Menu

Search

  |   Sports

Menu

  |   Sports

Search

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver woes: Will Deebo Samuel heal in time for start of NFL 2020

Mike Morbeck/Flickr

September is fast approaching, but doubt surrounds the return of Deebo Samuel as the San Francisco 49ers no.1 wide receiver in the NFL 2020 season.

Samuel stepped into the no.1 wide receiver position after the Niners allowed veteran receiver Emmanuel Sanders to walk into free agency and was signed by New Orleans Saints.

And, it had looked like the Niners, who lost the Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs last March, had a good chance to make up for lost opportunity and grab the Vince Lombardi trophy.

After all, Samuel had an incredible rookie season and was named by PFF as one of NFL’s best receivers after the catch. He ranked fifth with 484 yards after the catch in the regular season wherein he averaged 8.5 yards.

The 24-year-old wide receiver also had the second-most receptions and receiving yards in a season among the Niners rookie.

In the San Francisco 49ers records, Samuel was ranked second behind George Kittle in targets (81), receptions (57), and yards (802).

However, Samuel suffered an injury while working out in a throwing session last month. He had undergone surgery for a Jones fracture in his foot and was initially expected to be out for 12-16 weeks.

But, Samuel had recently called out Peter King of NBC Sports for reporting that he would probably be out until October while he is still undergoing rehabilitation for his injured foot.

The 36th overall 2019 draft pick took to Instagram to decry the report and said that he would be back in 10 weeks' time.

Undoubtedly, Samuel’s injury is a blow for the Niners. While PFF had praised Samuel, it had ranked the Niners wide receiver unit only 25th in the league.

Although the team has plenty of replacement, particularly in rookie Brandon Aiyuk who got the thumbs up from Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, the team’s general manager, even the PFF predicted Aiyuk to fit right into Shanahan’s system.

And, the San Francisco 49ers are also banking on Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor to be healthy enough for their 2020 campaign.

Image credit courtesy of Mike Morbeck/Flickr

  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.