5 winners and losers from the Carolina Panthers preseason loss vs. Lions

Loser No. 2

Camerun Peoples - Carolina Panthers RB

There was some excitement this week after assistant head coach Duce Staley revealed that Camerun Peoples would be getting carries in the final Carolina Panthers preseason game. This was the big opportunity he'd been waiting for after becoming a relative afterthought compared to others within the running back room.

The Appalachian State product is a fan favorite thanks in no small part to his college exploits. But you only get one chance to make a good first impression - something he was unable to accomplish.

Peoples fumbled on his very first carry in an NFL game-day setting. To say this was a disaster would be an understatement and it didn't get much better after that en route to four rushing yards from as many carries.

The undrafted free agent did manage 24 receiving yards from two receptions. But considering Caroina's top three options at the position and Spencer Brown's performances throughout the offseason, even a place on the practice squad might be out of reach when push comes to shove.

This is an unfortunate situation for Peoples, but one that's commonplace around the NFL right now. His dreams are likely to be crushed in the near future and if nobody else comes calling, moving to the XFL or USFL remains the most likely course of action in the hope it can lead to another chance further down the line.