Elijah Hood is coming home.

The former UNC running back–and Charlotte native–reached a deal Tuesday to join the Carolina Panthers, just one day after he was waived by the Oakland Raiders.

Hood spent most of his first NFL season on the Raiders’ practice squad and appeared in just one regular season game without recording any carries.

At UNC, he tallied career totals of 2,580 yards and 29 touchdowns before declaring for the 2017 NFL Draft after his junior season–where he was selected by Oakland in the seventh round.

By joining the Panthers, Hood enters into a crowded backfield situation and will likely have to work extremely hard to make the team’s final roster.

Carolina has last year’s first-round pick, Christian McCaffrey, projected to start behind quarterback Cam Newton in the backfield, and just recently signed former Denver Broncos’ starter C.J. Anderson in free agency. The team also has veterans Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker and undrafted rookie Reggie Bonnafon on the running back depth chart.

 

 

Photo via Raiders.com

 

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