Getty Deebo Samuel throws a block for George Kittle during a 2019 regular season game against Carolina.
The San Francisco 49ers have been blessed with two players who love plowing their shoulders into opponents and never shying away from drawing contact.
These aren’t offensive linemen though. Nor are they running backs. They’re Deebo Samuel and George Kittle, a wide receiver and tight end, respectively.
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Samuel, even at 6-foot, 216-pounds, has shown that he’s not your typical route runner. He thrives off of contact and his league-leading 528 YAC (yards after the catch) yards is proof. Kittle has taken on his share of defensive ends, linebackers and safeties in a career that’s seen two Pro Bowl appearances.
The duo shares this title among the 49ers along with Brandon Aiyuk:
The YAC Bros were feastin’ on Sunday.
But the burning question was finally blurted by Rich Eisen during his radio show on Tuesday, November 23: Who is more physical?
“Oh that’s tough,” was Samuel’s first response before giving his answer.
Samuel Reveals Who is the More Physical 49er
Samuel, who has left a trail of punished defenders in his wake, chose not to toot his own horn.
“I’ll probably give it to Kittle,” Samuel answered. “I’m not going to lie.”
From there, Samuel answered the rest of the question and painted a picture of Kittle’s physicality.
“Only because he has to block defensive ends and you can see him pancaking everybody. I’d give it to him,” Samuel said.
And, he did make a reference to the pummeling block he delivered on Von Miller in his Los Angeles Rams debut during the 49ers’ 31-10 thrashing of their division rival.
George Kittle just demolished Von Miller 😳
Recently, Kittle was largely responsible for staying in front of Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack in helping give Samuel a lane into the end zone — following Samuel taking the handoff.
George Kittle — stupidly good at run-blocking and I’m running out of words to describe how good he is.
Deebo Samuel just out-races everyone else to the end zone. Unreal how good his vision is, considering he’s a wide receiver.
And, inside the Jaguars’ red zone, Kittle takes on 6-foot-3, 264-pound edge rusher Dawuane Smoot and plants him to the ground, giving Samuel another opening for the goal line.
Kyle Shanahan continues with his style of “position-less” football, lining up Deebo Samuel in the back-field and flanking Trey Sermon out.
Motions Sermon across the formation completely moves the JAX LBs. George Kittle, Jauan Jennings (!!) and Jaylon Moore all get great blocks.
But then came the next burning question from the longtime NFL Network personality: Which 49er enjoys contact more?
Samuel’s Response
Here’s where Samuel believes he shares something in common with his 6-foot-4, 250-pound teammate: He too is a lover of contact.
“I’d say it’s about even,” Samuel said.
Eisen brought up how he’s caught Kittle smiling after pancaking defenders, to which Samuel responded “I would be laughing too!” Which drew laughs from Eisen and the show members.
After the laughs, Samuel mentioned how there’s a conversation in the huddle after someone gets trucked on the field.
“I mean, you see this guy? He did not want to tackle you,” Samuel explained to Eisen in his huddle conversations with Kittle and company. “And I just be watching everybody just going to try to tackle Kittle sometimes, and they be turning it down. They just be making business decisions.”
Kittle is striking fear into the hearts of defenders who attempt to tackle him off his imposing figure. Meanwhile, Samuel has this rare stat for wide receivers that involves missed tackles:
Another bully stat for Deebo Samuel ⛓
More from the Eisen interview can be listened to below: