At the peak of his powers, Deebo Samuel was a fantasy football rockstar. Not only does he have a 1,400-yard season on his resume, but he ran for 16 scores over a three-year stretch and has been remarkably durable for a player who plays with the sort of physicality that he does.
Back with San Francisco, Samuel is a 30-year-old looking to bounce back. Father Time is a threat, but this is an offense that could use playmakers and has a workhorse running back who is a flight risk.
Should You Draft Deebo Samuel Sr. in Fantasy Football?
Veteran Samuel is back with the 49ers in 2026. As of early September, he’s going around round 10 or 11 in most PPR leagues, and I’m looking other places. I want more upside.
I get what peak Deebo brings to the table. I’m not so sure we see that anymore. We saw his efficiency crater a season ago. I know that he’s back with Kyle Shanahan, and that is awfully tempting. If you want a cheap way to bet on this offense, to bet on the overall efficiency, I’m not going to stop you.
The dude had over 37 carries in his last four years in this offense. If he’s getting 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 carries a week on top of 5 targets in a creative and efficient offense, he’ll pay off your drafting him. I’m just not sure he’s going to do it. I’m not sure he’s going to hold up.
The interesting wrinkle in all of this is if you want to bet against Christian McCaffrey, which it seems is not as popular as it was a season ago. I get that after an RB1 season, but he had 450 touches last season. If you want to bet against him, I’m not sold on any of the running backs behind him. If he were to go down, are we looking at 3 to 5 carries a week for Samuel in addition to maybe 5 or 7 targets? If you remove CMC, that opens up a lot of targets here. If you’re looking at contingent value, I’ll listen to it.
I don’t think there’s a bad pick at this point in the draft. If you want to throw a dart on Deebo, be my guest. I’m not doing it with the utmost in the way of expectations. You’ve got guys like Matthew Golden. If you want to go floor play, Jakobi Meyers is going real late, and nobody is talking about him. He’s a little banged up in Jacksonville, but we all like that offense.
I’m not going to get there on Deebo. I’m not a strong fade. I’ll take him at price, or if he falls a little bit below ADP. But certainly in his age-30 season, he’s not a dude that I’m overextending for. I’m not reaching for him. Peak Deebo is a thing of the past. I think he’s going to be effective in spots. Can you do that on a week-to-week basis? He’s not for me.
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Deebo Samuel Sr.’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Samuel has seen his aDOT dip in consecutive seasons, and that plan of attack seems more likely than not as he joins a Niners offense that is in need of proven target earners. We know that Brock Purdy is as efficient as they come, and this system is built to give us what we want, so I understand how you could sell yourself on this veteran returning value on his draft-day cost.
Maybe. I have a hard time seeing it in Week 1, though.
The Rams were the fourth-best post-catch pass defense in the league a season ago, and this version of them is even more intimidating. If you’re intrigued by the Samuel profile (it’s easy to forget that he caught 6+ passes in 4 of 5 games to open 2025) because of the situation he’s landed in, I think you are wise to wait to pounce after this presumptive dud.
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Where Samuel Ranks Among 2026 Wide Receivers
Samuel sits outside our top 50 at wide receiver. Here are the last five on the PFN Consensus Board:
- Khalil Shakir | BUF
- Makai Lemon | PHI
- De’Zhaun Stribling | SF
- Jordan Addison | MIN
- Romeo Doubs | NE
Compare him against the rest of the board in PFN’s Full PPR Wide Receiver Rankings.
