The San Francisco 49ers have essentially been in free fall this season. After a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, the team never got off the ground. Whether it was injuries to Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, or Talanoa Hufanga, or something else — the team just wasn’t the same.
The wide receiver corps has had its own shake-ups over the course of the season. In what has comfortably been amongst the worst years of his career, Deebo Samuel had to face a reality check on social media.
The Entire Twitter Story Involving Deebo Samuel
The 49ers were up against the Chicago Bears in an attempt to steady their 5-7 ship. While they got a comfortable victory, the drama began off the field. After his third straight game of five or fewer targets, Samuel took to X to air out his frustration.
In a since-deleted tweet, he wrote, “Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!!” While the numbers over the last few games haven’t been ideal, a deeper look shows that his 2024 receptions-per-game average (3.625) are a departure from his career number (4.26).
However, the numbers don’t tell the entire story in this case. Immediately, fans were ready to point the finger at Samuel himself, noting that he was leading San Francisco in drops.
Eventually, the “community notes” function on the app also came to fruition, calling out his lack of productivity. It read, “He leads the team in drops. He is struggling.”
Even though anyone can theoretically write a community note if receiving enough approval, in this case, it is hard to argue against the numbers. Samuel is having, arguably, the worst year of his career.
Breaking Down the 2024-25 Season for Samuel
First and foremost, let’s dive deeper into the receptions. While his original gripe is correct, after nine and 10 targets to start the year, he has yet to cross the seven-target mark. The rest of the blame falls on himself.
Above him (64) on the 49ers’ target chart are Jauan Jennings (78) and George Kittle (67). However, the two of them are miles ahead in terms of caught passes, with Jennings at 57 and Kittle at 56 — Samuel is back at 40. Overall his target rate (5.3/game) is the worst of his career, but even on those attempts, the situation is bleak.
On the successful attempts, his average yards per reception is down to 13.8, one of the worst marks of his career, and a full yard down from last season. All in all, both parties have some blame to place on themselves.
Additionally, the 2021 Pro Bowler has been dreadful on the ground. Over his 32 attempts, he is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, a far cry from the 6.1 yards he had last season.
But the bottom line remains: Samuel hasn’t been his true self so far this season. If the 49ers want to climb out of this 6-7 hole and make it to the playoffs, Samuel’s resurgence will be key.