Curtis Samuel Week 1 Outlook - Jets at Bills

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Fri, Sep 11th 2020, 1:10pm EDT

We saw the Panthers force the issue getting Samuel targets last year, though his efficiency was among the worst in the league. Was it due to the quarterback play? Maybe, though there are a lot of receivers who have to deal with poor quarterback play. New offensive coordinator Joe Brady should get creative with Samuel and find ways to utilize him closer to the line of scrimmage, though we have to project that to happen, as we haven't seen it with Samuel in the NFL just yet. The most consistent cornerback on the Raiders last year was Lamarcus Joyner, who covers the slot, which is where we should expect Samuel to play most of his snaps. Looking at the wide receivers who did well against the Raiders last year, not many of them were smaller receivers. The best game a sub-5-foot-11 receiver had against them was Mecole Hardman's 4/61/1 when Tyreek Hill was out of the lineup. I don't think Samuel offers so much upside that you can't pass on starting him, especially considering the negative reports that were coming out of camp. I'd rather sit back and watch how he's utilized in the new offense.