After taking a noticeable step back in production last year, Deebo Samuel is prepared to bounce back stronger than ever for the 2023-2024 NFL Season.
When the San Francisco 49ers drafted Deebo Samuel with the thirty six overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, many were unsure whether the 49ers selected the correct receiver. Some felt they should have gone with the ultra-productive Ole Miss wide receiver A.J. Brown, while others were blown away by A.J.’s college teammate D.K. Metcalf’s NFL combine performance, and felt that he would be a more ideal fit in San Francisco.
At the end of the day, however, the 49ers selected South Carolina’s Samuel, and the 49er faithful were left to put their utmost trust and confidence that head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch had done all their homework before sending in this pick.
After Deebo’s rookie year, fans grew excited at the idea that he could quickly develop into the number one weapon on the team. During those first 15 games played, the rookie managed to haul in an impressive 57 receptions for 802 yards and three receiving touchdowns, along with 14 carries for 159 yards and three rushing scores.
All those who’d wished the 49ers had chosen differently during round two of the 2019 NFL draft weren’t feeling too badly while watching Deebo’s inspiring production during his rookie season.
The following year, however, Deebo was battling through numerous nagging injuries, which wound up hampering him greatly during his second season in the league. He ended up playing only seven games, catching 33 balls for a measly 391 yards and one touchdown. It was a disappointing season for the rookie, to say the least. However, it was also an extremely disappointing season for the team as a whole. In 2020, it was reported that the 49ers had the second most injuries of any NFL football team ever over the past 20 years. During that season, nearly half of their talented roster missed significant playing time battling through a multitude of injuries. Therefore, the spotlight was not focused very heavily on Deebo’s discouraging second season in the NFL.
Fast forward to the 2021 NFL season. The 49ers have one of, if not the most dominant defensive units in the entire NFL. Their offense is above average as well. Everyone knows just how scary they can be, especially given the fact that they made an appearance in the Super Bowl just two seasons prior.
Samuel begins the season red-hot, oftentimes putting the entire offense on his back, as he constantly discovered more ways to force himself into the endzone. People were unsure how long his production would last, however, especially after the 49ers season started to sink.
Following the first two games of the season, the 49ers ended up going on a four-game losing streak, with a couple of embarrassing losses to teams they were projected to defeat.
The very next week, the 49ers are up against the Chicago Bears. It’s third and twenty to go. The 49ers are down 16-9 with seven and a half minutes left to go in the third quarter. Deebo gets a screen pass five yards behind the line of scrimmage. Normally, teams only call this play in order to get as many yards back as possible, accepting the fact that they aren’t going to complete a 20+ yard throw when the defense knows to stay back. However, Shanahan has always known how talented Deebo has been, and probably wasn’t even all too surprised when Deebo ended up taking the screen pass for an 83-yard gain, which wound up leading to a 49ers score and a momentous comeback.
That season, Deebo finished off with an exceptional year, showcasing his explosive athleticism playing as the alpha dog receiver in San Francisco, while even running with the ball in the backfield, knocking over defenders like a bowling ball with his unyielding tenaciousness and tremendous physicality. Deebo got his nickname because he is an absolute bully to defenders when on the field, and it sure showed in his stellar 2021 season, during which time he was electric with the ball in his hands.
Throughout that 16-game stretch that earned him All-Pro recognition, Deebo accumulated 77 catches for 1,405 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns, along with an additional 59 carries on the ground for 365 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Oh yeah, and he also threw a touchdown for over 30 yards in the air to help the 49ers clinch the playoffs during the final game of the regular season as well.
When head coach and offensive play-caller Shanahan chose to play Deebo at running back during the year, Deebo chose to embrace his role, happy to set the tone early and often in games, and proud to call himself the league’s best ‘wide back’ (wide receiver/running back).
It didn’t take very long for Deebo to emerge as a fan favorite during the 2021 NFL season, as he managed to put up a touchdown in practically every single game he played.
When the 49ers were ultimately defeated in the NFC Championship that year, the faithful were extremely disappointed, and Deebo was even seen in tears after the game, as he did everything he could to give the 49ers the chance to win.
However, as disappointing as the end of the 2021 season was, everyone knew the 49ers were still a heavily loaded roster, and that they had a very good chance to run it back with mostly the same squad.
When it comes to the offseason though, fans were wildly concerned when noticing Deebo had removed the 49ers from his Instagram account. Very soon after, it was revealed that Deebo had requested for a trade. The entire fanbase was devastated. People thought the writing was on the wall and that Deebo’s time in SF was sadly coming to an end.
However, the only reason Deebo requested a trade is that he and the 49ers had trouble agreeing on a long-term contract extension, and Deebo wanted to put pressure on the organization to get that done in a timely manner, especially because of what he felt he deserved after the incredibly special season he had just delivered.
The night of that year’s NFL draft, 49ers fans stared at the television in anticipation of what would happen, as rumors were buzzing that the Jets were highly interested in trading for the star receiver in exchange for one or two of their early draft picks.
In the end, the 49ers were unwilling to part with one of their premier playmakers on offense and wound up striking a long-term extension very late into the offseason that ended up satisfying both parties at hand.
However, because Deebo had been away from the facilities for so long, he didn’t get the chance to practice with the team and familiarize himself with his new quarterback, second-year player Trey Lance. He came to camp in worse shape than he would have liked and didn’t like the way he ended up performing, especially when compared to the phenomenal stats he had put up just one season prior.
Last year, Deebo finished the season with 56 catches for 632 receiving yards and two receiving scores, along with 42 carries for 232 yards and three rushing touchdowns. While that is certainly not a bad year for a wide receiver by any means, Deebo was still unhappy with his performance, calling last season simply “awful” in “every aspect.”
Perhaps his coming to camp late and not in the right shape had something to do with it, but after trading for star running back Christian McCaffrey in the middle of last season, the 49ers started utilizing all the star power they had on offense in a variety of creative ways.
Regardless, Deebo is on a mission to bounce back this year and produce much more like his 2021 self, declaring in a recent interview that “I’d say this is probably the best shape that I’ve been in since the 2019 year.”
After all the off-season drama that took place before the start of last season, Deebo has been at practice and doing everything he can in order to better his game.
For a team with expectations as high as theirs, the San Francisco 49ers are going to need all the help that they can get if they want to call this season a success, and Deebo is remarkably determined to do whatever he can to help the 49ers get back to the Super Bowl and win, while making a lasting impact for this team.
