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Deebo Samuel Says He's Not Struggling; He Just Isn't Getting the Ball

Is he right?
Grant Cohn|
Dec 8, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) walks on the field before the start of the game against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
Dec 8, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (1) walks on the field before the start of the game against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Deebo Samuel wants to set the record straight.

Sure, he has just 97 yards from scrimmage and no touchdowns in the 49ers' past four games. But that doesn't mean he's struggling, according to Samuel.

"Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!!" Samuel posted on X on Monday. But what he posted isn't entirely true.

On Sunday during the 49ers' 38-13 win over the Bears, Samuel got the ball 7 times -- once more than George Kittle, who's having an All Pro season. Samuel is not having an All Pro season, and yet only running back Isaac Guerendo got the ball more than Samuel on Sunday.

In addition, Samuel has 72 touches this season and is on pace for 96. In 2023, he had 97 touches. In 2022, he had 98. So he's right on his usual pace.

The difference is Samuel -- he's not he player he was the past few years. He's not explosive anymore and he doesn't break tackles like he used to. Last season, he broke 17 tackles. This seaosn, he has broken only four.

Breaking tackles and running after the catch is what made Samuel good. Now, he doesn't break tackles, he's not a threat after the catch, he can't beat man-to-man coverage, he has a small catch radius and he drops too many passes.

So, yeah, he's struggling.

Quite frankly, he deserves fewer touches, not more. Because good things rarely happen when he gets the ball this season. The 49ers would be better off getting others involved.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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