Curtis Samuel is Climbing up Cam Newton’s Target Totem Pole

Cam Newton is starting to mix in his young guys.

Curtis Samuel caught 6-of-11 targets for 88 yards in Week 13 against the Bucs.

The 11 targets were a season high. Samuel also led the Panthers in receiving with Greg Olsen (foot) leaving early and Devin Funchess not playing full snaps. Samuel would be in line for a larger role if Olsen misses time.

So it looks like Greg Olsen will miss the remainder of the 2018 NFL season with a foot injury, catapulting Samuel into a larger share of the Panthers offense. Olsen’s absence and Funchess’ nagging injury allowed Samuel to rack up a team high 11 targets on the day as the primary weapon behind Christian McCaffrey. Now this is clearly CMC’s offense, but with Carolina attempting under 20 rushes on the day they are a passing primary team. The Panthers also appear to be free falling with loss after loss. They’ve been put into passing game scripts and games against the Browns, Saints and Falcons next should continue that trend.

Now Curtis Samuel still has work to do in order to carve out a bigger role in the offense for himself. He’s clearly behind CMC at the moment, along with DJ Moore and Devin Funchess when healthy. Samuel has shown though he has some serious explosive playmaking abilities when the team gets him the ball out in space. He’s clearly a weapon Norv Turner and Cam Newton should look to exploit with the loss of Greg Olsen. Samuel becomes an intriguing flex play down the stretch of fantasy playoffs.

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  • THE Inaugural 2016 RSJ Fantasy Football League Champion. Owner of a #bigbrain, and lover of football, baseball and college hoops. When not grinding for the RSJ, can be found captaining his beer league softball team.

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