Sammie Stroughter showed enough skills and production his rookie season to help earn him a spot in the starting lineup in 2010. The seventh-round pick caught 31 passes for 334 yards and one touchdown last year. This season as the starting flanker, Stroughter’s production has been severely down. In the first three games Stroughter only has six receptions for just 49 yards.

Head coach Raheem Morris said that Stroughter’s lack of stats could be because he may not be accustomed to playing so many snaps on Sundays.

“When you look at Sammie, he played so hard that he wore down a little bit,” said Morris. “He caught some cramps yesterday and we had to pull him off the field.”

Morris plans rectify the situation by giving Stroughter some breaks during games and putting him in the slot more on passing downs.

“Now with Rejus (Benn) on the come, you have to play him a little bit,” said Morris. “Yesterday we had Preston Parker up and some of those guys that will be able to go in and give Sammie some spells so he can be more effective in the zebra package, which we know he thrives in and makes his most production.”

Since Benn, a 2010 second-round pick, plays the flanker position and Mike Williams is entrenched as the split end, it makes sense to get him more involved in the slot because Stroughter (5’10”/189 lbs) just does not seem built to play on the outside.