Deebo Samuel vows to bounce back in 2023

Deebo Samuel vows to bounce back in 2023

Deebo Samuel, the multi-talented receiver for the San Francisco 49ers described his performance last year as “awful,” and he explained that the lack of formal work in the 2022 offseason left him feeling sluggish, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Samuel passed on attending voluntary workouts, something he believed truly hindered his play during that season. 

“It was awful.”

Deebo Samuel assesses his 2022 season pic.twitter.com/l1pTsQa06n

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) June 6, 2023

In 2022, Deebo caught 56 passes for 632 yards and recorded just two receiving touchdowns, averaging just 11.3 yards per catch while fumbling three times. For comparison, in 2021, he had 77 receptions for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns.

Samuel also rushed for 232 yards last year — 133 less than his 2021 season — with three additional touchdowns on 5.5 yards per carry after adding eight touchdowns on the ground in 2021.

“Me and [head coach Kyle Shanahan] had a long meeting the other day,” Samuel said. “We watched tape, talked about it and put it behind us. Just going through the tape and looking how sluggish and how bad it looked on tape … I’ll never put anything like that on tape again.”.  

Christian McCaffrey: Trade to 49ers ‘the best thing that ever happened to me’

After his monster 2021 season and notions that he wanted to be traded if he didn’t get the money he wanted, he and the 49ers agreed to a three-year, $71,550,000 contract, including a $24,035,000 signing bonus, and $58,100,000 guaranteed.

Samuel admitted those distractions affected his play in 2021 before suffering an MCL sprain in Week 13, which caused him to three of the final four games of the regular season.

“I was kind of behind the eight ball a little bit for us, being in my routine that I normally be in for the offseason and getting ready to play,” Samuel said. “Like I said, a lot of distractions going on. Yeah, I kind of felt [the distractions], but I was just trying to will my way to help the team in every aspect possible.”

It’s safe to say Samuel is looking for a bounce-back year and a trip back to the NFC Championship to possibly get over the hump this time around. 

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