The Panthers have one of the league's biggest weapons but refuse to play him

It’s been five full years since the Panthers released Steve Smith, and despite using plenty of draft capital on the wide receiver position, the team has been unable to find its next No. 1 receiver.

Kelvin Benjamin got the first shot at replacing the greatest player in franchise history. He may have looked the part, but it quickly became apparent that he wasn’t the answer. Devin Funchess, also a bigger receiver who fit the No. 1 receiver prototype, got the next crack and, while he has been fine, it has become abundantly clear he is little more than a competent second or third option.

But Carolina may have already found its replacement for Smith. And, no, I’m not talking about 2018 first-round pick D.J. Moore, who is coming off his best day as a pro in the 20-19 loss to the Lions. I’m talking about a player who was on the field for just 16 offensive snaps in Detroit: Second-year receiver Curtis Samuel.

The 2017 second-round pick out of Ohio State has not seen much of the field in 2018 but has still managed to make a tremendous impact on the Panthers offense. He’s played only 112 snaps all season — nearly half the number THIRD tight end Chris Manhertz (no, that’s not a made-up name) has played. Smauel has touched the ball only 21 times this season. He has five touchdowns.

Five. On 21 touches.

Nearly 25% of the plays Samuel has received the ball have ended up in the end zone. He is the most efficient touchdown-maker in the league. In 2018, 56 players have scored at least five touchdowns. All of them have touched the ball more times than Samuel has. Chargers WR Mike Williams is next on the list with 24 touches; he’s played double the snaps Samuel has. Bears WR Anthony Miller is next with five scores on 29 touches but he’s needed 257 snaps to get them. No other player has scored five times on fewer than 30 touches.

Samuel isn’t scoring easy touchdowns, either. All of his scoring plays in 2018 have been of the spectacular variety, requiring a great catch or run to get into the end zone.

Samuel is more than a big play machine. He is easily the team’s best route-runner, whether he’s lining up in the slot or on the outside…

Outside of Greg Olsen, Samuel has the best hands on the team, and he showed off those hands with a clutch touchdown late in the Lions loss, contorting his body and snatching the ball out the air with his hands.

According to Pro Football Focus, Samuel is tied with Odell Beckham Jr. for 11th in its “Yards per Route Run” metric. And PFF has graded him as the 13th best receiver in the league this season. Here are the names ahead of him on that list:

Michael Thomas Tyreek Hill DeAndre Hopkins Adam Thielen Julio Jones Odell Beckham Jr. Robert Woods A.J. Green Keenan Allen Davante Adams DeSean Jackson Brandin Cooks

For whatever reason, Ron Rivera and the Panthers coaching staff have decided Samuel does not deserve more snaps than unspectacular players like Funchess, Jarius Wright and Torrey Smith. And Rivera’s reasoning for Samuel not seeing the field more often has been completely unsatisfying.

After Sunday’s loss, Rivera said Samuel will “continue to get opportunities,” but his snap count has actually been trending down over the last few weeks. After playing 27 snaps in Week 8, he’s been on the field for a total of 52 over the last three weeks combined. The better he plays, the fewer snaps he gets, it seems.

Maybe the coaching staff is having a hard time envisioning a 5-foot-11, 195-pound speedster as a WR1, but look around the league: Antonio Brown, who is smaller than Samuel, is the standard. Tyreek Hill is even smaller and not far behind Brown in the league’s WR hierarchy. You’d think a franchise that employed Steve Smith for over a decade would realize that size doesn’t really matter for receivers; then again, this is the same franchise that continues to play Funchess in the No. 1 role, so who knows.

With the Panthers’ season now teetering on the edge after two straight losses, maybe Rivera will come to his senses and start playing his best receiver more than 20 snaps a game. It’s become clear that the Panthers defense isn’t very good, and if this team is going to hang with other playoff contenders, it will have to start scoring more points. Playing the NFL’s most efficient touchdown-scorer should help.

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