RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesDeebo Samuel is back with the San Francisco 49ers wearing jersey No. 19, but the most successful version of Samuel in the 49ers' offense may not look anything like it did the last time he donned the red and gold.
When Samuel last played for the 49ers in 2024 the metrics on all the things that made him uniquely great were declining. His broken tackle numbers fell and his yards-after-catch dipped as a result. It also largely eliminated his effectiveness as a runner.
The 49ers traded Samuel to the Washington Commanders last offseason for a fifth-round pick and it looked like Samuel may play out his career as a steadily declining shell of the All-Pro he was in 2021. However, something happened in Washington where his utilization changed dramatically from where it was in 2024 and painted a path toward a career resurgence for the 2019 second-round pick.
Samuel last season in Washington played a career-high 64.2 percent of his snaps out of the slot. His previous career-high was 33.5 percent. His yards-after-catch per reception sat at a career-low 6.5 last season, down from the previous career-low 8.2 he had in 2024 with San Francisco.
With the uptick in slot usage, Samuel's game evolved. He was excellent in the intermediate area of the field (10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) where he saw a 29.3 percent target rate − by far his highest since his rookie season. He hauled in 15 of his 29 intermediate targets for 259 yards with an average depth of target of 13.9 yards. By comparison, he caught five of 14 intermediate targets in 2024.
Washington still sprinkled in 17 carries for Samuel along with 38 throws behind the line of scrimmage where Samuel averaged 6.7 yards per reception. They leveraged him more as a tough, physical pass catcher in the middle of the field though where his game has been able to age more gracefully.
If the 49ers can continue using Samuel as a force in that area of the field while mixing in some of the gadget and screen plays he can still connect on with enough frequency to be dangerous, he could become an essential third piece of the 49ers' new-look receiving corps.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: What 49ers can learn from Commanders to maximize Deebo Samuel
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