Grading the 49ers second-round pick: WR Deebo Samuel

South Carolina wide receiver Deebo Samuel runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers just drafted South Carolina wide receiver Deebo Samuel with the fourth pick in Round 2. Let’s break down the positives and negatives of this pick.

POSITIVES

  • Good route runner.
  • Can beat press coverage.
  • Can beat man-to-man coverage.
  • Dangerous after the catch.
  • Experienced kickoff returner (averaged 29 yards per return and scored four touchdowns).

NEGATIVES

  • Struggles making contested catches (37 percent catch rate on contested targets).
  • Short for a flanker (5’11”), and doesn’t play bigger than his size, as Pierre Garcon did.
  • Better suited as a split end or slot receiver.
  • Lack of college production (never gained more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season).
  • Lack of durability (missed three games with hamstring injury in 2016, and missed 10 games with a broken leg in 2017).

GRADE: B.

Samuel is a good prospect, but may not be the flanker the 49ers need. If he stays healthy, he could become a better split end than Dante Pettis, who also lacks durability.

Check out my video breakdown of Samuel’s fit at flanker in the 49ers offense.

This article has 120 Comments

  1. I think Lynch just pounded the table in frustration as Marquise Blair is off to Seattle. I had him in the 4th round.

  2. Always thought Deebo was a strong candidate for the 36th pick. I really like him. Just the type of WR Shanahan looks for.

    I thought they would trade back there though tbh. Still a lot of needs and few picks, and plenty of WRs left on the board.

  3. Lack of college production? Look at his game against Clemson. 10 catches,200 yards and three TD’s..That’s decent production against the best team in the country.

      1. Yeah his birth certificate shows a discrepancy between his name and Steve Smith’s, so I guess you’re right genius.

        1. How drunk are you? I brought up the fact that SS was a deep threat with a high avg yards per catch and you come back with, “his birth certificate shows a discrepancy.” You’re simple

  4. Seems like a tough player. But, he doesn’t appear to be a guy that’s going to scare defenses or attract a lot of safety help. Moderately high ceiling. Obviously, I hope I’m wrong and he’s a star.

  5. Deebo had 11 REC TDS last year in the SEC. Over 200 yards against Clemson. What
    do you mean he didn’t have college production lol?

  6. With regards to his contested catch rate, he did have to deal with poor QBs throwing to him.

  7. I like Deebo but only Lynch grabs a WR in the middle of a run on CBs.

    Was too bad we missed out on Rock. Not surprised to see the best GM in the league go after him.

    Followed by a great WR in Parris.

  8. Hey I’m excited. Coach Sourpuss has Deebo at a B? That means he’s at least a B+ – A- in the real world! Great draft so far! Keep it rolling!
    Just out of curiosity Coach, this information your putting forth (positives and negatives). Where are you copying it from? Just curious.

  9. D’oh! Isabella to the Cards… that makes me nervous. I think he’s going to be excellent.

  10. Double gut punch. Isabella to the Cards then Thornhill gets taken who I was really hoping the 49ers could get at 67.

      1. Him, David Long or Jace Sternberger would be my pick at this point. Maybe Moreland if they really liked him.

    1. Metcalf is all muscle but no heart.
      There’s a reason why he dropped like a 225 lbs barbell.

  11. 1. Layne
    2. Sternberger
    3. Deiter (McGovern as an alternate)

    If we really want to overload, I can’t believe Winovich is still there.

      1. Yeah. I guess I’ll have to stop whining that the team doesn’t have a tall receiver (something I’ve been wanting for years).

  12. Ok, thought they would take two WRs so not surprised by this. And seems high for him. But this is definitely a guy I like a lot. Another guy that just loves football, and has big time upside.

    1. We need secondary help. Division rivals loading up on fast receivers. Metcalf will blow right by Sherman and Isabella (maybe if Verrett stays healthy)….

      1. Yeah, it doesn’t surprise me too much they haven’t taken a CB yet. They’ve invested a lot in the position already and the FO indicated all offseason they want to see what the DBs can do behind a good front 7.

    2. Double dipped at wr but did Saleh a solid and gave him his stud pass rusher first.

      1. Don’t really get into grades, but I like every one of the players they have taken. Hurd I think went earlier than they needed to take him, but he’s exactly the type of player I bet on succeeding. Excellent athlete for his size (take this with a grain of salt, but the short area quickness times he was said to run ahead of last year’s season were insane for anyone let alone a guy his size), proven to be a big time playmaker, and from everything I read about him before the draft he is really passionate, works hard and is driven to prove himself and his decision to switch to WR was the right one.

        He’s definitely a guy I had my eye on the the 49ers at the top of round 4.

          1. Oh yeah, no doubt in my mind about that. But then I think Boykin is a 5th/6th round prospect.

            1. Yea, but someone in here had him much higher than that. He used to write essay’s about it.?

        1. Hurd may be our new Delanie Walker(SAK) because he could move around with his versatility.
          Shanahan is putting his pieces together.

  13. Watched Grant’s analysis of Deebo again. 37% contested catch rate, catches the ball against his chest, more of a split end than a flanker, good runner after the catch.
    .
    Now they took another WR, Jalen Hurd. Finally, a WR who can high point the ball, and be a red zone threat.

  14. Played RB his first 3 years in college, and still ran quite a bit at Baylor. This feels like a Shanahan Special. Defenses won’t have any idea what kind of formation they’ll use based on the personnel group. Is he a wideout, a rb? Is Juice a FB or a TE? Should be interesting to see how they use him

    1. With the return of Garoppolo, 3 RB’s who are all capable receivers, along with this kid, Pettis, Samuel, Goodwin, Kittle, and whoever wins the slot battle between Matthews, Taylor and James, I can imagine Kyle Shanahan is feeling like some kind of mad scientist going into this season.

  15. Still way early, of course… So far I think the 9ers are coming in on a solid B+/A- draft.

    More to come. The UDFA frenzy later tomorrow should be entertaining.

  16. Damn! Jalen Hurd? WTH? 9ers must lead the league in drafting players that quit on their college team.

    1. Hurd is anything but a quitter! One of his best traits is his work ethic, according to multiple scouting reports. This is a very intriguing selection as he is a hybrid type of player who’s raw as a receiver, due to changing positions, but could have an extremely high ceiling as a hybrid receiver/RB if developed and utilized correctly. This is the kind of pick that tells me the 49ers are feeling pretty good about their overall talent level heading into Kyle and John’s 3rd year.

      The 49ers have been desperately needing a big bodied redzone receiver, and at an athletic 6’5″, Hurd could be the answer.

      https://www.49erswebzone.com/commentary/2068-2019-nfl-draft-breaking-down-49ers-selection-jalen/

      As a mismatch on the field with Kittle, Samuel and fellow wideout Dante Pettis, however, one can envision how Shanahan can have a lot of fun this season.

      – Peter Panacy

      1. Big time upside. Great athlete, still learning the position but a football player. Not surprised some will latch onto him as a quitter, but yeah, everything I have heard suggests it wasn’t a lack of passion for the game. Very much sounds like it was just he lost trust in his coaches over an extended period of time.

          1. I don’t think Matthews is a lock to make the team. I think Bourne will be ahead of him. Tbh I think Pettis, Deebo and Hurd are the only locks. Goodwin is very likely to make the team. After that… big time competition coming on.

      2. Jalen Hurd was forced to sit out a year, due to NCAA rules. It was not a decision he took lightly, but he felt WR was the best position for him moving forward, so he ultimately made what had to be a tough decision. If you ask me, after 3 years of pounding the rock for nearly 3,000 yards as a RB for Tennessee, they should have been more supportive of his desire to change his position. I think he earned that much!

        That he was able to earn Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year honors after transferring to Baylor, in his first season while transitioning to an entirely new position, with 69 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and seven TD’s, speaks to just how talented and hard working this player is in my opinion.

      3. Hurd was pissed off he wasn’t getting enough carries so he quit Tennessee in the middle of the year. There is no more clear cut case of a player quitting on his team than Jalen Hurd.

  17. Take Grant’s analysis with a grain of salt he was basically wrong about everything draft related.

  18. I sure wish JL had studied how Schneider makes trades. Somehow, Seattle has moved back several times, by making fair trades that both teams could benefit from. Then with their boatload of picks, they traded back up in the second round and selected DK Metcalf.
    .
    The Niners had the number 2 pick, and was incapable of leveraging that incredibly valuable pick. Their whole strategy was wrong and too greedy. They insisted on looking for trades that were too good to be true, and just wasted that opportunity. They needed to make win/win deals, not unfair lopsided deals.
    .
    They could have made a deal with the Giants, trading back 4 spots for the Giants first, second, 4th and 5th round picks, with a 2020 second round pick to balance that out. Gettleman was so excoriated for his first 2 picks, he moved up by giving away their second, 4th and 5th round picks to move up to get a slow CB. at 6, the Niners could have selected Josh Allen, Ed Oliver, TJ Hockenson, Rashan Gary, Devin Bush, Brian Burns, Jonah Williams or Chris Lindstrom. All those players were picked just after the number 6 pick.
    .
    So instead of getting an OG, OC, S, CB, TE or LB, the Niners end up with an EDGE and 2 WRs.
    .
    When will they ever learn. Trading back is not hard to do. Many teams traded back, because many teams want to trade up. All they have to do is make it a fair deal, not one too good to be true.

    1. Kyle and John have worked this draft just fine. Quality over quantity is the way to go in the 3rd year of a rebuild.

        1. If they had managed to trade back from 2, they could have garnered multiple second round picks. Multiple second round picks is superior to one single pick.

          1. Remember when you were saying Lynch doesn’t make mistakes? And now you want him to learn from Schneider? Make up your mind.

            1. No, JL has made a bunch of mistakes. Foster was a doozy.
              .
              JL did not avoid the red flagged players. He did not avoid the ACL players. Hurd is a medical nightmare.
              .
              JL allowed KS to convince him to trade up and select Joe Williams. That did not turn out well.
              .
              JL was clueless that Foster brought his gf to Tampa, and had her staying in the team hotel.
              .
              However, compared to Baalke, JL is like a breath of fresh air. Bill Walsh also made a bunch of mistakes, but he learned from them and did not keep making the same mistakes. JL, by stopping the leaks, has changed the culture of the team.
              .
              Still this is a results driven business, and if the Niners go 2-14, expect JL to be on the hot seat. I am hoping they go 8-8, but if JG regresses due to his ACL, and the opposition is superior, with superior coaching, it will be a daunting challenge.

      1. Seahawks stared with 5, and now have 9 picks. That is why I wanted the Niners to trade back. I wanted them to have more than 6.
        .
        Reading is fundamental, but I guess that is not your strong suit.

        1. Seb… and the Seahawks are a team with a downside. They have lost almost every starter they’ve had over the years. They need more picks. The 49ers don’t.
          Quit whining. You’re not the GM and they don’t listen to you dude.

        2. Seb,
          You do realIze it takes two teams to make a trade? Meaning the 49ers can’t say “we want a trade” and the other teams have to comply.
          In a deep draft most teams want more picks. That seems logical enough, right?
          So the likelihood of getting a bounty for the 2nd overall was pretty small. Therefore, the best decision to make is to take the blue chip player, and wait for your next pick.
          In a perfect world they could trade down and get 20 picks, and pick all the players you wanted, and all the players Grant wanted, and all the players in the whole draft.
          Just stop with the “if they traded down 50 times”. You’re a broken record.
          I respect your football intelligence, and you seem like a decent human. You just gotta stop saying the same thing over and over.

          1. Bebsie, the Seahawks had a lesser draft position, and still managed to go from 5 picks to 9 picks. They made trades because they made fair deals. There were many teams this draft that traded back, and traded up. Just not the Niners.
            ..
            Yes, JL declared he was open for a trade back, but then declared he would only take a deal if it was too good to be true. That was counter productive, because they had tons of leverage with that number 2 pick, and squandered that opportunity.
            .
            Yes, I fully admit that I tend to repeat myself, because that way it gets remembered, just like they do with advertisements. Before this last draft, even Larry and Grant stated that the best strategy would be to trade back, and JL said that number 2 overall pick was precious, and worth a lot to a lot of teams. If the Niners truly wanted to trade back, they could have gotten a boatload of picks.Now, I have posters repeating what I say, in a desperate effort to diss me, but they are just being well programmed.
            .
            However, they wanted to pull a Baakle, and make a bunch of deals that showed how clever they were, by snookering the opposition. In the end, no team wanted to deal with him.
            .
            The best example why I wanted to trade back multiple times were the Colts. They traded back multiple times, and went from 4-12, to the playoffs.
            .
            We will have to agree to disagree about Bosa. Sure, he is talented, but he quit on his team, and played video games instead of attending their games. He also was injured, just like his father and brother, so there is a precedent. Joey also held out, and did not sign until after the season started. Paraag plays hardball in his negotiations, so I expect the same thing with Nick. He will miss out on TC and the preseason, because he does not want to risk getting injured, but he also will not develop teamwork with the other defensive players. I also surmise he will refuse to play STs.
            .
            He may be a blue chip prospect, but with a lot of question marks. Thankfully, he was told to apologize for his association with white nationalist websites, and he did give a good apology to Kaep. Glad he is growing up and doing the mature thing, but I bet he would not have done it, without much prodding. I am hoping he has put all of that garbage behind him, and will root for him, every time he makes a sack. I do not like what people did with Kaep, so I will not do the same thing to Bosa.
            .
            Thank you for being civil, and I also respect your foot knowledge. Hope you understand where I am coming from, and will try to tone it down a bit.

      2. If a player you want to draft is there for the taking, you take that player, you don’t trade the pick. That’s drafting 101.

        The Seahawks’ are also in a different boat. Unlike the 49ers, they are absolutely strapped for cash, so they need all the cheap players they can get their hands on.

        The 49ers obviously have been targeting certain players, and have been fortunate enough to have them available to draft. If that’s the way the draft shakes out, and you are extremely comfortable with the players available, no reason to get fancy just for the sake of extra picks, unless you need to.

        I’ll take 5 quality players over 9 so-so players at this stage of he rebuild.

        1. That is where you and I differ. You think your 6 choices are superior, but I would rather have 13 choices. More chances to hit it big, because if Bosa goes down with an injury, since he played only 3 games last year, then there is no depth to install as his replacement. Or in a more extreme case, wasting multiple picks for Foster was counter productive, because he disappeared like a puff of smoke.
          .
          You have to remember, there is no guarantee a draft pick will become a Pro Bowl player.How many Niners have done that recently? Not too many.
          .
          Then there are the choices. I like Deebo, but I think there might have been better choices available. Maybe they should have chosen AJ Brown, then used the 67th pick for another position. Maybe they should have picked Juan Thornhill, and Deebo would have been available at 67.
          .
          Bill Walsh said it best. It does not matter which round a player is chosen, just as long as he can help the team.

          1. Uh, Sebs–Walsh also said to JR…………”wherever you go, there you are”.

            There is genius in that statement, Sebs–if you would only find it…………..

        2. The Seahawks also traded back last year, and rebuilt quickly, so they returned to the playoffs. Niners are rebuilding, and need all the new bodies they can get.

    1. I’m expecting Hurd will be the 49ers short yardage back, part time move TE, part time slot WR, part time outside WR, full time all round offensive weapon.

      1. Yep, that’s why I think Bourne and Taylor will be cut because they’re the least versatile.

        Oops, there goes Dean.

  19. Niners got the best player in the draft, a game changer. Trading back with the 2 would have been stupid. A blind man could see that their wide receivers sucked last year. Horrible. They’ve addressed those major concerns. They are WAY better already with these 3 players. Trading back is not always the answer Seb, though you seemed to be obsessed with that concept. They didn’t, and to claim somehow that they would have been better off under the woulda coulda shouda argument is rather obtuse, to be quite honest. This is why you have football people making these decisions, not JV Soccer/track participants, landscapers, or retired softball coaches. :)

    PS At least I got one right so far. You?

      1. Sigh, I thought you SWORE you were leaving and never coming back.
        .
        What a lonely pathetic welching liar.

        1. You cannot hide your incompetence.
          Trade back, trade back. Polly wants a cracker!

            1. Good for them. Every team is different and trading back is not a sure fire way to build a winner. It’s very situational.
              Don’t act like it’s the model way to approach the draft.

              1. Seahawks returned to the playoffs, when everyone said they were in a rebuilding phase.
                .
                Getting to the playoffs is good strategy to strive for.
                .
                Their draft position was far inferior to the Niners, and they had only 5 picks, Now they have 9. They managed to trade back. because they offered fair deals, not lopsided unfair deals. JL only wanted trades that were too good to be true. No wonder he failed to get a single trade partner.

              1. Sure, they are way different than the Niners. They are a winning organization who won a SB not too long ago. They are also a lot smarter than the Niners, and are capable of devising fair deals.
                .
                Their needs may be different, but they have a shrewd plan, and implement it. Niners are stumbling in obscurity, with obtuse goals and poor plans. Wanting a deal too good to be true is not wanting a deal.
                .
                False comparison? Yes, the Seahawks are a playoff team, and the Niners have not had a winning season in years.The biggest Niner need is the need to win. By emulating the Seahawks, the Niners might get back to winning, and the playoffs.

    1. If you end up with Bosa, I will acknowledge your football acumen for predicting more than me.
      .
      However, if you will look at my mock, you will see what I would do if I were GM, and did not predict what I thought they would want.
      .
      In my mock, They could have selected-
      15 – Clelin Ferell EDGE.
      30 – AJ Brown WR.
      36 – Chris lindstrom OG.
      41 – Erik McCoy OC.
      44 – Juan Thornhill S.
      67 – Amani Oruwariye CB.
      .
      They got an EDGE and 2 WRs

  20. Why do you think he’s not suited to play Flanker?

    The primary attribute of a Flanker is route running ability. The second is being able to run after the catch.

    Those are both attributes that Samuel possess.

    In fact he’s so physical and such a good runner with the ball, I think he could even line up in the backfield if Shanahan wanted to design plays for him back there (special RPO/Package Plays for example).

  21. Love his strength and ability to get off the line. Looking forward to watching him do a lot of damage to opposing defenses.

  22. I do not understand why they dont draft Greedy Williams here.
    He would be a perfect compliment to Sherman.
    Get a receiver in the 3rd. The 2nd receiver in the 3rd was insanity.
    They need a guard, corner and safety.
    What’s wrong with these guys?

    1. B+ so far, with injuries being my only concern. 3 studs so far, if 2 pan out we are playoff bound.
      Hurd seems tall for HB, but runs with low base. I say put some more lbs on him and let’s go double te, ks might get too cute with scheming I worry as well.

  23. Lack of college production…. That’s a laugher.

    First, he played in the SEC. Anyone who knows college football knows that it’s an incredibly talented conference with a couple of teams so loaded that it skews the hell out of the game. It’s not like some scrub conference, like the Mountain West, where mediocre, quitters can look good against a bunch of guys who’ll never play football after college.

    Second, he actually had a couple of competent running mates (Bryan Edwards, Shi Smith) who also got a lot of receptions in a fairly balanced attack. Most teams generally have one top WR and a bunch of ‘other guys.’ To illustrate the point, those three WRs were 5th, 7th & 15th in receptions in the SEC.

    Anyone who bothered to consider the environment in which he played (conference & team) would have understood the two main, non-talent factors that suppressed Sweeny’s raw stats. But if you’re just some silly ‘hot take’ guy… Of course you won’t. You’ll be like all the clowns, including the NFL clowns, who couldn’t see Kittle was far more special than his stats would indicate.

  24. At least it’s a “now that we have _____, we can ________” selection:

    Now that we have Bosa, we can sack a quarterback.
    Now that we have DeeBo we can get separation without needed to block pass rushers for half on hour.

    Compare to the fourth rounder:

    Now that we have a punter, we can . . . . um . . . punt.

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