Kyle Shanahan has hilarious quote about Deebo Samuel's current fitness
Kyle Shanahan has seen plenty of shirtless Deebo Samuel. So maybe it’s time for the 49ers wide back to lay off the texting.
So what’s this about? Samuel decided he needed to redefine his body so he could improve on 2022. He worked out extra hard in the offseason. And he documented his progress by snapping some shirtless selfies.
He then flipped them to Shanahan, his head coach. “Never had a grown man send me so many pictures of himself with his shirt off,: Shanahan joked with reporters. “But he looked good.”
Kyle Shanahan might not even be a smidge hyperbolic in regards to Deebo Samuel. The 49ers star went viral earlier this summer for an amazing workout on a treadmill. NBC’s Sunday Night Football social media account shared a clip on Twitter.
This new, shirtless look, was all apart of Samuel reassessing what he thought went wrong with his season. Most fans assume the 49ers enjoyed the best season possible, under the circumstances. After all, the San Francisco offense started three different quarterbacks in 2022. Rookie Brock Purdy became the darling of the NFL when he started the final seven 49ers games after Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo suffered season-ending injuries. Purdy went from last player selected in the NFL Draft to starting QB in the NFC Championship game.
And speaking of Purdy, doctors gave him the all-clear to start training camp. However, the 49ers still won’t totally unleash the second-year quarterback to make sure his surgically-repaired elbow holds up. Shanahan said Purdy won’t practice today, the first workout of training camp. He’ll have “some scheduled pitch count time off,” the coach said. Basically, Shanahan said Purdy won’t throw three days in a row.
Now, let’s circle back to Kyle Shanahan and Deebo Samuel. It must please the coach to hear one of his stars be so self reflective. But Samuel might be too hard on himself. He claimed he “was awful” in 2022. “In every aspect,” he says..
The stats suggest Samuel enjoyed a decent season in 2022. He caught 56 passes for 632 yards with two touchdowns. And he rushed for 232 yards with three scores. But the statistics do back up Samuel’s self assessment. That’s because the stats say he had his worst year outside of 2020. In 2022, San Fran quarterbacks threw Samuel’s way 94 times, but he caught only 56. He averaged 11.3 yards per catch, which was a career low. However, injuries forced him out of four games.
Maybe Kyle Shanahan wants Deebo Samuel back to 2021 standards. That’s when the former South Carolina Gamecock caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards and six touchdowns. On the ground, Samuel rushed for 365 yards with eight scores. In 2021, he gained 1,770 yards from scrimmage. Now contrast that to 2022. His stats fell by 906 yards.
With training camp started, Shanahan can keep his eye on Samuel. There won’t be a need for the shirtless selfies.