The San Francisco 49ers might have struck gold with their rookie receiver, Deebo Samuel.
In the Week 11 win against the Cardinals, Samuel had another 100-yard receiving game. One of his eight receptions was an acrobatic 26-yard reception. Samuel said he catches the ball with his eyes and hands.
"I never lost focus of the ball and went in and made the play," Samuel said while reflecting on the moment.
Samuel hurt his shoulder on the same play but would remain in the game.
One analyst on NFL Network yelled, "My ball punk!" when the network showed the highlight.
Deebo finished the game with 134 yards receiving.
During Monday's press conference, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Samuel continues to improve by changing his running style.
"In college, I think, he tried to reverse the field a lot, and you don't have to worry about pursuit as much in college, so you can make a little bit more plays going laterally before you go vertically," Shanahan said." "I think he tried to do that a lot in OTAs and stuff because he had been successful with it, but I think he's started to learn how fast the game is and how fast the other 11 guys are out there. He's gotten a lot better at not messing around, just getting vertical and getting right up the field."
Shanahan said the rookie studies his game plan as hard as anyone in the building and thinks Samuel's confidence grows with the opportunities he gets.
"Since the beginning, he had to start Week 1 for us at Tampa, and the game has not been too big for "Deebo" at all," Shanahan said. "He's had to learn a lot on the run through each game, just the stamina it takes to play throughout an NFL game, how different those 65 plays are in the NFL compared to usually those 90 in college just down in and down out."
Samuel had 112 yards receiving in a Week 10 loss against the Seahawks and joins Jerry Rice and Monty Stickles as the only 49ers rookie receivers with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games.
The last 49er receiver with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games was Marquise Goodwin in the 2017 season.
Samuel, whose first name is Tyshun, said his father gave him the nickname in reference to the character "Deebo" from the movie "Friday" because he would take things and bully the neighborhood kids.
The 49ers drafted Samuel out of South Carolina in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
In his four years playing for the Gamecocks, Samuel totaled 2,076 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns. He also had seven rushing touchdowns and four kickoff returns for a touchdown.
In his senior year, on November 24, 2018, Samuel had a 210-yard, three-touchdown career game against the future national champion Clemson Tigers.
49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who spoke with reporters after the Cardinals victory, said Samuel is the kind of guy you would love to have in your foxhole.
"He just gets banged up out there, keeps coming back, doesn't even question it or anything," Garoppolo said. "He's a fighter, man. You love having guys like that on your team."
Garoppolo said Samuel's confidence is growing every week.
"I think it's just the understanding of the offense," Garoppolo continued. "He's becoming more comfortable with it. He's playing at a high level. He's still got a long way to go, but it's just fun to see that."
Samuel leads 49ers wide receivers with 473 receiving yards.