South Carolina's Deebo Samuel may just be the nation's most elusive receiver
There’s a ton of hype building this offseason in Columbia following South Carolina’s surprise bowl trip in Will Muschamp’s first season as the team’s head coach. Factor in the budding star talent of true sophomores quarterback Jake Bentley and running back Rico Dowdle combined with junior receiver Deebo Samuel and Carolina has the makings of an elite offense.
While those three players help lay the foundation for a potential offensive explosion next season, Samuel, in particular, has shown the capability to bust big plays on offense. Much of that has to do with his ability to make tacklers miss in the open field.
In fact, Samuel has been so effective in that role, that according to Pro Football Focus, he led the nation among all returning receivers in missed tackles forced after Week 6 of the season — which just so happens to coincide with Bentley’s promotion as the team’s starting quarterback:
From Week 6 on, South Carolina WR Deebo Samuel finished tied for first in terms of most missed tackles forced after the catch in 2016. pic.twitter.com/pRAxspWLvG
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) June 8, 2017
Samuel had only eight catches after the first six weeks of his career, but he quickly emerged as Bentley’s favorite receiver following Carolina’s bye week. In each of the first three games Bentley started, Samuel had at least eight catches in every game and capped his freshman season by catching 14 passes for a whopping 190 yards and a touchdown in the bowl game against South Florida.
If Samuel continues to show this level of aptitude for making defenders miss, South Carolina would be wise to continue to feed him the ball. Doing so could prove to be the key to living up to the lofty expectations placed on the unit heading into 2017.
South Carolina’s stats back up PFF’s numbers, courtesy of South Carolina Offensive GA Matthew Symmes:
Deebo: 37 broken tackles on his touch reel. 11 times when the first tackler had an unabated path to him, said tackler got nothing.
— Matthew Symmes (@Coach_Symmes) January 23, 2017