Call Deebo Samuel a wide receiver, a running back, a "wide back" or whatever you like. It doesn't matter.
The 49ers' biggest offensive weapon is a master key that unlocks everything coach Kyle Shanahan wants to do. Samuel's run-after-catch ability made him an ideal draft target for Shanahan coming out of South Carolina. But Samuel has shown he is much more than a wide receiver this season, and the 49ers' decision to use him more as a running back has been one of the driving forces in turning around the 49ers' season.
What makes Samuel the most unique offensive weapon in the NFL is the variety of skills he possesses.
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SIGN UP HERE "Well, Deebo has been unique to all of our careers because you're always trying to define what a football player is and it's still hard to define, but the game moves slow for him and he's fearless and he's fast and he is big and he is hard to tackle," offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel told reporters Wednesday as the 49ers prepare to face the Green Bay Packers on Saturday in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game.
But it's Samuel's talent combined with the mind of Shanahan that has allowed the 49ers to unlock every part of the receiver's game.
"The evolution of how we use him, that's a product of two things," McDaniel said. "Him being a really good football player and I think Kyle does an outstanding job of really pushing his staff to open their mind and see what's there maybe that we haven't done or really think through the whys of everything that we do.
"So that combination of a skillset with a particular player and the drive that Kyle's been pushing on me since the day I started working with him. Those types of things end up rendering the results that you guys are seeing from a whole staff perspective. We're all committed to utilizing our players the best way we can. And every person on the offensive staff contributes in that direction. It takes a village to do things that maybe haven't been necessarily done with specific players."
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The 49ers started featuring Samuel in the backfield in Week 10, a blowout win over the Los Angeles Rams that signaled a seismic shift in the direction of their season. Through the first nine weeks of the regular season, Samuel accounted for the second-most receiving yards in the NFL (882), but the 49ers were 3-5 and ranked 16th in expected points added per play on offense.
So, Shanahan elected to stop relying solely on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to get Samuel the ball and started lining the third-year receiver up in the backfield. Prior to that game against the Rams, Samuel had lined up in the backfield just seven times in nine games. He lined up in the backfield six times against the Rams, carrying the ball five times for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Just like that, the 49ers' offense found its groove and has been firing on all cylinders, for the most part, ever since.
San Francisco is 7-0 this season when Samuel carries the ball at least five times, and he is averaging a touchdown almost once every 7.5 carries. It turns out, getting the ball into your best player's hands as often as possible while cutting out the middle man is an effective strategy.
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Samuel had his fair amount of red flags coming out of college, from injury history to a lack of production. While Shanahan admits the 49ers didn't view Samuel becoming a "wide back" when they drafted him, they knew the playmaker had all the tools they valued in an offensive weapon.
"That's why we really liked Deebo, whatever his pluses and minuses were, we knew that he was a physical guy and that's why we knew we needed to add him to our group," Shanahan said on Jan. 10. "To be able to use his physicality as a receiver has been huge, but now that we've been able to add the running back part, it just makes it so much easier to get the ball in his hands."
Samuel, who earned his first career All-Pro selection this season, has been appreciative of Shanahan's trust in him this season.
"I think Kyle knows that I'm really, really good with the ball in my hands," Samuel told FOX Sports' Kristina Pink prior to the 49ers' wild-card win vs. the Dallas Cowboys. "I think he just started throwing everything possible to give me the ball; this year, moving me to running back a lot. Getting that pass in the game last week just showed the trust that he has in me. It's just crazy."
Samuel has rewarded Shanahan's faith tenfold. Anytime the 49ers' offense needs a big play, Samuel is there to run over a linebacker and into the end zone or drag a defensive back across the first-down marker. Whatever it takes, Samuel gives it to keep the offense clicking.
The 49ers will look to get the ball in Samuel's hands as often as possible Saturday when they face the top-seeded Packers in freezing temperatures at Lambeau Field.
When the two teams met in Week 3, Samuel carried the ball twice for zero yards as the Packers left Levi's Stadium with a 30-28 win.
Things will be different Saturday. Shanahan and McDaniel surely will come up with different ways to get the ball in Samuel's hands and let the NFL's most dangerous offensive weapon do the rest.
