What It Means:

“Curtis is going to be critical to success,” Brady said during his conference with media Thursday. “Curtis is a playmaker. He fits the mold of what we’re looking for in this type of offense, a guy that you can utilize all around the field and get the ball in the hands and good things happen. We’re getting the ball in space and I’m excited for him to take the next leap.” Samuel averaged multiple carries over the final six games of last season under the previous regime and it sounds like Brady intends to use the former second-round pick in a similar fashion. Samuel had over 50 receiving yards three times over the first six games, but he cleared that number just two more times over the final 10 contests. Kyle Allen's incompetence certainly didn't help, but neither did Samuel's 7 drops. He had only one reception all season go for longer than 40 yards and his yards per target (6.0) was worse than any other receiver with at least 100 targets. Look for Samuel to be featured primarily on short routes, as well as out of the backfield, while D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson help stretch the field. Samuel is entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Samuel is the WR60 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. Our models project him for 47.5 receptions (84.2 targets) for 555.5 yards, 12.8 carries for 86.7 yards, and 4.2 touchdowns. Samuel ranked third-worst in numberFire's advanced per-target receiving metric last year out of the 30 wideouts with 100-plus targets.