The 49ers and Kyle Shanahan designed their roster with yards after catch in mind. They have a bevy of playmakers on offense who specialize in creating yards with the ball in their hands. There may not be a better player in the league at that than 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
Samuel’s YAC numbers in his injury-shortened 2020 campaign are completely insane. One example of this is that he had more YAC than actual receiving yards in Week 12 – his first game back from a hamstring injury.
Pro Football Focus tweeted another stat that illustrates just how remarkable Samuel has been after the catch his year. He leads the NFL in YAC per reception, ahead of four running backs:
Leaders in YAC per reception:
1. Deebo Samuel – 12.9
2. Dalvin Cook – 10.4
3. Austin Ekeler – 9.7
4. James White – 9.4
5. Alvin Kamara – 9.1 pic.twitter.com/jy2JWAovnt— PFF (@PFF) December 3, 2020
Samuel with the ball in his hands is basically a running back, and an elite one at that.
Tennessee’s AJ Brown is the only other wide receiver in the top 10 in YAC per reception. He’s No. 10 at 8.0 YAC per catch, a full 4.9 yards per catch behind Samuel. The distance between Samuel and Brown is the same as the distance between Brown and Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs, who ranks 130th.
Samuel ranks 11th in the NFL among all players in total yards after catch. He’s played only five games. Every player ahead of him has played at least nine, most have played 11, and two have played 12.
A lot of this has to do with the way the 49ers utilize Samuel. He gets a lot of receptions behind line of scrimmage and on touch passes off jet motion that look like handoffs, but technically go as receptions. However, it’s up to him to get to the corner, turn the corner, break tackles, and pick up the yards. His skill set with the ball in his hands is special, and there may not be a better coach to utilize those skills than Shanahan.
Deebo Samuel is unconventional in a lot of ways, but he’s taking advantage of an offense designed to highlight his biggest strength. These numbers may be a touch inflated by small sample size, but don’t be surprised if the wide receiver continues to live among the leaders in a stat that’s typically dominated by running backs.
