Deebo Samuel — Week 2: Twenty-One Yards on Third and Eleven
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Samuel caught 3 of 4 targets for 31 yards, 21 of them on third and 11 from the San Francisco 28 in the third quarter, the most valuable 49ers play of the day by expected points. He also carried once for 4 yards and returned a kickoff 29 yards; four targets tied for the team lead on 22 throws, in a 35–13 win over the Dolphins.
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21 to six, 49ers, nine 18 left in the third quarter, third and 11 at the San Francisco 28 after a false start. Brock Purdy threw deep middle to Deebo Samuel, 17 yards in the air, 21 yards to the San Francisco 49. +3.0 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — the largest gain on any 49ers play of the day, and 2.7 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Five plays later Kyle Juszczyk caught the touchdown that made it 28 to six.
The line: four targets, three catches, 31 yards, one first down, +2.0 expected points on the targets. The others: two yards on San Francisco's first offensive snap, an incompletion short left on first and 10 later on that drive, and eight yards on first and 20 in the fourth quarter on a ball caught behind the line. Another eight-yard catch on the next snap came back on a holding penalty and is not in his line. 19 air yards, 16 after the catch. He carried once, up the middle for four on first and 10 at the Miami 27 with seven 26 left in the half, on the drive that ended in Purdy's touchdown scramble, and he returned the kickoff that started that drive 29 yards from the goal line.
Four targets tied him with Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle for the team lead. Purdy threw only 22 times, eight of them before halftime, and seven different players caught a pass.
Back in June the preview was written while Samuel had no team, and its question was whether the volume under his 20 25 numbers — about a quarter of Washington's targets, plus carries — would hold wherever he landed. Week 1 in San Francisco was seven targets, six catches, a touchdown, a carry and two kickoff returns. Sunday was four targets, a carry and one return. The counts fell with the offense's: seven of 34 throws, then four of 22, with a carry each week. Two games, 11 targets, nine catches, 79 yards. The share looks steady and neither game has asked for much of it. San Francisco is home to the Cardinals on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
When Deebo Samuel Sr.'s week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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