Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel finished the 2019 season with 54 catches, 627 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
Considering the quarterbacks he had to work with most of the year, those numbers are pretty impressive. If he ever connects with a healthy QB and a creative play-caller who are able to take advantage of his skill-set, Samuel may yet turn into one of the league’s elite wide receivers.
Pro Football Focus seems to agree. They have named Samuel the breakout candidate at the wide receiver position for the 2020 season.
“Just 62% of Samuel’s targets were catchable; that was the lowest rate of the 26 wide receivers who saw at least 100 targets in 2019. Either a healthy Cam Newton at quarterback or an acquisition from outside the organization who could take advantage of Samuel’s 4.3 speed would be a major bump to his expectation in 2020.”
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because we and other outlets predicted Samuel would breakout in 2019.
Remember, last summer Samuel was regularly burning Carolina’s defensive backs for long touchdowns. He did the same to a top-notch Bills secondary when they came to visit for joint practices.
Curtis Samuel doing Curtis Samuel things 🙌 pic.twitter.com/qlnu8X7w6Y
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) August 13, 2019
Unfortunately, Cam Newton’s foot injury put him on the shelf for the year and his backups proved unable to find Samuel on those deep passes.
Samuel’s success depends a great deal on who plays quarterback and how well he’s protected. One positive development is the arrival of Joe Brady as offensive coordinator, though. His scheme should offer Samuel and Carolina’s other play-makers more opportunities to do what they do best.
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