When Joe Brady was Curis Samuel’s offensive coordinator with the Panthers in 2020, the receiver had the most productive year of his career.
It was the only time Samuel has accounted for over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in a season, as he caught 77 passes for 851 yards with three touchdowns and rushed 41 times for 200 yards with two TDs.
Now Brady is once again Samuel’s offensive coordinator, this time with Buffalo as Samuel joined the club on a three-year deal in March.
So what is Brady looking to get out of Samuel as the pair has reunited in 2024?
“Hopefully, a little bit of everything,” Brady said in a recent appearance on the Centered on Buffalo podcast with former Bills center Eric Wood. “I’m so excited to get Curtis back. I only had him for one year and he kind of just did this [went on an upward trajectory] the entire year. The one year that I had him, it was COVID year, so I didn’t really get to do much with him in the offseason — didn’t get anything, met him for the first time in training camp. And so, just kind of get a feel of what he can do. And we just basically played him at wide receiver to start, gave him some carries at running back, and then Week 2 of my first year, Christian McCaffrey got hurt. And then it was just like, OK, we had good running backs on the roster but it was like, alright, how can I get this guy involved? And man, he just took it and ran with it.
“He’s an incredible blocker, can play on the outside, play on the inside, move him around, as fast as can be. Just get the ball in his hands and good things happen — whether he’s playing receiver or whether he’s playing running back, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just his versatility will be an asset to the offense.”
Samuel, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft, has averaged 63 catches for 635 yards over the last two seasons with Washington. In all, he’s caught 317 passes for 3,383 yards with 22 touchdowns and rushed for 715 yards with seven TDs in 91 games.