for Auburn's 2013 SEC championship team, Artis-Payne led the SEC with 1,608 rushing yards in 2014 before entering the NFL as a fifth-round draft choice of the Panthers.

Grant and Artis-Payne were teammates at Auburn in 2013 and 2014, but the former Opelika High School standout had more modest statistics playing behind Mason and Artis-Payne. For his career, Grant had 1,040 rushing yards on 135 attempts - a 7.7-yard average.

Grant also returned kickoffs in his final season at Auburn, and that ability was his ticket into the NFL after he went undrafted. He earned a spot on the Jaguars as their kickoff returner in 2015.

Since joining the NFL, Artis-Payne has served primarily as Jonathan Stewart's stand-in, playing when Carolina's top ball-carrier has been sidelined. Artis-Payne has 327 yards and three touchdowns on 81 carries in his pro career.

Grant has 164 yards and one touchdown on 38 carries in his career, with the touchdown and 122 of the yards coming in the final game of the 2016 season.

Grant also has averaged 23.2 yards per kickoff return for Jacksonville.

Another player with Alabama football roots was among the NFL leaders in the preseason. New York Jets wide receiver ArDarius Stewart, who played at Fultondale High School and Alabama, was one of nine players who caught two touchdown passes during the preseason.

The NFL will kick off its 2017 regular season one week after the preseason's end. The Kansas City Chiefs will visit the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots at 7:30 p.m. CDT Thursday in the opening game.

Twenty-six more teams will start their seasons on Sunday, and Week 1 will end with a Monday night doubleheader.