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During a 49ers practice, receiver Deebo Samuel has a lot of things to do. There was one notable exception.
After the Niners wrap up stretching and transition to a special teams period, Samuel gets the only opening in his daily practice schedule. Samuelsidles up to Kyle to have a chat.
It happens before every practice, and the topic of conversation is usually how Samuel is feeling. Samuel brought up his son on a recent afternoon, and he is already showing signs of following in his father's footsteps.
He's 3 weeks old and already holding his bottle by himself. Deebo is convinced that he's going to be a top pick.
In those conversations, Samuel and Shanahan talk about everything. It's fitting because everything Samuel does for the 49ers is what he's meant to them this season.
In his third season in the league, Samuel has emerged as a supernova, forcefully introducing himself into a different discussion about the game's best offensive weapons. At times, he has put the 49ers on his back, so they can play the Green Bay Packers on Saturday. Fox.
Samuel's success isn't the only thing he's had, but the number of ways he's left opposing defenses in his dust.
While playing a number of positions, Samuel accounted for 15 total touchdown and earned first-team All-Pro honors for the first time. Samuel is aware of the unique job he has, and even created a name for it: wide back.
He had 1,770 yards from scrimmage in the NFL.
He led the league in yards per reception and was fourth in yards per rush among players with at least 50 rushes.
His eight rushing touchdown are the most by a receiver in a season since 1970, and he's the only receiver in the modern era to lead his team in rushing touchdown.
He was one of four players who had at least 1,000 receiving yards and five rushing touchdown in a season.
In the wild-card win over the Dallas Cowboys last week, Samuel set an NFL record for most rushing yards by a primary receiver in a playoff game, including his ninth rushing touchdown of the year.
Whenever the 49ers needed an offensive boost, Samuel and his unique mix of hard-charging and blazing speed provided it.
"That's who he is, naturally," he said. He'll be asleep before the game and he'll come out on the first play. It allows your heart rate to be level, your breath to be level, and you have a point to you, so you can kind of do the more instinctual stuff and still be violent enough to play at the level he does. It's not something that a lot of athletes see.
A natural football player.
During the regular season in 2021, Deebo Samuel caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards and six touchdown. He rushed 59 times for 361 yards and eight more scores.
Before the first two games of the season, Samuel was asked if the Rams' Beckham Jr. or the Seattle's Metcalf were the ones he studied. Samuel said no.
Samuel meant no disrespect. It's only because he's asked to do that on a weekly basis that there's only one wide receiver worth watching.
"You can learn from other guys, but not if you're not built like them," Samuel said. "For myself, it's to see how I come in and out of breaks, what a certain guy's matchup is or the things that guys like to do when they are facing guys like me even though there's not that many."
Samuel has played a variety of roles for most of his football career. He did it at Inman Chapman and the University of South Carolina.
Samuel has always been a receiver, but when the Niners first started using him as a running back, he was not new to it.
Samuel's first two seasons were spent as a receiver. Samuel had 22 carries in his first 22 games. Six came from a running back position.
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When the injury bug began to bite Niners running backs this year, Mike McDaniel turned to Samuel to help pick up the slack. Samuel gained 22 rushing yards in his first eight games this season, but he gained 343 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdown in his final eight regular-season contests.
Samuel has played in 17 games, rushing from a true running back position 64 times for 423 yards and nine touchdown. Samuel has averaged 16.44 yards per carry on those nine touchdown runs, which is slightly less than the average distance of the receiving touchdown in the NFL this season.
Samuel gets six-plus carries in a game and San Francisco is 7-1.
Considering how complicated the Niners' outside-zone-heavy run scheme can be, it's fair to assume Samuel spent time in the meeting room with Bobby Turner. That would not be correct.
Kyle Juszczyk said that he spends almost no time with that. He's never in the running back room. Deebo is a natural football player.
Turner takes Samuel aside between practice periods to give him pointers on the correct running path and timing.
Turner will give instructions the day before a game if Samuel doesn't run a play during the week. The rest is taken care of by Samuel.
Samuel said that it's not too much stress because you know what running plays will be. It was difficult at first, but as time goes it gets easier.
The 'wide back' has evolved.
During the Super Bowl era, Deebo Samuel set an NFL record for most rushing yards by a primary receiver in a playoff game.
At 33, Harvin feels like he still has some football left in him. When Harvin sees more players doing the things he used to do for the Vikings, Jets, Bills and other teams, he believes in his abilities.
Harvin says his football prime came too soon, as more all-purpose players like him now dot the NFL landscape. He sees Samuel in Atlanta and Tavon Austin in Jacksonville.
Ask the evaluators for a comp for Samuel and Harvin.
Harvin thought for a year or two, Tavon and Cord, but other than that, the position was going to fall off until last year and the year before that. It picked up again with Deebo. If you have a guy who knows what he's doing, you can really do some things.
The RushTDs are the most by a receiver in the Super Bowl era.
The longest streak by a receiver in the Super Bowl era was five games with a Rush touchdown.
Since the 1970 merger, only the WR has led the team in rushingTDs.
The information and statistics of the sports network, ESPN.
The weekly toll of playing in the NFL is already high for receivers who are often asked to make catches over the middle and log multiple miles running and hoping for the ball to come their way.
Running back is one of the most physically demanding positions in sports. Running backs are more likely to be hit than any other skill position.
Austin, who entered the league at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, took care of his body early in his career because he was used to the dual role. He wouldn't use the tub after the games.
Austin said he has to spend a little bit more time on his body. I've always taken care of my body, but now it's to the extreme. I see that I'm still running fast when I come out here. That's the most important thing.
The move has been more drastic for Patterson. He played more running back snaps than receiver. The Chicago Bears wanted to have a running back in 2020. It took him some time to get used to running back in the league.
"I was like, 'Oh Lord, this is different,'" he said. At the end of the day, I just do what I can.
Each hybrid player has the same level of physical and mental strength.
Samuel is built differently than manyTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia is built differently thanTrademarkia He sees it as an advantage and his ability to plow through defenders shows that. Samuel had the most yards after catch per reception with 10.
George Kittle said that when he gets the ball in his hands, it's different. He's trying to body guys, he's trying to run people over, he has a different mindset. He's out there embarrassing fools, and it's a physical game.
A good stress.
Tyshun Raequan Samuel Jr. is the son of Deebo Samuel.
The idea that Samuel could take his game to another level is surprising, but the 49ers believe his ceiling is limited.
"It's something that you really want to be able to utilize people in different ways to try to find different looks for the offense in general," he said. It's a good stress to open our mind and see how we can stress a defense out, but don't get it twisted. It's something that you're challenging yourself with because he does nothing more than alleviate stress on game days for his teammates and coaches.
It's a lot easier to figure out how to get this guy the ball on Monday and Tuesday when you're trying to solve the problem. 'Hey, Deebo, here's the ball,' on game day. That's the best thing for a coach.
For other coaches and personnel evaluators around the league, the words of McDaniel should be heard. The definition of a No. 1 receiver is changing. The emergence of Samuel and his peers should open some eyes to players who are not as well known.
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"We're just trying to set trends, so we'd like to see the Pro Bowl add a spot for hybrid offensive players," he said.
TrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkia There's nothing anyone can do if the Niners want to put Samuel in the backfield.
"If you talk about touches and ways to affect the game where you don't have to get 10 catches as a receiver and you can go and still get touches out of the backfield, your chances of making a big play are high," Harvin said. You can still have an impact on the game.
Everybody is looking for a wide back of their own in the ultimate copycat league.
It kind of opens people's minds when people approach some new territory. People have been trying to find the next Deebo if they've watched any of the draft coverage over the last couple years. There's one Deebo.
Shanahan can attest that there is another Deebo. He won't be eligible for the draft until 2043.
The story was written by Michael DiRocco and Michael Rothstein.
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