Tag: Curtis Samuel

To pay or not to pay? Examining the Carolina Panthers’ pending 2021 free agents

Let’s take a look at each of the team’s pending free agents for next year and decide whether or not they are worth keeping around, beginning with the offensive linemen.

The Carolina Panthers made some… interesting personnel decisions last offseason. While there’s nothing they could have done about Luke Kuechly’s sudden retirement, some of their moves were truly confusing. Trading Trai Turner for Russell Okung and extending Shaq Thompson and Christian McCaffrey while allowing James Bradberry to walk were all more than questionable decisions, to say nothing of the unpardonable sin of releasing former league MVP Cam Newton and using that cap space to sign an inferior bridge QB to a three-year deal.

Hopefully general manager Marty Hurney will make better decisions with the 2021 class. Let’s take a look at each of the team’s pending free agents for next year and decide whether or not they are worth keeping around, beginning with the offensive linemen.

Panthers WR D.J. Moore on quiet streak: ‘I wouldn’t call it a slump’

Moore doesn’t think he’s in a slump, though.

The third season is when many promising NFL wide receivers really figure things out and start to blossom, so we were expecting big things from Panthers wideout D.J. Moore this year. While Moore has had some excellent catches and strong games, he hasn’t been able to settle into a lasting rhythm with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater as of yet.

After posting three consecutive games of 93 receiving yards, it looked like Moore had finally found that consistent connection. Things have slowed down for No. 12 lately, though. Over the last two weeks Moore has totaled just four catches and 73 yards. He was only targeted three times in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.

Moore doesn’t think he’s in a slump, though. During his Zoom call with the media on Thursday, he said it’s a product of the ball being passed around more.

Bridgewater has been spreading the ball around well all year. Lately, Curtis Samuel has seen his role grow the most. Sunday he posted his first career 100-yard game, which seems absurd given his talent. It goes to show how overdue Samuel was to earn more opportunities.

Robby Anderson, Christian McCaffrey and Mike Davis are also key pieces for this offense. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, so Moore isn’t always going to get a lot of attention.

Some people have pointed out that Bridgewater has missed Moore streaking open a few times lately. The truth is that it’s a two-way street.

Bridgewater can stand to trust his deep ball more often, both with Moore and everybody else. Moore could also probably help his case by gaining more separation consistently. Bridgewater usually avoids throwing into tight windows and that’s what he’s had to work with for Moore, who is only gaining 2.3 yards of separation on average, according to Next Gen Stats.

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Panthers WR Curtis Samuel has the highest catch rate at his position

Through nine games, Samuel has a 91% catch rate, which is easily the highest among wide receivers.

Former Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman made some mistakes during his time running the team. It wasn’t all bad, though. Today, the team is benefitting from three special players Gettleman acquired in his last draft in Carolina (2017). After taking running back Christian McCaffrey with the No. 8 overall pick, he selected wide receiver Curtis Samuel (No. 40 overall) and right tackle Taylor Moton (No. 64 overall).

All three have more than lived up to expectations. When healthy, McCaffrey is the best running back in football and a case could be made that Samuel and Moton are the most underrated players at their respective positions in the NFL. While Moton has taken to locking down everybody from Joey Bosa to Cameron Jordan, Samuel has become Carolina’s most clutch receiver.

Through nine games, Samuel has a 91% catch rate, which is easily the highest among wide receivers.

Samuel has been particularly effective on third down. He has 12 catches so far. Only Davante Adams and Keenan Allen have more (15).

He’s also been crucial to turning around the team’s fortunes in the red zone. Scoring inside the 20 was a huge problem the first month of the season, but the Panthers have steadily improved as offensive coordinator Joe Brady has embraced creative run calls and using Samuel more in general. After starting out near the bottom of the league, they have improved to No. 19 in red zone scoring (60%).

This past week against the Chiefs, Samuel led the team with four red zone touches. He also posted a career high 105 receiving yards. He may just be scratching the surface, too. Remember, this is the first time Samuel’s had the holy trinity of a healthy quarterback, a dynamic playcaller and opportunity.

They may be products of a previous regime, but it would be stupid not to extend both Samuel and Moton.

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Fantasy football waiver wire pickups after Week 9: Another Chargers RB?! Buy or sell on Curtis Samuel?

… and the fallout from the David Johnson injury.

Whether it was election or pandemic news, there have been weeks that feel like Groundhog Day. I’m sorry to say that this week’s waiver wire post is likely to feel the same way. We’ve got another — yes, another — Los Angeles Chargers running back on this list. After the injury to running back Austin Ekeler, we’ve seen L.A. give carries to Justin Jackson, Joshua Kelley and even Troymaine Pope. But there’s a new Chargers running back at the top of this list. And I’m actually sort of kind of certain that maybe he’ll be the guy until Ekeler returns (which, of course, could be quite soon).

This list is comprised of players who are owned in 50% or less of standard ESPN leagues. Be sure to peruse the players who are in the above-50% crowd in your league to see if there’s someone valuable worth claiming. Beyond that, here are the players you should target in Week 10.

Close brush with Chiefs proves Panthers believe in Matt Rhule

Who are the Carolina Panthers?

– I’ll take “Unexpected Outcomes” for $400, Alex.

– Answer: This team came unexpectedly close to upsetting the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 of the 2020 season.

– Who are the Carolina Panthers?

– Correct. Carolina fell just three points shy of upending the NFL’s top dogs at their own stadium on Sunday.

“Almost” won’t get you far, especially in the standings. Today’s 33-31 loss may still go a long way in reaffirming another type of answer for this young football team.

That answer is embodied by Matt Rhule, who has his Panthers competing week in and week out no matter who they play. In what was supposed to be an ugly season in the first year of a total rebuild, the 45-year-old rookie head coach has seemingly expedited the process, with Sunday’s game coming as the most promising sign yet.

Carolina was never out of the slobber knocker against the heavyweight Chiefs. Never.

Despite Patrick Mahomes’ 372 yards and four touchdowns, despite Tyreek Hill (113 yards, two touchdowns) and Travis Kelce (159 yards) going off—the Panthers stuck around. They even outplayed the champs at times.

Even with the league’s most-imposing scoring machine on the opposing sideline, it was Carolina’s offense that controlled things early on. Kickstarted by a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that lasted a whopping 8:53, the Panthers outgained and outlasted their counterparts for much of the game.

Carolina dominated the time-of-possession battle, holding onto the rock at an edge of 38:01 to 21:59. While that ultimately didn’t stop Mahomes, it kept the ball away from him a lot, limiting any further damage he could have done.

The Panthers also totaled 435 yards to Kansas City’s 397. That impressive output was led by a returning Christian McCaffrey, who was very much back to form after missing six games. McCaffrey rushed for 69 yards and a score while adding another end zone visit and 82 more yards through the air, chalking up 28 combined touches.

McCaffrey wasn’t the only weapon finding his comfort zone either, as Curtis Samuel continued his breakout tour. The fourth-year wideout reeled in each of his nine targets for a team-high 105 yards. He also scored on a slick 14-yard dump from Teddy Bridgewater early in the second quarter to give the Panthers a surprising 14-3 lead.

Samuel has now scored five times over the last three games.

Bridgewater’s performance proved that the Panthers didn’t bring a knife to a gun fight against the sport’s most powerful firearm.

Teddy willed his unit into this fight, passing for 310 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 36 of his 49 throws. He played a little Superman too, soaring for an incredible conversion on a 4th & 14 and drawing himself into the end zone to keep Carolina alive in the fourth.

Although he literally went above and beyond, Bridgewater is going to lose a shootout with Mahomes in Kansas City 10 times out of 10 and that showed.

There were other positive signs though, such as Carolina’s resilience and resourcefulness. From successfully faking another punt to absorbing every hit the Chiefs offense threw their way, the Panthers are clearly a team who has bought into a system and a common goal.

So, even though his team sits at 3-6 with four straight losses, Rhule’s job won’t be in jeopardy any time soon. Indeed, his Panthers may find themselves in the league’s tournament of champions sooner rather than later.

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Panthers Highlights: Another successful fake punt sets up Curtis Samuel touchdown

Watch rookie punter Joseph Charlton find wide reciever Brandon Zylstra wide open, resulting in another 28 yard gain.

The Panthers are getting good at this whole fake punt thing. Jeremy Chinn gained 28 yards on a trick play last week against the Falcons. Today, they tried something a little different against the Chiefs.

Watch rookie punter Joseph Charlton find wide reciever Brandon Zylstra wide open, resulting in another 28 yard gain.

A gutsy call from coach Matt Rhule.

Curtis Samuel scored a touchdown moments later.

The Panthers lead the champs 14-3 early in the second quarter.

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9 waiver wire targets in fantasy football for Week 9

Waiver wire pickups for Week 9.

It’s November and one thing is on everybody’s minds: fantasy football. It’s that time of the season to either hit the panic button or make that addition that will take your team to a championship.

With more injuries piling up with big-name players, you might think that all is lost. When you take a closer look at the waiver wire, you can see there is still a lot of value out there.

Here are eight players you should consider adding to your fantasy roster for Week 9:

Panthers’ defensive woes spill over, spoil offense in third straight loss

The Carolina Panthers are special.

The Carolina Panthers are special.

They’re not special because they’re particularly great or because they’re setting themselves apart in any positive or ingenious fashion. They’re special because they did not to mount a fourth-quarter comeback against the woeful Atlanta Falcons.

Given how that team is practically the Benjamin Franklin of inventing new ways to blow late leads, that’s impressive. What wasn’t in Carolina’s demoralizing 25-17 loss was their young defense.

Guess what? Morale gets lost when you allow a 35-year-old quarterback who runs like he underwent a double-foot transplant with an elephant and a duck gash you on the ground in critical spots. Matt Ryan hit up Carolina for 27 yards on six carries, two of which were pathetically painful.

Ryan’s first punch to the gut came at the 8:02 mark of the second quarter, when he rolled out to the wide-open right side of the field to pick up 13 of those yards and a touchdown. Two impressive scores from Curtis Samuel became two quick afterthoughts, as the clumsy Ryan embarrassed the Panthers defense to cut down their lead to 14-13.

Ryan’s second would help push what was the game-clinching drive forward. On a 3rd & 7 from Atlanta’s own 28-yard line, Ryan picked up 10 yards and a first down. Nine plays later, running back Todd Gurley extended a 19-17 advantage to the final 25-17 on a three-yard push into the end zone with 11:01 remaining.

Wideout Julio Jones also thrahsed a mostly soft zone defense for 137 yards on seven receptions. That 19.6 yards per catch average was a testament to Carolina’s shortcomings defensively, even with Calvin Ridley exiting early due to an ankle injury.

This often-punchless defensive unit is still failing to piece together timely stops consistently. They totaled just a single takeaway and two sacks while largely surrendering the edge in ball control (36:30 to 23:30) as well as in the first-down battle (28 to 18).

If you mix in last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, that time-of-possession difference stands at a jaw-dropping 71:11 to 48:49 in favor of their division rivals. They’re also well behind in total plays at 133 to 87 forced one punt in those eight quarters.

As the Panthers defense continues keeping opposing offenses on the field, they are—in turn—failing to get their own offense on it. This has helped lead to the aforementioned disparity in control and the lack of functionality and smoothness we saw in previous victories.

Outside of Samuel (54 total yards and two touchdowns on seven touches) and Mike Davis (66 yards on 13 carries), there wasn’t much to write home about on this side of the ball. Teddy Bridgewater was bland and flustered, D.J. Moore was MIA until the end and Robby Anderson was held in check for the first time all season.

With Carolina not having tasted victory in three weeks, the defense needs to dig deep and snap out of it. That will require getting help from someone other than Brian Burns and Jeremy Chinn, who is carrying quite a heavy work load. (They’re even counting on Chinn to convert 4th & longs . . .)

Next up, these Panthers will visit the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday. Imagine what Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce can do against this defense.

Good luck with that.

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Halftime analysis: Panthers trail Falcons 16-14

Panthers trail Falcons 16-14 at halftime of Week 8 matchup.

Following a last-second field goal by Younghoe Koo, the Panthers trail the Falcons 16-14 at halftime of their Thursday night Week 8 matchup.

Here’s how things are going in all three phases.

Offense

Curtis Samuel is doing a bit of everything for the Panthers early on. He’s scored two touchdowns, once as a rusher and another as a receiver on a beautiful 32-yard flea-flicker pass. He’s also picked up another key third down conversion. Teddy Bridgewater is taking far too many hits on blitzes, but he’s picked up 100 yards and has a perfect passer rating at the half for the second straight week.

Defense

Carolina’s secondary is really missing Rasul Douglas, who remains on the team’s COVID-19/reserve list. Julio Jones posted 85 yards in the first quarter alone and he’s done most of his damage one-on-one against Donte Jackson. However, Jackson did get a pick on a pass Matt Ryan floated with Brian Burns bearing down on him. Rookie cornerback Troy Pride Jr. also looks completely out of his depth again. The Panthers have defended the run relatively well, though. Todd Gurley has only eight yards on five carries and Atlanta is averaging 4.1 yards per rush.

Special teams

With the offense humming, Joey Slye hasn’t had to test his leg yet on a field goal attempt. Pharoh Cooper has 20 yards on one return and the Falcons are helping him out with penalties.

The Panthers receive to begin the second half.

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Panthers Highlights: Curtis Samuel scores again on flea-flicker

This may go down as the Curtis Samuel game.

This may go down as the Curtis Samuel game.

Watch Samuel score his second touchdown of the night against Atlanta on a perfectly-placed flea-flicker pass from Teddy Bridgewater.

Samuel also picked up another third down earlier in the drive. He leads the NFL with 15 catches on third downs.

Carolina leads 14-6.

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