4 Panthers who could be extended before next season

Potential contract extension with Carolina Panthers: Curtis Samuel – WR

Now in his fourth season in the NFL, Curtis Samuel has shown that he has all of the speed and ability to get open that you need. But he hasn’t had a consistent quarterback presence during his time with the organization. This is a big “prove it” year for the player, whose expectations are still high despite a difficult season.

Last season was supposed to be the breakout year for the Ohio State product. Fans watched at training camp as Cam Newton threw 50-yard bombs to the consistently open Samuel. And everyone was excited to see what could come out of the partnership between them.

What happened next involving Newton hurt the prospects of Samuel more than most. And despite putting up career numbers, he wasn’t able to have the season he was capable of producing in 2019.

At first glance, the numbers don’t look great for Samuel, who had 627 receiving yards last year. However, a lot of that has to do with his skill set and how his speed was underutilized while playing with Kyle Allen, who was a poor deep passer.

According to Yahoo Sports, 81 percent of throws of more than 20 yards in Samuel’s direction fell into the category of unwatchable in 2019. With a stat like that, it’s not hard to see why the extremely fast Samuel was unable to shine in the way that Carolina Panthers’ fans expected him to.

Under new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, it’s clear that the passing game is going to get a makeover. Their downfield attack is expected to be similar to the New Orleans Saints’ offense with Sean Payton, as well as parts of LSU’s 2019 playbook, which utilized similar West Coast passing concepts.

Outside of being a solid downfield target, Samuel was known for his ability to generate yards after the catch and make defenders miss as a dual-threat player for the Buckeyes. This new offense could help him flourish in 2020, leading to a step in the right direction for his career.