Deebo Samuel had 1,770 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns this past season, and that's not even counting the playoffs. He played wide receiver, running back, returned kicks on special teams, and even thew a touchdown pass. Samuel is the Swiss Army Knife of NFL players, which has catapulted him into stardom.
Versatility takes its toll. That won't stop Samuel, though. He is taking two weeks off, and then it is back to the grind of preparing for the 2022 season. And the NFL "wide back" plans to take yet another step forward in his development. He hopes his next NFL campaign is even more productive than his last.
NFL defenses have been put on notice.
"What's the next level? You'll see a better Deebo next year," Samuel told Mike Florio and Chris Simms on Pro Football Talk Live. "A lot of fuel built up from losing the Super Bowl in 2019, getting hurt [in 2020], making it all the way to the NFC Championship [this season], falling short. So all of that is in the back of my head."
Samuel didn't expect to be a multi-purpose weapon in 2021. However, he is willing to do whatever the 49ers ask of him if it gives the team the best chance to win football games. And they won a lot after a 3-5 start.
Samuel racked up 365 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 59 carries last season, averaging 6.2 yards per attempt and proving he can be just as dangerous in the ground attack as in the passing attack. His head coach doesn't expect that role to change next season.
"I see [his role next season] as very similar," Kyle Shanahan said last week. "I mean, we've got to be careful with that. Running back is different, but he's also built like a running back and runs like a running back. He just happens to do stuff a receiver also does really good. If you look at his body, he looks more like a running back. But we never want to stop using him at receiver."
Samuel plans to be better prepared for the workload in 2022 while ensuring it doesn't take anything away from his production as a receiver.
"I feel like I took a step back, once I started playing a little bit of running back, of route running," Samuel said. "I just got to get back to what I was doing and kind of mix in the role of running back training a little bit because I know that's something that Kyle would like to keep doing. So I'm going to be well-prepared."
