What do we make of Deebo Samuel? He’s been pretty awful this year. Is he just done as an elite wide receiver?
He’s averaging over a catch per game less than unheralded teammate Jauan Jennings (a former seventh-round pick who doesn’t have the kind of speed most teams are looking for). Samuel has averaged only 3.6 catches for 47 yards in his 12 full games. His one touchdown came on a coverage bust at Seattle.
He was chirping on Twitter early in the week, so they made an extra effort to get him the ball on Thursday, but it didn’t work. The 7 passes thrown his way resulted in 3 catches for 16 yards, with a drop of a slant that might have gone for a touchdown.
Samuel looks a little slow and heavy to me. I looked up some of his 2021 highlights on YouTube, but I didn’t find anything that clearly shows he was lighter and more athletic at the time.
I wonder if he’s aged more quickly, given that he’s the most physical receiver in the league. They use him a lot on slant patterns, creating lots of collisions with defensive backs, and he’s also run for 1,102 yards. He’ll be 29 in a month.
If I were in a dynasty draft today, I would be torn between picking Samuel and Jennings. Jennings is better right now, but Samuel probably has more potential to maybe bounce back with one more top-25 season. (The 49ers will also have Brandon Aiyuk back next year, and I like him better than both Samuel and Jennings.) San Francisco potentially could look to move on from Samuel in the offseason, but he’ll be playing somewhere.
I turn my attention to dynasty leagues each Saturday during the season, rotating between the four notable positions. I’m assuming PPR scoring, with teams holding the rights to players indefinitely. In this kind of format, I’m trending towards building around younger players.
To see the most recent rankings for other positions, use the navigation tools on this page.
Last week: Quarterbacks
Next week: Tight ends
DYNASTY WIDE RECEIVERS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Tm | Player | Age |
1. | CIN | Ja'Marr Chase | 24.8 |
2. | MIN | Justin Jefferson | 25.5 |
3. | NYG | • Malik Nabers | 21.4 |
4. | DAL | CeeDee Lamb | 25.7 |
5. | DET | Amon-Ra St. Brown | 25.1 |
6. | HOU | Nico Collins | 25.7 |
7. | LAR | Puka Nacua | 23.5 |
8. | ARI | • Marvin Harrison | 22.3 |
9. | SEA | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 22.8 |
10. | NYJ | Garrett Wilson | 24.4 |
11. | JAC | • Brian Thomas | 22.2 |
12. | ATL | Drake London | 23.4 |
13. | PHI | A.J. Brown | 27.5 |
14. | PIT | George Pickens | 23.8 |
15. | WAS | Terry McLaurin | 29.2 |
16. | SEA | DK Metcalf | 27.0 |
17. | PHI | DeVonta Smith | 26.1 |
18. | KC | Rashee Rice | 24.6 |
19. | GB | Jayden Reed | 24.6 |
20. | CHI | DJ Moore | 27.7 |
21. | MIN | Jordan Addison | 22.9 |
22. | BAL | Zay Flowers | 24.3 |
23. | LAC | • Ladd McConkey | 22.1 |
24. | CHI | • Rome Odunze | 22.5 |
25. | KC | • Xavier Worthy | 21.6 |
26. | CLE | Jerry Jeudy | 25.6 |
27. | MIA | Jaylen Waddle | 26.1 |
28. | CIN | Tee Higgins | 25.9 |
29. | BUF | • Keon Coleman | 21.6 |
30. | BUF | Khalil Shakir | 24.9 |
31. | SF | Brandon Aiyuk | 26.7 |
32. | CAR | • Xavier Legette | 23.9 |
33. | IND | Josh Downs | 23.3 |
34. | GB | Christian Watson | 25.6 |
35. | MIA | Tyreek Hill | 30.8 |
36. | ATL | Darnell Mooney | 27.1 |
37. | DEN | Courtland Sutton | 29.2 |
38. | TB | Chris Godwin | 28.8 |
39. | NO | Chris Olave | 24.5 |
40. | IND | Michael Pittman | 27.2 |
41. | TEN | Calvin Ridley | 30.0 |
42. | DET | Jameson Williams | 23.7 |
43. | LV | Jakobi Meyers | 28.1 |
44. | GB | Romeo Doubs | 24.7 |
45. | HOU | Tank Dell | 25.1 |
46. | BAL | Rashod Bateman | 25.0 |
47. | SF | Deebo Samuel | 28.9 |
48. | TB | Mike Evans | 31.3 |
49. | BUF | Amari Cooper | 30.5 |
50. | LAC | Quentin Johnston | 23.3 |
51. | LAR | Cooper Kupp | 31.5 |
52. | SF | Jauan Jennings | 27.4 |
53. | CIN | • Jermaine Burton | 23.5 |
54. | NE | DeMario Douglas | 24.0 |
55. | ARI | Michael Wilson | 24.8 |
56. | DEN | • Devaughn Vele | 27.0 |
57. | NYJ | Davante Adams | 32.0 |
58. | TB | • Jalen McMillan | 23.0 |
59. | IND | • Adonai Mitchell | 22.2 |
60. | DEN | Marvin Mims | 22.7 |
61. | NYG | Wan'Dale Robinson | 23.9 |
62. | SF | • Ricky Pearsall | 24.3 |
63. | TEN | Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | 27.7 |
64. | KC | DeAndre Hopkins | 32.5 |
65. | CLE | Cedric Tillman | 24.7 |
66. | HOU | Stefon Diggs | 31.0 |
67. | BAL | Diontae Johnson | 28.4 |
68. | CAR | • Jalen Coker | 23.1 |
69. | GB | Dontayvion Wicks | 23.5 |
70. | NO | Rashid Shaheed | 26.3 |
71. | JAC | Christian Kirk | 28.1 |
72. | IND | Alec Pierce | 24.6 |
73. | NE | • Ja'Lynn Polk | 22.7 |
74. | PIT | Calvin Austin | 25.7 |
75. | CHI | Keenan Allen | 32.6 |
76. | DAL | Jalen Tolbert | 25.8 |
77. | NE | Kayshon Boutte | 22.6 |
78. | MIA | • Malik Washington | 23.9 |
79. | CLE | Elijah Moore | 24.7 |
80. | LAC | Joshua Palmer | 25.2 |
—Ian Allan