Fantasy Upside
Curtis Samuel is a versatile threat with a nose for the end zone. He’s scored 14 touchdowns over the past two seasons, including three on run plays, despite only touching the ball 120 times during that span. He eclipsed 100 targets for the first time in his career last season and seems to have carved a nice role for himself in the Carolina offense. He’s a playmaker and was healthy all of last season for the first time after struggling with injuries in his first two years.
Fantasy Downside
Though he was targeted 105 times last season, he caught just 54 of those balls. While the quarterback play was bad, and Sports Info Solutions has just 70 of those targets as “catchable,” a 51% catch rate and seven drops is definitely worrisome. Samuel also will struggle to get as many snaps out wide as he did last year with the addition of deep threat Robby Anderson from the Jets. It’s difficult to imagine Samuel improving on his totals from last season (54 catches, 627 yards) when he’s likely to play primarily in the slot. He took about 32% of his offensive snaps from that spot a year ago.
2020 Bottom Line
There are things to love and things to hate about Samuel as a viable fantasy option this season. Throw in the changes at quarterback and on the coaching staff and you have quite a conundrum. It’s a good thing he doesn’t cost much – 13th round in 12-team leagues – making him more of a lottery ticket than someone to be counted on as a starter. The truth is we don’t know how well this Panther offense is going to hum this season, so taking advantage of uncertainty and rostering Samuel at his very reasonable ADP is worth the risk. If he’s virtually replaced by Robby Anderson, you can always drop him after the first couple of weeks.
