Curtis Samuel is clutch for the Panthers. Without him, Carolina in trouble vs Saints
Editor’s note: Curtis Samuel was listed as active shortly before kickoff at New Orleans on Sunday.
In last week’s loss to the Chicago Bears, the Carolina Panthers’ offense struggled to sustain drives and finished the game converting just 23.1% of third downs, a season-low.
While going up against a tough Bears defense played a role in the offense’s miscues, the Panthers were also without wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who has developed into one of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s go-to targets on third down.
Samuel is questionable for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints and was limited in practice all week as he deals with a knee injury.
The team’s wide receiver depth is in a tough spot overall. Carolina’s top two wide receivers are good to go, Robby Anderson, who is currently second in the league in receiving yards with 566, and DJ Moore, but wide receiver Keith Kirkwood (clavicle) was placed on injured reserve again this week after re-injuring his clavicle and is now out for the season.
Kirkwood played more snaps than receiver Seth Roberts because of Samuel’s absence last week, and Roberts only has four catches this year.
Returner Pharoh Cooper and Brandon Zylstra are the team’s other options at wideout. The Panthers’ tight ends — Ian Thomas, Chris Manhertz and Colin Thompson — haven’t gotten involved in the passing game and have a combined 10 receptions this year (second-fewest by tight ends in the NFL).
The Saints are dealing with their own injury issues and will be without the team’s top two wide receivers Sunday. Emmanuel Sanders has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list after the Saints shared Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19, and Michael Thomas has been ruled out with ankle and hamstring injuries.
The absence of the two players will give an injured Panthers secondary — cornerbacks Eli Apple (hamstring) and Donte Jackson (toe) are both questionable, safety Juston Burris (ribs) is on injured reserve and cornerback Rasul Douglas is on the reserve/COVID-19 list — a bit of a breather.
The Panthers are in a bit of a interesting position overall with their injuries heading into the game in New Orleans with a Thursday night game against Atlanta just around the corner. Recovery time with be extremely limited. Running back Christian McCaffrey (high ankle sprain) will miss his fifth game on injured reserve, but will have a chance to return in Week 8 or 9.
In the meanwhile, Carolina needs all the weapons it can get to have a chance to go to 4-3.
Samuel’s role on the offense wasn’t clear to start the season. But through Weeks 3-5, he began to improve and had big moments as the Panthers’ go-to target on third down.
In those three games, Samuel caught 12 of 13 targets for 132 yards. With various injuries at running back, Samuel also was pitching in there, rushing for 32 yards on 10 carries over that stretch. On third down this season, Samuel has caught all 11 targets for 139 yards and eight first downs. No Panther has more third-down receptions and Moore is the only player with more targets (13) in one more game played than Samuel.
While the two best receivers for the Panthers will be ready to go Sunday, Samuel has begun to carve out a very important role in the offense. Just like the team’s red-zone woes have been hurt by being without the team’s best player in McCaffrey, Samuel’s absence hurts this offense that has increasingly limited depth at wide receiver.
And it’s the things that go beyond the stats — blocking, short runs — the fourth-year receiver does that has drawn praise from the the coaching staff.
“I think Curtis has been huge. Any type of success we’ve had, a lot of it has to do with Curtis Samuel,” offensive coordinator Joe Brady said earlier this month. “I think so much of what Curtis does doesn’t necessarily show up in the stat book, and I think that shows the type of player he is. You see explosive runs from Mike Davis and you see Curtis making huge blocks. ... You see third down, he’s making plays, run game and pass game.
“He’s such a dynamic weapon that is willing to just do anything to win and help the team.”
Samuel is currently in the last year of his rookie deal and his numbers aren’t off to the flashiest start, but this offense will be in a worse spot if he is unavailable Sunday and misses a second game in a row. Anderson, Moore and running back Davis, also a major receiving threat, can’t be the Panthers’ entire offense.
“On our team, he is the player —and I respect them all —that I have infinite respect for. He does the dirty jobs, he does the odd jobs,” head coach Matt Rhule said this month. “Tell me who makes big plays in big times and that’s what Curtis Samuel is. He’s got ice in his veins and he’s tough. You can probably tell that he’s one of my favorite guys, because when you need a play, he makes a play.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Curtis Samuel is clutch for the Panthers. Without him, Carolina in trouble vs Saints."
