Over the last year or so there’s been a growing discussion surrounding former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel’s size and speed with many detractors saying he’s overweight and slow.

Last season was arguably Samuel’s worst in the NFL, as he finished with a career-low 51 receptions for 670 yards and three touchdowns in three games. He also averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per rush, totaling 136 yards gained on the ground. Prior to that, he had caught 283 passes for 4,122 yards and 19 touchdowns while adding another 1,007 yards and 19 scores on 6.3 yards per attempt in 66 games over five seasons.

Advertisement

Earlier this offseason, the 49ers sent the 29-year-old to the Washington Commanders in a trade that netted them a 2025 fifth-round pick, which was subsequently used on 21-year-old Oregon running back Jordan James. The willingness to part with a wideout who had been considered one of the best in the league since San Francisco took him in the second round (No. 36 overall) of the 2019 NFL draft for such a weak return indicates that general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan may have seen Samuel’s speed take a hit.

However, the 49ers have a pretty close locker room, and the players are willing to defend each other from oncoming attacks both on and off the field, and that continues even after they leave the team.

Six-time Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle demonstrated that last week when an infamous aggregation account posted a video on social media of Samuel running routes at practice with Washington, insinuating looked bigger and slower.

While Samuel didn’t exactly appear to be moving too fast during the referenced play, Kittle responded with a simple explanation, saying “It’s called group install when players jog through plays. Knock it off.” Even 10-time Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner, who’s now teammates with Samuel in Washington, seconded Kittle’s insight.

Advertisement

Watching Samuel from afar will be interesting in 2025. Will he return to the versatile weapon who could change the game any time he touched the ball, or will he see another down year and potentially drop off even further? Either way, Samuel knows he has Kittle in his corner, even if they’re no longer wearing the same jerseys.

More 49ers: How 49ers 1st-round pick made team ‘feel like he’s one of us’

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers’ George Kittle attacks social media user targeting Deebo Samuel