The 49ers on Sunday had a light practice, but the short session came had some interesting developments. Perhaps the most notable thing though was wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s involvement as a runner.
With no fans in attendance, head coach Kyle Shanahan dug into his bag during the team period and started utilizing wide receiver Deebo Samuel more in the running back role he took on late last season.
Any consternation from Samuel on his role as a ‘wide back’ was bluntly denied by the receiver in his press conference after he signed a three-year extension with the club this offseason. Shanahan also indicated he didn’t plan on making some kind of exception for Samuel’s role. That was clear in Sunday’s session according to reports from practice:
Trey Lance and the first team took every rep during today’s shortened practice. It looked like the second half of last season with how they used Deebo Samuel.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 14, 2022
It’ll be interesting to see how Samuel’s role changes on a game-by-game basis. The team may not want to have Samuel averaging upwards of seven carries per game, but they need the ball in his hands to maximize their offense. His rushing numbers could wind up right about what they were last year, but spread out more evenly across the season instead of so heavily back-loading them.
There’s an added element now with quarterback Trey Lance’s rushing ability that could give Shanahan some additional wrinkles to throw into the rushing attack where Samuel is more of a decoy.
Either way the 49ers appear primed to lean on Samuel’s unique skill set, and flashing that in practice with less than a month until the regular-season opener is a sign the Samuel run-game touches aren’t going anywhere.
