Getty Deebo Samuel on January 22, 2023 before the 49ers took on the Cowboys.
Turns out Deebo Samuel can be his own worst critic.
The 2021 All-Pro, who helped energize the San Francisco 49ers with his stout versatility as a “wide back” during that campaign, had a relatively quieter 2022 season. But Samuel didn’t shy from giving himself a blunt admission about last season.
“Oh, it was awful,” Samuel said to Bay Area reporters on Tuesday, June 6. “Every aspect.”
Samuel Helps Explain Struggles
Samuel’s 2022 really began with a highly-scrutinized contract issue — which included Samuel removing pictures of anything 49ers related on his Instagram and demanding a trade from the Niners. Ultimately, the 49ers avoided sending Samuel away and he was able to work out a new deal that pays him more than $23.5 million annually.
However, Samuel’s regular season was nowhere similar to his 2022 dominance. His receptions went from 77 in ’22 to dropping to 56 last season. He went from 1,405 receiving yards to settling for 632…a 773-yard drop off. And his touchdowns? That went from 14 in his Pro Bowl season to dropping to just five combined scores.
Samuel admitted that focusing on his contract became a “distraction” for him. It ultimately led to him struggling with his conditioning and preparation as he pointed out.
“I was kind of behind a ball a little bit as far as being in my routine that I’ll normally be in for the offseason, getting ready to play because like I said, a lot of distractions were going on,” Samuel explained. “I kind of felt it, but I was just trying to will my way to help the team in every aspect possible.”
How Will Samuel Respond?
As Samuel struggled with re-finding his rhythm with the 49ers offense, his teammate Brandon Aiyuk went on to become the lead wideout and 1,000-yard target. Newcomer Christian McCaffrey also became a primary tone-setter for the 49ers offense with his versatility as a runner and receiver.
But along with addressing his disappointing 2022 season with the Niners, he also addressed his play with his head coach Kyle Shanahan through a sit-down meeting.
“Me and Kyle had a long meeting the other day,” Samuel said. “We watched tape, we talked about it, we put it behind us and just going through the tape and just look how sluggish and how bad it looked on tape, like I said, just reflecting on last offseason, it kind of played a big role in that. I’ll never put nothing like that back on tape again.”
Samuel is vowing that he regains the form from that ’21 season that made him one of the more dominating players that year. He’s now walking into the 49ers facility with McCaffrey now preparing for his first full regular season as a 49er and Aiyuk already predicting a week ago “I’m about to take off” — indicating to reporters that he has his sights set on an even more breakout 2023 campaign.
And, the 49ers expanded on the offensive personnel — welcoming draft pick Ronnie Bell to the WR room while also adding two new tight ends in Cameron Latu and Brayden Willis.
Yet, he’s also heading into the upcoming camp season with the quarterback dilemma involving if it’s Trey Lance or Brock Purdy as QB1. Samuel not only caught passes from three different QBs (Jimmy Garoppolo was one), but Samuel ultimately had to settle for “Mr. Irrelevant” toward the end of last season.
But still, Samuel has set a high bar for himself even though he’s more action than outlining what he wants to accomplish.
“I’m not a guy that sets goals,” Samuel said. “I just go out there and let things happen.”
