The Panthers wide receiver room is arguably the best position group on the entire team. Heading into the 2020 season, they have a strong 1-2-3- combination with D.J. Moore, Curtis Samuel and Robby Anderson and a couple of intriguing young pieces further down the depth chart.
Those top three names all get their jobs done in different ways, giving incoming offensive coordinator Joe Brady three unique weapons to put to use in his passing attack in addition to an elite pass-catching running back in Christian McCaffrey. Getting open is one of the most important elements of the game for modern receivers. On that front, Carolina has one of the best in the league and possibly also one of the worst.
According to a new analysis by Josh Hermsmeyer at FiveThirtyEight, in 2019 Curtis Samuel had one of the best seasons of any receiver in the last three years when it comes to separation over expected per play. Samuel averaged 0.24 yards more than expected, coming in just behind Tyreek Hill’s 0.25 in 2018.
Samuel’s negative EPA/play number there illustrates just how much the Panthers’ quarterbacks failed him last year. He remains one of the NFL’s most accomplished receivers at creating separation, though. Hopefully Teddy Bridgewater will have better luck finding him than Kyle Allen and an injured Cam Newton did.
On the flipside, Carolina’s big free agent signing at the position this offseason is not so adept in this part of the game. Robby Anderson’s 2018 season with the Jets ranked last in SOE/play.
The Panthers should continue to take advantage of Samuel’s speed and separation as a deep threat, regardless of what the plan is for Anderson.
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