Deebo Samuel is heading back to where it all started, reuniting with the San Francisco 49ers on a one-year deal. Not long ago, he was one of the most dynamic weapons in all of fantasy football. Two straight down seasons have since raised real questions about whether he has anything left in the tank. Should fantasy managers take a chance on Samuel in 2026?
Should You Draft Deebo Samuel in Fantasy Football?
The version of Samuel that terrorized defenses in 2023 feels like a long time ago. That season, he averaged 16.3 PPR points per game, racked up more than 1,100 yards from scrimmage, and found the end zone 12 times in Kyle Shanahan’s system. He looked like one of the most unique offensive weapons in the entire league.
The two years since have painted a much bleaker picture. Samuel has failed to average even a dozen PPR points per game in each of the past two seasons. The two worst yards-per-route-run marks of his career have come in that span, and his ability to earn looks inside the red zone has cratered. For a player whose game was always built on physicality and yards after the catch, that is a worrying trend, because that style rarely ages gracefully.
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There is no sugarcoating the fact that Samuel is an imperfect player at this stage of his unusual career. He turns the corner into his 30s carrying legitimate questions about what he has left. This is simply not the dynamic, every-down threat he was a few seasons ago.
Here is the flip side, and it is the whole reason this situation is worth discussing. Samuel is returning to the exact system that drafted him and unlocked his best football. This staff knows precisely what he brings to the table and how to scheme touches for him.
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The San Francisco 49ers also enter the year with a genuinely cloudy pass-catching group. George Kittle is working back from a January Achilles tear, and Christian Kirk is nursing a calf injury. The mishandling of Ricky Pearsall’s PCL sprain from last season now sees him likely missing the entire 2026 season.
Meanwhile, their prime free agent signing, a soon-to-be 33-year-old Mike Evans, is coming off a year of declining metrics and recurring hamstring issues. Rookie De’Zhaun Stribling, for his part, remains a complete unknown. That much uncertainty can open a door.
Samuel’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
The honest starting point is that weekly startable value is a long shot for Samuel at this stage. His floor is shaky and his target competition, banged up as it may be, is still real. Anyone drafting him expecting a reliable lineup piece is likely to be disappointed. That is the bear case, and it is a fair one.
The appeal lives almost entirely in the price and the fit. Samuel is going to cost next to nothing in drafts, and there is real merit to making a cheap bet on the Brock Purdy and Shanahan combination.
Purdy remains one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league, and the schedule offers a soft landing after a Week 1 date with the Rams. Matchups against the Dolphins and Cardinals in Weeks 2 and 3 are the kind of spots where this offense could Purdy go for 25+ fantasy points. That production has to go somewhere.
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Samuel has also shown he can still capitalize when the opportunity is there. He opened the 2025 season with 8-plus targets and a touchdown in consecutive games, which is at least a foothold for anyone looking to roll the dice. If the receiver room around him remains this murky by the time you draft, he becomes a perfectly reasonable process pick at his rock-bottom cost.
My ranking reflects a player I am intrigued by rather than one I am counting on. I have Samuel at WR54, which frames him as a late-round dart with a puncher’s chance instead of a weekly starter.
The Stribling factor is the biggest threat to that outlook, as the rookie has drawn a loud summer drumbeat and could be the one Shanahan funnels those early-season targets toward instead. Draft Samuel as a cheap swing on scheme and situation, and be pleasantly surprised if he returns usable weeks.
Samuel’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
Dynasty requires a clear-eyed view of where Samuel sits on the aging curve. He is 30 years old and has been in decline for two straight seasons, which means dynasty managers need to treat him strictly as a year-to-year asset. There is no long-term building block to be found here.
While Samuel is almost certainly not retiring within the next year or two, it is entirely possible that 2026 is his final season as a relevant fantasy contributor. That reality dictates who should actually want him.
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Rebuilding teams have no reason to roster Samuel, as he offers nothing for the timeline they care about. Contending teams are a different matter, since he could provide useful depth for a roster built to win right now. Even in that context, though, the ceiling is modest. Samuel is a short-window piece at best, and he should be valued accordingly.
