When Washington Commanders fans hear the name Curtis Samuel, they can’t help but grimace a little bit. Signed to a three-year, $35.4 million deal, including $23 million guaranteed, last offseason, the talented receiver wound up playing less than 100 snaps due to a mysterious groin injury that surfaced in the offseason.
In Samuel’s defense, Washington’s handling of the injury didn’t do him any favors. Instead of simply shutting him down and putting him on injured reserve, the coaching staff instilled a day-by-day and week-by-week approach.
The injury never fully healed and when Samuel did play he looked like a shell of the dynamic playmaker that haunted defenses in Carolina. And when he finally strung a few games together, a hamstring injury knocked him out for the rest of the year.
To say the upcoming season is make-or-break for Samuel is dead accurate, but there’s reason to believe he’ll prove his doubters wrong. The Commanders load managing his practice reps seems to be working in spades and Samuel got in a full week of practice after the team’s first preseason game.
Approaching such a huge season for his Commanders future, let’s delve into some bold Samuel predictions for the 2022 campaign.
3 bold predictions for Commanders WR Curtis Samuel in 2022
3. More Receiving Yards Than Jahan Dotson
This might not come across as bold, but Dotson has seemingly asserted himself as Washington’s No. 2 receiver opposite Terry McLaurin.
With three hungry mouths to feed, it’s tough to predict how the target share will be divided, but there should be enough targets to go around now that Scott Turner has a quarterback who can properly run the Air Coryell offense .
This prediction isn’t an indictment on Dotson, but he’s a rookie and might need an adjustment period to adapt to the talent of NFL defensive backs. It’s one thing to dominate training camp against your teammates. It’s something entirely different to hit the ground running in the regular season.
Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase are unicorns in that regard.
Still, this prediction is more a vote of confidence in Samuel to bounce back from his injury-riddled 2021 than anything else. What makes it bold? Dotson is more of an outright receiver, whereas Samuel will be used in a variety of roles so his catch and yard output is impossible to predict.
2. Most Scrimmage Yards On Commanders
It’ll be extremely difficult for Samuel to finish as the Commanders’ yards from scrimmage leader this season. For starters, he’s up against Antonio Gibson, who could log between 15-20 touches per game if he fix his fumbling woes, and Terry McLaurin, who could push for 1,200 receiving yards if all goes according to plan.
Samuel’s career high for scrimmage yards came in 2020. In 15 games, he finished with 851 receiving yards and 200 rushing yards (1,051 total).
So, yeah, this prediction coming to fruition won’t be easy. However, it’s worth noting Samuel was fourth in the touch pecking order for Carolina that year, behind Mike Davis (Christian McCaffrey was injured), DJ Moore and Robby Anderson.
Gibson led the Commanders with 1,331 scrimmage yards last season. That’s a high threshold to crack for Samuel, but Gibson will concede touches to Brian Robinson and the return of JD McKissic will take some catches away, as a lot of Gibson’s receiver output came when McKissic was shelved with his neck injury.
Samuel to lead Washington in scrimmage yards. You heard it here first!
1. 900+ Receiving Yards, 8 Total TDs
Samuel’s career-high for receiving yards came in his breakout 2020 when he compiled 851 receiving yards. Again, there are a lot of mouths to feed on Washington’s offense, including McLaurin, Dotson, Logan Thomas (when healthy), Cole Turner and all of the running backs and depth receivers.
But the Commanders didn’t sign Samuel to a $34.5 million contract last offseason to not make him a focal point of their offense. The 26-year-old’s versatility has drawn comparisons to Deebo Samuel, so the coaching staff clearly has plans to feature him early and often so long as his body is up for it.
Capable of lining up all over the field, Samuel will push for 80 catches, 900 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns. If that ends up being the case, Washington should be sitting pretty as far as the playoff picture is concerned.
The success, or lack thereof, of the offense isn’t riding on Samuel’s shoulders, but no player is capable of raising the group’s ceiling more than the former second-round pick because of his versatility, playmaking ability and overall question marks surrounding his health after he played just five games last year.