Dylan of San Diego writes: The Carolina Panthers made some surprising picks at this years NFL draft. However, when looked at more closely, they may not be as bad as they seem.
The Carolina Panthers surprised many when they took Christian McCaffrey with the 8th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. McCaffrey, a college stud out of Stanford, can play both running back and wide receiver, and is also a talented return specialist.
Courtesy Carolina Panthers
However, the Panthers made an even bigger surprise when they drafted Curtis Samuel in the second round. Samuel is the exact same type of player as McCaffery– a triple threat with blazing speed. Samuel ran the 40 yard dash in 4.31 seconds at the combine, falling just short of having the fastest time at the event, finishing only behind John Ross.
Drafting two players with the same skill set does sound odd, but maybe the front office knows what they’re doing. After all, the Panthers haven’t drafted many early round busts under the arms of David Gettleman. In fact, about 75% of his draft picks over his short time with the team have turned out successful.
What does this mean? It means if you’re a Panthers fan, you need to trust Gettleman. His philosophy may be hard to understand, but here I’ll be explaining why the Panthers made smart choices on draft day, drafting both Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel.
With the additions of McCaffrey and Samuel, the Panthers already versatile offense gets even stronger. With the likes of Cam Newton and Greg Olsen already on the team, the offense will have countless new possibilities. Imagine the new plays that offensive coordinator Mike Shula has designed for his new offensive weapons. If utilized correctly, these two players alone could make the offense unstoppable.
McCaffrey and Samuel can rotate around the formation, playing either wide receiver or running back. They can create mismatches with speed on the outside, and confuse defenses with play action
Courtesy Bucknuts
fakes that will lead to more open receivers.
Remember those plays with Ted Ginn Jr in the wildcat formation that worked so well? With him gone, Curtis Samuel will take his role, and will be running those plays with even more success than Ginn.
Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel overall will make the running and passing game much stronger. In a base formation, Curtis Samuel will line up in the slot, and McCaffrey will share snaps in the backfield with Jonathan Stewart. The addition of these two will also take a lot of pressure off Cam Newton, who struggled last season with completion percentage and performing under pressure. With the addition of McCaffrey, Newton should be able to get some easy completions out of the backfield to his new target, and running lanes should open up for him on designed plays.
If Cam Newton is healthy and calm on the field, he should have little problem scoring every time he gets the ball.
