West Coast Read: How Deebo Samuel Got His Mojo Back And Became Vital To 49ers

Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California) — Kyle Shanahan needed another explosive playmaker with receivers Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk and DeMarcus Robinson all on the injured reserve list. Deebo Samuel needed a place to show the league he could still play. In a relationship where both sides needed each other, Samuel signed a one-year, $4.1 million deal in August to reunite with San Francisco’s head coach. And so far, things have worked out in Samuel’s second chapter with the team. Samuel finished with 70 scrimmage yards and two scores in a solid victory over the Denver Broncos last week, helping the San Francisco 49ers remain one of three undefeated NFL teams. "I didn’t draw it up no kind of way," Samuel responded when asked about the symmetry of being back in San Francisco on a Super Bowl contender. "But I’m going to enjoy 4-0 for sure and get ready for next week." Speaking of next week, the 49ers face the defending champions Seattle Seahawks (3-1) on the road on Sunday in a battle for the top spot in the NFC West. The last time these two teams played, Seattle embarrassed San Francisco, 41-6, in the divisional round of the playoffs. Two weeks prior, the 49ers lost to the Seahawks, 13-3, in a battle that determined the NFC West winner. But Samuel was with the Washington Commanders at that time and didn’t play in either game. Now that he's back in San Francisco, Samuel could make a major impact in the rivalry matchup. He has 1,092 scrimmage yards and eight total touchdowns in 10 career games against Seattle, including the playoffs. The 49ers are 6-4 against the Seahawks in games Samuel plays. Samuel has also served as San Francisco’s kick returner since coming back to the team, and has a combined 490 yards through four games, No. 10 in the league. San Francisco left tackle Trent Williams predicted Samuel would shine before the season started. "When we signed Deebo, I said we’re probably going to get the best Deebo we’ve seen," Williams said at his locker. "And he’s been making my words true. I’m really proud of him. We anticipated this. We knew Deebo was coming back with a vengeance. I’m just really happy for him. And why did Williams believe San Francisco would get the best version of Samuel? "From me knowing him as well as I do, I think this offseason was probably the first time in his career that he was doubted," Williams said when I asked him in the locker room. "He’s always been supremely talented. He’s always been a playmaker. But you know, this league turns on you quick. And I think him having to feel that doubt for the first time, it lit a fire under him." Another person who thought Samuel would play well in his return was his private receiver coach, Brandon White, founder of Receiver Factory. Based in Florida, White has helped train Samuel in the offseason during his eight-year NFL career. White has also worked with some of the top receivers in the NFL, including Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. "He’s passionate and he cares," White told me when I asked about Samuel’s mindset going into the season, having to wait for the right team. "Deebo wants to ball. He wants to make plays. That’s just fuel for a guy like that. And you can see he was honed in. It’s not like he didn’t think he was going to get a shot again, but the shot he got and the way he got it and the time it took, there had to be something building up the entire time." White told me he trained Samuel in three different stints in Arizona during the offseason, working on his short-area quickness and route running to prepare the South Carolina product for the season. He said that Samuel’s daily regimen in Arizona included strength and agility training, sprint work, boxing workouts and field work with White, followed by a timed mile run. Samuel, now 30, went through that regimen to show the league he could still play after spending a season with the Commanders and not playing to his full potential. "We were on a mission," White told me. "He was focused. Our whole thing when we get together is we make sure he’s like a Swiss Army knife and everything’s popping. He knows how to run routes. He knows how to get open. He understands how to make plays in space. "We just wanted to make sure going into the season he’s as quick and as sharp as possible. We were really working on short-area quickness, fast twitch and then a lot of coming out of breaks." Samuel’s work he put in during the offseason has shown. He has 185 receiving yards on 14 catches with three receiving touchdowns through the first four games. And he has another 74 rushing yards on seven carries, averaging 9.4 per carry. "I know when he’s got the ball in his hand, I do want to make an extra block or run down the field and chase the ball because you never know when he’s going to break a tackle and get free," 49ers offensive lineman Colton McKivitz told me. "You can have that extra block to keep a guy off him. He just has that ‘It’ factor." During the height of Samuel’s time with San Francisco in 2021, he finished with 1,405 receiving yards and 365 rushing yards, earning the nickname "wide back." But San Francisco’s offense runs through Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle now, so those days aren’t returning. Instead, Samuel serves as a key gadget player to jump-start San Francisco’s offense when they need a big play in critical moments of the game. "Game-time Deebo is something else," San Francisco quarterback Mac Jones told me. "He brings an extra gear. He came here after training camp, so I didn’t get a lot of reps with him. But I’ve always been a fan. He puts a lot of really good stuff on tape because he plays with a lot of passion. And you can feel him. "They used him differently in ’23 and ’24 than they’re doing now. He’s returning kicks, which he didn’t do before. And they’re using him in more gadget stuff. A lot of motion. If you checked his yardage stuff, I bet he ran the most out of anyone today. Kyle does a good job of scheming him up, and that creates good matchups for other people. He’s like that pawn you have on a chess board who’s always available." Speaking of Shanahan, he passed one of the cornerstones of the West Coast offense, Hall of Famer Bill Walsh, for the most games coached in 49ers' history (167), an impressive feat for a head coach at 46 years old. The West Coast offense never really went away, but the emphasis on zone reads and quarterbacks in shotgun had become the dominant way to move the chains in modern football.  But over the past handful of years, with defenses led by gurus like Mike Macdonald and Vic Fangio leaning on two-high shells to keep explosives to a minimum, more teams are using quarterbacks under center to ignite the run and play-action game against lighter boxes. Per Next Gen Stats, 39.5% of snaps on offense were taken under center so far this season, the highest usage in the last decade. Six teams in the top half of the league operating under center through the first four weeks are out West, including the Raiders (125 snaps), 49ers (124), Seahawks (123), Cardinals (118), Rams (117) and Chiefs (100). With West Coast offense principles being used more through the first four weeks of the season, I decided to hit up former NFL and college offensive guru Norm Chow to try and find out why. Chow said he first learned the West Coast offense as an assistant at BYU from former San Francisco quarterback and coach Doug Scovil. Also serving on BYU’s staff during Chow’s 26 years coaching there were West Coast offense masterminds Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid. Chow said he’s not surprised to see a return to more West Coast principles, including under center runs and play-action passes. "Football is cyclical," Chow told me. "Everyone thinks this RPO (run-pass option) stuff is new, but all it is the Wishbone triple option stuff dressed up from before. … But I think that’s why the NFL never left (the West Coast offense). If you drop back and throw all the time, they can cover that. And if you run it all the time, they can cover that. "The deception comes from under center with the run, as opposed to the shotgun." Cardinals offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, whose father Paul Hackett was one of the first offensive coordinators to teach the West Coast offense, said the core philosophies in quarterback footwork have never left the game. "Whenever we look at the West Coast offense, it’s from how you coach the quarterback — from progressions, to footwork to timing," Hackett told me. "The actual West Coast, from when Bill Walsh did it and my dad and those guys, has gone the way of the white buffalo. "So, we’ve kind of adapted with everything that we’ve done to teach the quarterback the same way we did in the West Coast, but to different kinds of plays and variations of the plays that we have in the West Coast. It’s a collaboration of all those things, while still bringing along those base principles." Because of the timing and rhythm of the West Coast offense, teams that can create disruption in the early downs are having the most success. Just look at Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flories. The Vikings lead the league in scoring defense (12.8 per game) and blitz percentage (70.5%). Hall of Famer Michael Haynes said his Raiders defense, known for playing disruptive, sticky bump-and-run coverage, was effective against the West Coast scheme because of their ability to apply pressure with great pass rushers like fellow Hall of Famer Howie Long and Greg Townsend up front and force the ball out quickly. "If those quarterbacks have all day to throw it where they want to throw it, it’s going to be a tough day," Haynes told me. "A great pass rush always helps the DBs. Most teams were playing zone and trying to disguise their man-to-man coverages from off [coverage]. And we didn’t. We didn’t care that you knew we were coming, because we had a great pass rush." Kansas City found the blindside protector for the most accomplished quarterback currently playing at the team’s rookie minicamp a week after the draft. Khalil Benson, who wasn't selected in April's draft after helping the Indiana Hoosiers win the national championship, showed up as one of over 75 invited, undrafted rookies to the camp. He impressed coaches and scouts enough there to earn a spot on the 90-man roster. From there, Benson worked his way up the depth chart during offseason work, wrestling the starting right tackle job from Jaylon Moore and eventually shifting over to left tackle — which he hadn’t played since high school — to replace an injured Josh Simmons (back) to start the regular season. Benson hasn’t given up the starting job since, earning Offensive Rookie of the Month for September. Benson has allowed nine quarterback pressures and one sack in 118 pass block snaps, per Next Gen Stat. Among all rookies with at least 15 pass block snaps, Benson has the second-highest percentage of one-on-one matchups (84.9%). He has contributed to a Kansas City offense that has only allowed six sacks in 2026, tied for the fifth-fewest in the league. "He’s a professional player," Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said about Benson. "There’s some things he can do that others cannot do. That’s why he’s here. We feel that we found a unique player that can basically upgrade the depth in our O-line room." Chris Brainard of APE Fitness and Performance in Texas helped prepare Benson for his pro day. Because Benson wasn't invited to the combine, he had extra time to train before the April workout. At 6-foot-6 and 321 pounds, Brainard said Benson set a personal best in his 40-yard time (5.08) and bench press (23 reps at 225 pounds). "The guy handled the entire process as a professional," Brainard told me. "That was cool to see, and we’re seeing those benefits pay off now. Just coming in, he’s got the size and he’s got the motor. He just needed things to kind of fall in place for him." Former NFL offensive lineman Chris Chester also worked with Benson on offensive line training in the lead-up to the draft. As Brainard stated, Chester emphasized Benson’s professionalism and ability to quickly pick up concepts. With the dearth of quality offensive lineman, Chester said he was surprised Benson didn’t get drafted. "I get it, there’s a lot of voices during the draft process and narratives get made," Chester told me. "I was surprised he didn’t get drafted, but you’ve got to run your own race. "He’s strong — that’s one of the things that kind of jumped out — once he got his hands on you, it was kind of wrap. It was a lot of one-on-one with me and him, and I’m doing some of the looks. I’m not as young as I used to be, and he was kind of throwing me around. So, I got to experience it firsthand. He’s heavy-handed, got a good strike and hits you like a hammer. And I can’t say enough about his positive attitude. And he absorbed information well." 5. Los Angeles Rams After a tough stretch to open the season, the Rams get three of the next four games at home. It starts with the Buffalo Bills on Monday night as they look to improve their 2-2 record. 4. Las Vegas Raiders The schedule heats up for the Silver and Black, who face the Patriots, Bills and Rams over the next three. But they might have legitimized their 3-0 record with their showing against the Chiefs, climbing six spots in our Ralph Vacchiano's power rankings despite the loss. 3. Seattle Seahawks Defense still leads the way in Seattle, with the Seahawks holding teams to a league-best 246.8 yards a game. They also forced Justin Herbert to turn the ball over three times in their win over the Chargers on Sunday. 2. Kansas City Chiefs The Chiefs are already combing the waiver wire due to the annual rash of injuries at wide receiver. Will Tyreek Hill be back on the roster when they return from their Week 5 bye? 1. San Francisco 49ers The 49ers started 4-0 for the third time since 2019 and the seventh in team history, as quarterback Brock Purdy has emerged as an early MVP frontrunner. "Ribs are different. No matter how bad you want to go, it's usually too painful. The way he was Friday, just being able to go through the walk-through, and I know how much pain he was in, but he never grimaced, never changed his stride or anything, how he’s carrying himself. It was really, really impressive today what he did." – San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan on Mike Evans playing through injured ribs but leading the team with five receptions for 76 yards.