Moving on from Pierre Garçon this offseason, the San Francisco 49ers took to the second round of the NFL Draft and found his replacement in South Carolina wide receiver Deebo Samuel, making Samuel the 36th pick in the draft.
“The last 24 hours have been pretty hectic to be honest with you,” Samuel said on a call with the Bay Area media. “It’s a lot of excitement and just to hear my name called today was kind of like a blessing.”
Samuel had 148 receptions for 2,076 yards and 16 touchdowns while at South Carolina, while he also had 25 rushing attempts for 154 yards and seven rushing TDs. 1,244 of the those yards came after the catch. That’s good.
“I just feel like you’ve got to have that dog in you,” Samuel said. “Having that mindset, not one person is going to bring you down, and you’re going to make every catch that’s thrown your way.”
Samuel confirmed that was one of the main things the 49ers focused on in their conversations with the wide receiver.
In his senior season in 2018, Samuel was named First-Team All-SEC, with 62 receptions for 882 yards and 11 touchdowns.