Now let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this article: Curtis Samuel. Samuel is criminally underrated and I think he possesses a lot of talent. The growth he displayed in year two is tremendous and I wouldn’t hesitate to target him a lot more.
Samuel’s route running ability is fantastic.
Against the Giants, for example – Samuel’s at the bottom of the screen…
He uses a fantastic break on this out route…
…to create separation…
…allowing Newton an easy pass to move the chains.
One thing you may notice about Samuel’s route break is how much quicker it is than Moore’s. The quickness and sharp cut displayed on the break gives him a much bigger window than if he were to use a slower break. At the same time, it’s also aesthetically pleasing to watch.
Samuel featured another great route as a wideout on this touchdown against the Lions.
Against man coverage…
…Samuel is able to combine hesitance and quick mechanics to create outside leverage.
Newton fires high enough that only Samuel has a chance at this pass, and Samuel makes a nice high catch to bring in the score.
Samuel’s success against man and press coverage is precisely why I think he should be Carolina’s X receiver. Let’s go to another example.
Samuel is lined up against press coverage on this play at the bottom of the screen.
Once again, Samuel finds a way to separate, as he uses a cut so sharp it almost looks like a 90 degree angle.
Samuel catches this right at the first down marker, just barely giving him enough yards to move the chains.
Let’s get to perhaps my favorite route from Samuel’s rookie season.
This time, Samuel is lined up against a corner acting as a bail defender at the top of the screen.
The DB’s eyes stay on the quarterback while he backpedals, keeping his distance on the wide receiver while maintaining a close eye on him as well.
Samuel fakes an out cut and goes back inside…
…resulting in an impressive double move that should result in a touchdown.
Unfortunately, Newton’s pass is under thrown, so the ball is disrupted and lands on the turf for an incompletion.
Nevertheless, this is not an easy route to run, and Samuel executes it beautifully. Unfortunately, Newton’s shoulder injury really limited his downfield accuracy in 2018, so it’s clear he wasn’t comfortable when throwing this pass.
Samuel also displays a good level of tenacity at the catch point.
Going back to the Lions game…
…Newton’s pass to Samuel is a little behind him when it should be thrown to his back shoulder…
…but Samuel’s toughness and strong hands allow him to pull the ball in on an inaccurate throw, making for an impressive first down conversion on the comeback route.
Finally, Samuel’s ability to create yards after the catch is massively underrated – Curtis is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.
This touchdown against the Giants is insane, but it also features poor tackling on a slippery play from Samuel. Still, his ability to create YAC, to me, rivals Moore’s, and with less touches to boot.
Curtis Samuel has the talent to be a high level receiver, as long as the Panthers are able to realize that – his usage should be increased tenfold in 2019, as his excellent route running ability, sharp breaks, quickness, speed, and YAC ability make him a more versatile receiving threat against tighter coverage than D.J. Moore. Let’s hope Samuel can stay healthy for an entire year, something he wasn’t able to do for his first two seasons.
Samuel reminds me of Stefon Diggs, a dynamic route runner and master against press coverage – while he was categorized as a gadget option coming out of college, I actually believe he’s more of a traditional receiver than Moore, and more talented to boot.
Here’s hoping the Panthers organization sees that.
I’m pretty sure your example of man in that clip of Moore vs the Ravens was zone coverage, specifically Cover 2 as both Jefferson (the safety on Moore’s side & Weddle bottom of the screen) both drop into halves, and if you look at the outside DB’s they are squatting on the routes shallow and outside, you actually see who I believe to be Olse run free down the right seam as Cam misses him wide open as it looks like he’s breaking for a flag route over the bottom of the screen cover two corner, as Weddle squeezes the ”Trips” side of the formation. You can’t create separation on a Comeback route vs Cover 2 since the flat defender doesn’t have to worry about being beat over the top as it is not his responsibility. You also see the LB’s spot dropping with just one defender mirroring McCaffrey.
Good call, made the edit on that part, thanks!