Deebo Samuel says he was 'awful' in 2022

With Deebo Samuel, there are lots of mea culpas for 2022. It’s on him. Won’t happen again, he says.

The 49ers star, who is a dynamic hybrid receiver/running back, has gone through his game tape from last fall. And although San Francisco reached the NFC title game with rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, Samuel says from his stand point, he “was awful.” Everywhere. “In every aspect,” he claimed.

The stats suggest Deebo Samuel made a decent contribution to the 49ers last season. After all, he caught 56 passes for 632 yards and a pair of touchdowns. And he rushed for 232 yards with three scores. But if you go delve into the stats, you can see where he’s coming from with the “awful” comment. For one, it was his worst year, statistically, save for 2020, when he only played in seven games. San Fran quarterbacks threw his way 94 times, but he caught only 56. So he made the catch about 60 percent of the time, averaging 11.3 yards per reception, which was a career low. Also, put an asterick by those numbers. Samuel missed four games with injuries.

For further context, Deebo Samuel enjoyed a banner 2021 with 77 receptions for 1,405 yards and six scores playing what he called the “wide back” position. On the ground, Samuel rushed for 365 with eight touchdowns. All total, he gained 1,770 yards from scrimmage. In 2022, he was 906 yards away from his totals posted the year before.

Samuel said he discussed the game videos with coach Kyle Shanahan. “We talked about it, we put it behind us. 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.”

So what happened? In hindsight, Deebo Samuel believes it was about money. He and the 49ers went through painful and protracted contract negotiations. After his 2021 breakout year, he certainly had the right to ask for more money. However, it got to such a bad place that Samuel demanded a trade. Other teams were interested in swapping for the sensational Samuel. But the 49ers said no.

Eventually, sides agreed to a three-year contract extension worth up to $73.5 million. But the deal didn’t get done until early August. By then, training camp had started. There was a mental hangover from sitting out to full blown working out with teammates. He admitted to the sluggishness, although it wasn’t because he tried to do too much too soon. After all, the former South Carolina star played every skill position back in high school. Yes, he could line up at quarterback, running back, all receiver spots, cornerback, free safety, edge rusher and kick returner. Playing two spots in the NFL is no sweat.

Deebo Samuel told reporters that he went back to the off-season training program he used leading up to the 2021 season. He promised he’ll be  “more than ready to go” when training camp starts in July. We’re sure 49ers fans will welcome the 2021 version of their favorite wide back.