Deebo Samuel feeling much better heading into 2023 season

After being a Pro Bowler in 2021, the 2022 season was a bit of a disappointment for Deebo Samuel. He only played in 13 games and saw his stats take a step backward.

Now, with the 2023 season around the corner, Samuel is excited to prove he’s better than his performance last season. In particular, he believes that he’s healthier and will have better durability for this upcoming season than he’s had in the past.

“I think it’s like a little more to my step,” Deebo Samuel said. “Like a little more speed, so it’s a little bit more power. But overall, it felt good to get out there, get a couple of plays [under] my belt to get ready for the season.”

A huge part of the issue in 2022, according to Samuel, was his stamina. Now in better shape, he expects that to change.

“I was usually going one, two plays, and then [had to] come out. But the durability and the capacity that I’ve built [will help me] keep going.”

One person who Deebo Samuel has been trying to prove his fitness to is his head coach, Kyle Shanahan. Samuel decided to prove this by consistently sending shirtless pictures of himself to his head coach. The idea being that he’d show off his progress this offseason to his head coach. It worked, even if Shanahan thought it was a strange move.

“Never had a grown man send me so many pictures of himself with his shirt off,” Shanahan joked. “But he looked good.”

It’s hard to say if being in better shape is going to help Deebo Samuel improve his numbers in 2023. However, it should certainly help him stay on the field more, which will help him have a more consistent season.

Deebo Samuel says he was awful in 2022

On paper, Deebo Samuel wasn’t awful in 2022. He just didn’t live up to his own high standard. Still, that is the standard that Samuel judges himself against and because of that, he feels like he was awful in 2022 in every aspect of his game.

“We talked about it, we put it behind us,” Deebo Samuel said. “And [they both were] just going through the tape. And just look how sluggish and how bad it looked on tape. I’ll never put nothing on tape like that again.”

Samuel caught 56 passes for 632 yards and two touchdowns in 2022. He also had 42 carries for 232 yards and three touchdowns.