How Deebo Samuel is Negatively Impacting the 49ers

Deebo Samuel is supposed to be one of the premier offensive players for the 49ers, but he hasn't generated anything positive this season.

November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) runs the football against Seattle Seahawks safety Julian Love (20) during the fourth quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

One of the reasons the San Francisco 49ers get touted as an amazing offense is because of Deebo Samuel.

Well, he's been anything but amazing this season. Samuel has been extremely underwhelming and disappointing in 2024, a microcosm of the 49ers offense. He's only played well in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings and Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Outside of that, he's just playing to get in cardio. His performance against the Seahawks this past Sunday is a testament to that. Samuel reeled in four catches on seven targets for 22 yards. He also carried the ball once for a negative yard.

At this point, Samuel is negatively impacting the 49ers on offense. It starts with the jet sweep runs that Kyle Shanahan keeps trying to force-feed with Samuel. Those plays are essentially "give up" plays by the 49ers since they are wasted. That is why Samuel registered a negative yard on his lone run against the Seahawks.

Defenses have been sniffing that play out as soon as the ball is snapped. So, because Shanahan keeps trying to force that play with Samuel, it makes a negative impact. If it isn't generating anything positive, it's a negative. That play needs to be thrown in the garbage and never see the day of light again.

However, part of why that play doesn't work is because Samuel isn't the same caliber of runner as he was last year. Samuel has averaged just 4.5 expected yards per carry across 27 total carries this season, per Next Gen Stats. That's more than two full yards fewer than his expected yards per carry average last season (6.5).

He recorded 11 explosive gains (10+ yards) and gained at least +5 rushing yards over expected on 5 carries last season but has not done either on any of his 27 carries this season. Samuel lacks vision and looks slow as a runner. It's insane considering all of the hype about how fantastic he looked in training camp. Let that be a reminder that training camp practice performances are worthless.

Lastly, Samuel is a non-factor as a receiver. He can't separate at all and is no better than an average receiver. It's why he can't do anything as an underneath receiver. He can't break free from defenders to do what he does best as a yards-after-the-catch-playmaker. 2024 is looking like 2022 for Samuel, which isn't surprising.

Samuel has never been consistent in his NFL career. In his rookie season, he was solid and promising. In 2020, he was lacking and got injured. In 2021, he was a unicorn and followed it up in 2022 with a dud. He would bounce back strong in 2023 and had stretches of dominant performances. But this year he is playing like he did in 2022 if not worse.

Figuring out why the 49ers offense is mediocre isn't tough to decipher. A lot of contributing factors are playing into it with Samuel as one of the top factors for it. He can't even be used as an adequate decoy anymore. No one is afraid of him like they were in the past. Unless he gets it together, he is nothing more than a negative impact on the offense.