Deebo Samuel got paid. He didn’t get paid to be a running back. He didn’t even get paid to be the so-called ‘wide back’ he became in the latter portion of last season. He was paid to be a wide receiver, which is what he’ll continue to be for the 49ers.
For all the reporting about Samuel’s unhappiness with his role, the 49ers’ reliance on him as a runner last season was borne out of necessity. It was a unique marriage of team need and a player having a very specific skill set that fit the need.
While the unprecedented rushing production from the wide receiver position is fun – Samuel in the last eight games plus the playoffs had 80 carries for 480 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground – it’s not a model neither he nor the 49ers will want to sustain.
For a better idea of what his ideal role in San Francisco’s offense is, look no further than the first half of last season. In those eight contests he ran it six times for 22 yards and one touchdown. Through the air he racked up 49 catches, 882 yards and four touchdowns on 81 targets. Despite a dip in production over the second half because of his new role, he still finished with 77 catches, 1,405 yards and six touchdowns.
He also led the NFL in yards per catch and finished fifth in receiving yards despite finishing tied (with Rams WR Cooper Kupp) for 29th in average depth of target. His 784 yards after the catch were the second-most in the NFL (behind Kupp) and his 10.2 YAC per reception were the most in the NFL by more than 2.0 yards according to Pro Football Focus.
All of those receiving numbers are why the 49ers paid him.
Prior to injury issues that forced them into overusing Samuel’s unique explosiveness and vision to turn him into more of a running back, Samuel was on pace for 98 catches, 1,764 yards and eight touchdowns. Those are the kind of stats that earn top-of-market receiver money, which is what Samuel got in his three-year, $73.5 million deal with $58.1 million guaranteed.
There will always be some form of rushing element to Samuel’s game. He’s simply too effective with the ball in his hands not to devise ways to get him the ball in space, even on a handoff here and there. That’s not what the 49ers paid him for though. It’s simply a nice bonus – a curveball for head coach Kyle Shanahan when he wants to reach into his bag. It’s also something the 49ers can go to in a key spot, like third-and-7 with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter of a tied divisional playoff game in Green Bay.
Samuel last year finished the regular season with 59 carries, including 53 over the final eight games. If he comes anywhere close to that number again this year it would likely be more evenly distributed across the 17-game slate. Still, more than three per game is probably too high. The 49ers won’t want to put Samuel at that much risk because he’s simply too valuable at the position they paid him to play.