The phrase "one of a kind" gets tossed around all too often in sports. When it comes to Deebo Samuel, however, it couldn't be more true.
Samuel showed off his entire skill set Monday night in the 49ers' huge 31-10 win over the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium, finishing with 133 total yards -- 97 receiving and 36 rushing -- scoring one touchdown through the air and one on the ground. Following the win, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was asked if he has ever seen or had a teammate quite like Samuel.
“Honestly, I haven't," Garoppolo said. "I haven't seen many of them in the NFL, either. I mean, it's a unique talent, just durability of the guy, the route-running ability, the mental capacity, just to keep everything in his head that he has to do on a week-to-week basis.
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"It's really impressive. I mean, the dude can play multiple positions, and he's earned everything he’s gotten.”
Want to know how unique Samuel is? Just look at this nugget found by The Niners Wire's Kyle Madson. There truly isn't another offensive player like the South Carolina product.
Samuel, in his third year as a pro, already has over 1,000 total yards in just nine games played. He has 979 receiving yards and 58 rushing yards, totaling 1,037 yards. The receiver also has five touchdowns as a pass catcher and two as a ball carrier.
"There's not a lot of comps," Kittle said. "I mean, especially in the way that coach [Kyle] Shanahan and our offense staff makes plays for him. Line him up at running back, toss him the ball. Just the physicality that he plays with every single snap. And he can score every single play. And when you have a guy like that, it's pretty amazing.”
San Francisco 49ers
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Kittle was the 49ers' second-leading receiver in Monday night's win, hauling in five passes for 50 yards and one touchdown. He's just fine with Samuel getting more carries than him, too.
“I was like jealous at first, but then I realized how much more running backs get hit all the time," Kittle said. "And I was like, ‘Yeah, you know, that's all you, man. I'll just block for you. Don't worry about it.’ "