NEWSLETTER
Many in San Francisco have a bad taste in their mouth after their season ended with a loss to the Eagles in the NFC title game. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel has an extra layer of bad taste in his mouth after having a down season by his standards. “I’ll never put nothing on tape like that again,” Samuel said of his “awful” 2022 season at 49ers minicamp this week.
Deebo Samuel is working with an added level of motivation in 2023
I wouldn’t consider Samuel’s 864 scrimmage yards (632 receiving, 232 rushing) last season “awful.” However, it was a big drop-off from his All-Pro season in 2021. Samuel logged 1,770 scrimmage yards (1,405 receiving, 365 rushing) in 2021. According to Samuel, his offseason last year played a significant role in the drop-off in production.
Samuel was absent from the 49ers’ offseason program at this time last year. He and the 49ers were working out a new deal for the superstar do-it-all wide receiver.
“Just going through the tape, it was, ‘Look how sluggish and, like, how bad you look on tape,'” Samuel said, adding that he had a long film session with head coach Kyle Shanahan this offseason. “Like I said, what happened last offseason kind of played a big role in that.”
Samuel and the 49ers agreed on a three-year extension worth up to $73.5 million last July. So, there is no contractual distraction this year. According to The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, Samuel said that he will be ready to go on day one of training camp. “I’m gonna be more than ready to go the first day.”
I appreciate the accountability that Samuel is taking, but I never thought that his 2022 season was an issue. Samuel only recorded 864 yards from scrimmage and caught 56 passes, but he also did it in 13 games. He lost four games (roughly a quarter of the season) to injury. Samuel returned from that ankle injury and had his best playoffs yet. In three games, he caught 13 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown, career-bests in receptions and yardage.
If that body of work has Deebo Samuel this motivated, then I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of doing in 2023.
George Kittle likes what he’s seen from Trey Lance, but did he always?
Trey Lance’s offseason work has drawn some positive reviews during the 49ers offseason program and minicamp. This week, 49ers tight end George Kittle joined the party, lobbing some praise on the third-year quarterback during a press conference on Wednesday.
“I think Trey looks significantly better than he did last year,” Kittle told reporters on Tuesday. “I think his confidence is there. I think that he’s throwing really good passes, I think Trey’s, he just looks comfortable back there. He doesn’t look like — um, he just looks like he’s having fun.”
What is interesting, though, is that Kittle seemed to want to say that Trey Lance doesn’t look like he did last year (or in the past) but caught himself. While Kittle likes what he’s seen from Lance this time, it’s possible he nearly admitted that he wasn’t as impressed with Lance’s previous body of work.
For now, Lance will be able to show off his newfound success on the center stage at 49ers camp. However, it Brock Purdy’s recovery from elbow surgery is humming along. According to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Purdy is “right on pace” in his recovery.
