Eric Williams
NFC West Writer
On a team stocked with talented players, San Francisco 49ers do-everything wide receiver Deebo Samuel stands out among the rest because of his swagger and home-run playmaking ability, giving San Francisco’s offense another dimension few teams have in the NFL.
“Honestly, Deebo is Deebo,” 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said after his team’s impressive win over the Philadelphia Eagles. “He’s fun to be around. He’s electric within meetings and then obviously out on the practice field. In the locker room and stuff, maybe he was saying some stuff that was fun for all of us to hear but Deebo was just having fun with it.
“But was it anything out of the ordinary? I don’t think so, Deebo is Deebo. He’s fun to be around, we all knew he was ready for this game and he’s been waiting for it for a long time. His play did the rest.”
Samuel finished with nine touches for 198 scrimmage yards and a career-high three touchdowns, backing up his talk leading into that NFC showdown in Philadelphia. Samuel is the first 49ers receiver with three touchdowns in a game since Terrell Owens in 2001.
He averaged 22 yards per touch, and his 2,568 yards after the catch since he entered the NFL in 2019 is second to only Cooper Kupp (2,596) during that stretch. Samuel was named NFC Player of the Week, the first San Francisco receiver to earn that honor three times since Jerry Rice.
What makes Samuel different from guys like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk is his angry running style, combined with elite acceleration and elusiveness that allows him to take short plays and turn them into back-breaking, big plays in critical moments of the game.
“Deebo’s awesome,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters this week. “I mean, as you guys know, he’s a special guy when he gets that ball in his hands. And him and Jerry are probably wired a little bit differently how they play the game, but they both…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/deebo-samuel-remains-x-factor-49ers-nfc-west-stock-watch
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Publish date : 2023-12-08 19:48:27
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