Panthers wide receiver Curtis Samuel really finished strong in the second half of last season. Here is a guy who wasn’t even active the first three games, ended up starting eight out of the last 10 games, caught at least four balls in five of those, and scored four out of his five receiving touchdowns over the last nine weeks. In some ways, his jump in production from 15 catches as a rookie to 39 last season would qualify as a breakout on its own.

But I think Samuel still has another level that he can take both his game and his production, and I believe we will see that this season.

One thing that hit me about the Panthers is there appears to be a conscious effort to transition away from the big, tall wide receivers like they had a few seasons ago, such as the 6’5 Kelvin Benjamin and the 6’4 Devin Funchess. Now as you look at the roster, Carolina’s receiving corps is full of guys who are 6’0 or shorter, like Samuel.

I believe a lot of why they went for that shift is because the Panthers wanted to put more flat-out speed on the field, and Samuel fits right into what they are looking for from their wideouts these days.

Samuel has played both outside and inside, and he is a hard cover no matter where he lines up.

He is quick getting into and out of his breaks, which helps to create separation on shorter routes, but he also has enough speed to get deep on most defensive backs. I really was impressed with how Samuel caught the ball in traffic. He wasn’t perfect, but the guy fought for every contested ball.

And he wasn’t scared of contact, either. Samuel didn’t make every catch thrown his way, but it definitely wasn’t from a lack of trying, even when the defender was draped all over him.

With Funchess, who caught 44 balls last season, now playing for the Colts, that opens up an opportunity not only for someone else to start, but also to step up and take over those share of targets that Funchess used to command. Last year’s first-round pick, DJ Moore, is bound to get a bunch of targets after balling out and hauling in 55 passes as a rookie, but I can see Samuel, a former second-rounder, getting about the same amount of balls thrown his way as well this season.

Of course, one of the main factors in how big of a season Samuel has will be the health of Cam Newton.

I actually thought Newton was having one of his best seasons throwing the ball before he started showing up on the injury reports following a Week 7 win against the Eagles. Newton‘s right shoulder injury evidently got worse in a Week 10 blowout loss to the Steelers and ended up derailing the rest of the year for him and the Panthers. The fact he had to have surgery on his shoulder earlier this offseason means nobody can know for sure how Newton will bounce back this season.

If he can stay healthy this year and throw the ball the way he was at the beginning of last season, I think you will see Newton have another MVP-type year. The better he plays, the more likely Samuel will be able to show what he can do as well. If reports out of training camp are true, it sounds like Samuel is looking even more polished as a route runner. He is going to end up being the kind of guy who is damn near impossible to cover on short routes, but who can also run by you on deep balls.

If he and Newton can connect on some of those deep balls early in the season, I think Samuel will end up having a huge year. I know the Panthers signed Chris Hogan and they also have Torrey Smith on the roster, but I believe Samuel is going to get his regardless.

But, again, a lot will rest on how well Newton plays this season.

Ultimately, I believe everyone will be able to see Samuel is a top-notch wide receiver this season no matter who lines up at quarterback. The fact of the matter, though, is he is going to have a hard time quantifying his progression with a rise in production if Newton isn’t the guy throwing him the football this year.

So yeah, I have to hedge a little on this pick. While I am a fan of how Newton plays the game, I just can’t be sure how the surgery will affect his play until I actually see him play.

Samuel is really talented, physically gifted, and he keeps getting better as a route runner. If Newton is back to his old self, I bet Samuel continues to improve as this season goes on.

Confidence level: Moderate