Curtis Samuel

Samuel had terrible luck on his deep balls last season. Just five of his 27 deep ball targets (20+ yards downfield) were deemed catchable (per PFF), and he caught all five. Of the 49 receivers with at least 15 deep ball targets last year, Samuel was 49th in catchable target rate. Had he enjoyed league-average accuracy, he would project to catch an additional 6.7 passes for another 218 receiving yards. That would have put him at 60-845 instead of 54-627. Assuming he didn’t catch any more touchdowns, which is being conservative, he would have finished as the No. 25 receiver instead of his actual No. 36 finish (half-PPR). Throw in two more touchdowns and he would have outscored Stefon Diggs as last year’s No. 21 receiver. The Saints didn’t ask Teddy Bridgewater to throw deep very often, but when they did, he usually delivered. Per Sports Info Solutions, nine of Bridgewater’s 14 deep ball attempts were on target, which was No. 5 among the 44 quarterbacks with at least 11 deep ball attempts. Bridgewater wasn’t particularly accurate the last time he saw significant playing time in 2015, but his performance in 2019 gives Samuel some hope in 2020.