The universe has a weird way of turning the tables around. One day Deebo Samuel was bragging about not having any shortcomings. A few days later, he became one of the most chastised guys this season. Except, of course, DeVondre Campbell. “Not struggling at all just not getting the ball,” were the words attached to a post on X that shows Samuel dropping the ball vs the Rams.
Samuel was 3 of 7 on receptions over 16 yards in the Rams game. Those are measly numbers for a player of that caliber. Samuel couldn’t walk the talk and now Shannon Sharpe wants him to backtrack on his words, have a good hard look, and perhaps apologize to his team.
“You did all that talking, ‘I want the ball, ain’t nothing wrong with Deebo.’ Bro you’re not the same. Even they showed the cut ups, bro you had no separation. Even on the balls he didn’t get guys, did y’all see any separation? How was Purdy going to drop the ball in there? There was no separation,” Sharpe said in the latest installment of Nightcap.
The 49ers have been through a lot this year. They are playing with Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk is out for the season. In the coming game, the Niners have to be without their left tackle Trent Williams. The LT is not only nursing an injured ankle but also lost his newborn son. Understandably, he might feel shattered right now.
The point is, Samuel has a lot on his shoulders right now. A shoulder that also happens to be injured. Samuel was targeted 71 times and made only 43 receptions. But you can’t just chastise one person for the failure. Some of it might also be on the quarterback. However, as Shannon Sharpe suggested, it might also be because Samuel had no separation.
In 13 games that Samuel has played so far, he has 569 yards and a touchdown. Just one touchdown! And the season is about to end soon. Those numbers, amongst other things, prompted Shannon Sharpe to ask Samuel to backtrack his words.
“The 49ers put you in a situation where you can make plays, you come up small. Now I want you to go on there and say just like you had the nerve to go out there and tweet and say ‘ain’t nothing wrong with Deebo.’ I want you to say, ‘Hey guys I let the team down tonight. I had an opportunity to make a play and I didn’t had a false start.’ Hey, that’s what you have to do,” Sharpe iterated further.
But Shannon Sharpe isn’t the only one flaming Deebo Samuel for the most noticeable mistake of the season. It’s also Kyle Shanahan, the head coach, who lowkey grilled the wideout after the 6-12 loss at home.
Kyle Shanahan goes in on Deebo Samuel
Before we get into all that, it’s crucial to understand why Shanahan’s mood was off. Brock Purdy played poorly, failing to throw a touchdown, and throwing an interception in the end zone. He was also sacked 4 times. To add insult to injury, DeVondre Campbell decided all of a sudden that he didn’t want to play and moments later, Deebo Samuel dropped the ball.
The series of events caused the Niners’ head coach to say, “Yeah, that was a big one. Everyone knows the answer there, Deebo knows he needs to catch that,” in front of the media. But before the game, Shanahan addressed Samuel’s concerns about not getting the ball more. So he told the media that he wanted to increase the receiver’s rep count.
The thing is, Samuel has regressed this year. Last year, he had 6.1 yards per carry and in this one, Samuel is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry on 32 attempts. He’s also had 22 or fewer yards in the last 5 games. It’s safe to say that he’s not at his best right now. Anyway, the Niners after week 15 have a 2% chance of making the playoffs now. We know DeVondre Campbell won’t be a part of the roster going forward, but the team has their work cut out for the off-season.
