Samuel now versatile game-changer
On their official roster, the 49ers list No. 19 Deebo Samuel as a wide receiver. But because of the way his third NFL season has played out, Samuel’s coaches, teammates and even his opponents will argue the Niners have the 6-foot, 215-pound South Carolina product listed incorrectly.
“He’s a complete football player,” San Francisco running backs coach Bobby Turner says when asked to describe Samuel. “He can do it all, and he competes.”
“Dangerous weapon,” declares Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry, whose unit faced Samuel and the 49ers in the NFC divisional round.
“Special football player,” an NFC talent evaluator said, unknowingly echoing Turner. “Notice I didn’t say WR or RB, but a player.”
San Francisco offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, whose job it is to help think up all kinds of ways to capitalize on Samuel’s rare skill set, calls it challenging to define the player.
“Deebo has been unique to all of our careers because you’re always trying to find what a football player is, and it’s still hard to define. But the game moves slow for him and he’s fearless and he’s fast and he’s big and he’s hard to tackle.” And Samuel himself ? “Wide-back,” he told reporters this month. “A receiver that plays running back.”
Throughout the 2021 regular season, and now in the postseason, Samuel has established himself as one of the NFL’s truly elite and most versatile gamechangers.
Samuel became the first player in the NFL’s modern era (since the 1970 AFLNFL merger) to record at least 1,300 receiving yards and at least 300 rushing yards in the same season. He also became the first player since the merger to lead his team in both receiving yards (1,405, fifth in the NFL), receiving touchdowns (six, tied with George Kittle) and rushing touchdowns (eight).
In the 23-17 playoff win over Dallas, Samuel didn’t just record three catches on three targets, he also rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
During the regular season, Samuel’s versatility helped save the 49ers after injuries depleted the running back position. His 1,770 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns both paced an offense that ranked seventh in the NFL in total yards.
These feats by Samuel serve as a testament to rare physical and mental gifts, as well as the prowess of a uniquely creative coaching staff that is continually looking for ways to further elevate a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
“The evolution of how we use him is a product of two things,” McDaniel explains. “Him being a really good football player, and I think (head coach) Kyle (Shanahan) does an outstanding job of really pushing his staff to open their mind and see what’s there, maybe what we haven’t done or really thought through the whys of what we do. So, the combination of a skill set of a particular player and the drive Kyle has been pushing on me since the day I started working with him, those type of things end up rendering the results you’re seeing from a whole staff perspective.”
A year of growth from Samuel came as no surprise. He showed flashes as a rookie second-round pick and again in 2020 despite injury and COVID-19-related layoffs.
By the midway point of the 2021 season, Samuel had started proving himself as a reliable pass catcher with a career-high 882 yards and four touchdowns on 54 receptions. But at that same point of the season, injuries hit the 49ers’ running back position hard. As the San Francisco coaches began looking for alternatives, Samuel came under consideration.
During the handful of running opportunities he had received (mostly on jet sweeps or reverses), Samuel had displayed a toughness and physicality uncommon for wide receivers. Coaches noted his “unbelievable leg strength” and the way his lower half was built like an elite running back. But just as importantly, Samuel had the mental makeup for this rare dual-threat role.
“The mental toughness,” Turner explained. “You’ve got to be physical in all aspects of the game, but it’s totally different running back there in between the tackles. There’s a difference between running between the tackles and running in space. But he loves it, he has the heart for it, he puts his heart and soul into everything he does. … He’s not complacent, he doesn’t lose his poise, the game isn’t too fast, it’s not too big for him.”
With Samuel checking off both the mental and physical boxes, 49ers coaches felt comfortable going beyond just using him on a few gimmick plays to occasionally spark the rushing attack. They instead integrated Samuel into their usual run game, which gave the team the flexibility to use him at multiple positions in any of their personnel groupings: two-back/two-tight end/ two wideout or two-back/two-end/one wideout, one-back/one tight end/ three-wide receiver, one-back/oneend/three wideout, empty backfieldfive receiver or one-tight end/four wide receiver.
“For every time you guys sit there and say, ‘Wow, they move him around a lot,’ no. Deebo moves around a lot,” McDaniel explained. “He has to be accountable for every single assignment. Every single thing you see him do, there’s no success that comes out of it if he’s not aligned properly and if it isn’t on point. That’s something we didn’t know if (he) was up for the challenge, but he has come into his own in 2021-22.”
In the nine games (regular season and postseason) since Samuel expanded his role, he has displayed the same elite pass-catching skills (leading the league with 18.2 yards per catch), and ball-carrying skills that have him ranked fourth among rushers with at least 50 rushing attempts at 6.2 yards per carry.
Samuel is only just getting started, but he already has put himself in elite company.
His 72 rushing yards against Dallas broke the record for ground yards by a wideout that was held by Hall of Famer James Lofton. And his 1,405 receiving yards this season were the most by a 49ers wide receiver since another Hall of Famer, Terrell Owens, had 1,412 in 2001.
Samuel’s overall game and skill set also evoke memories of another elite offensive weapon.
Says Barry, who prior to this season coached against Samuel as a member of the NFC West rival Rams for two seasons: “I remember years ago when I was coaching in Tampa, being in the division with Carolina, Carolina had an all-pro receiver, Steve Smith, who was a great receiver and we always talked about and joked, ‘God, Steve Smith would be an unbelievable running back’ because – we call it ‘contact balance,’ and when a ball carrier gets hit, you can really see if they have contact balance or not based on how fast they go down when they get hit. There are incredible similarities between Deebo and Steve Smith, and Deebo is probably bigger. He’s between 215 and 220 so he has that size to mix it up inside the tackles.
“But then, obviously, he had the athleticism and skill set to be able to bounce runs and stress you on the perimeter. But the biggest thing that Deebo brings to the table is that contact balance because to be a good running back at this level, you have to be able to bounce off tackles and keep your balance, keep your feet underneath your armpits and be able to bounce off of tackles and break tackles. And usually, wideouts have great speed and have to be able to run routes. But you can’t put just anybody back there in the backfield.”
On Sunday, Samuel will try to help his team take the final step to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, offensive coordinators around the league are taking note of his success, which could inspire some to try to develop expanded roles for their leading wideouts, Turner expects.
But he has a hard time envisioning anyone capable of matching Samuel’s production.
“He’s unique,” the longtime coach says. “To say many more of those guys can come in, eh, they’ll try to do it. But Deebo is Deebo. He’s unique. He’s a special guy.”