How Eric Bieniemy could look to use WR Curtis Samuel
Breaking downs the different ways Bieniemy might look to make use of Samuel's versatility
One of the players flying under the radar for the Washington Commanders this offseason is wide receiver Curtis Samuel. Much of the focus this offseason has been on Eric Bieniemy’s new offense, how Sam Howell will fit, what Bieniemy can do with Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, or even running backs like Antonio Gibson, but Samuel’s role shouldn’t be overlooked. In fact, Bieniemy’s Chiefs added a player last year with a very similar skill set to Samuel in Kadarius Toney and he became an important part of the offense.
Before we get into what role exactly Samuel could play in this offense, it’s important to remember his skill set. Samuel is an incredibly explosive athlete with great speed but also terrific quickness. Not only can he outrun players with straight line speed, he has the ability to stop and start on a dime and make sharp cuts that leave defenders grabbing at dirt.
This play is a great example of how sharp Samuel can cut. He lines up to the left of the formation as part of a bunch set. The other receivers in the bunch work deeper routes to vacate space underneath for him and Samuel uses that space to spot up and make himself quickly available to the quarterback. The quarterback spots him and looks to get him the ball early so he has a chance to make some moves after the catch.
Once the ball is in his hands, you can see how explosive he is after the catch. He initially works inside but recognizes there's nowhere to go, so he makes an incredibly sharp cut to make an incoming defender miss completely. Samuel then accelerates quickly to burst up the field and dive forward to maximize his gain. He turned a quick spot route into a near first down with his ability after the catch.
Those kinds of moves with the ball in his hands are what make Samuel a significant threat on offense. He’s the type of player you want to manufacture touches in order to get him the ball in space where he can make use of his explosive playmaking ability. As I mentioned he’s very similar to Kadarius Toney in that regard and how Bieniemy used Toney could be a good indication of his plans for Samuel.
A big part of how the Bieniemy and the Chiefs looked to use Toney was as a “gadget” player. Things like jet sweeps, end arounds and reverses were all part of the package of plays Toney was involved with. Here we see Toney lined up in a stacked set to the left of the formation before running a jet sweep to the right. Most of the offensive line block down inside to pin the defense inside, but the right tackle (Andrew Wylie, now with the Commanders) and tight end slip the defensive end and work up to the second level to lead the way for Toney. Wylie does a great job reaching the linebacker at the second level and cutting him off inside while the tight end leads the way for Toney to work down the sideline for a big gain.
Washington of course had jet sweeps in their offense last season and Samuel was certainly a threat on those.
This isn’t a too dissimilar look from the play we just saw from the Chiefs. Samuel aligns in a stacked set to the right of the formation and takes the ball on a jet sweep to the left. Just like on the play before, the tackle and tight end slip the block of the defensive end and work up to the second level to lead the way for Samuel. Samuel speeds past the unblocked defensive end and turns the corner up to the second level. There he reads Charles Leno’s block and makes a nice adjustment to bounce his run outside and walks into the end zone untouched for a touchdown.
The similarities between Samuel and Toney don’t stop at just jet sweeps. Despite joining just midway through the season, Toney had a package of plays designed around him working out of the backfield.
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