Deebo Samuel Fantasy: Start or Sit 49ers WR on Sunday Night?

Getty Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers

After a slow start to his rookie campaign, mostly due to the San Francisco 49ers’ own unwillingness to feature this multi-talented playmaker, Deebo Samuel has taken the league by storm over the past few weeks.

From Week 10 on, only four other wide receivers have averaged more fantasy points than Samuels. However, a lingering shoulder injury has caused the wideout to be limited in practice for much of the week.

Can Samuel fight through injury while continuing his stellar play under the bright lights of Sunday night? Let’s discuss.

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Deebo Samuel’s Fantasy Outlook vs. Green Bay Packers

Prior to Week 10, Deebo Samuel had been a very slim part of the 49ers offensive gameplan. The rookie out of South Carolina had averaged just 20.14 receiving yards in seven of his first eight games as a professional.

However, after an injury to Emmanuel Sanders, the team’s perceived WR1 in Week 10 vs. the Seattle Seahawks, San Fran was left with no choice but to feature their young playmaker, and boy has the rookie answered the bell.

Samuel has now hauled in eight receptions in back to back weeks while averaging a staggering  123 receiving yards over that span.

To put how good Samuel has been in recent weeks into better perspective, he has joined the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, and Julio Jones as the only currently active receivers to have consecutive games with six-plus receptions and 110+ yards in their rookie season.

Arguably the most important aspect of Samuel’s current tear is how much his usage rate has shot up. After averaging a putrid three targets per game over five of his first seven games of the year, Samuel has since seen 21 total targets come his way in just the past two weeks.

Samuel’s matchup this week may seem daunting to the untrained eye, or simply by the fantasy owners that base their starting lineup on whether the player’s matchup is the color red or the color green.

The Green Bay Packers have allowed the ninth-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season. With that said, their secondary has taken a major step back in recent weeks. Over the Packers’ previous two games, the team has allowed an average of 115.5 receiving yards to opponents’ leading receivers.


Should You Start or Sit Deebo Samuel in Week 12?

While reports out of San Francisco are claiming that the ‘9ers could have the services of both George Kittle and Emmanuel Sanders when the team takes the field against Green Bay, don’t let that waiver your opinion on Samuels. The rookie is a budding star in this league, and he will continue to show that this week on Sunday Night Football. If anything, the presence of these two players should open up more opportunities for Samuels.

Start Samuels in all scoring formats in Week 12, he’s as rock-solid of a WR2 as you could get at this point of the season.


  1. *Check Out our Week 12 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems to further optimize your lineups
  2. Start-Sit QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | DEF | Ks]

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