49ers position grades, analysis from sloppy Week 7 loss vs. Colts

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Xavier Rhodes, Deebo Samuel, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes (27) tackles San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel (19) Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /

49ers Wide Receivers: D

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel is still awesome, yes, and he managed to have himself a seven-catch, 100-yard game with a touchdown, keeping himself well within the NFL leaderboard for receiving yards so far this season.

But Samuel also had a costly fumble, too, where he should have gone down after realizing the first-down marker wasn’t going to be in play. While it’s admirable to appreciate his toughness, fumbling in that situation was awfully costly, especially considering the Colts responded with points after the defensive takeaway.

Brandon Aiyuk was absent again, hauling in just one catch for 6 yards. And even though Kyle Shanahan managed to get No. 3 wide receiver Trent Sherfield involved in the game plan a bit more, it was clear Samuel was going to be the only X-factor.

This should have been the right approach, considering the Colts were down their starting safety, Julian Blackmon, who tore his Achilles this week, and a starting cornerback, Rock Ya-Sin. Fellow corner Xavier Rhodes was also banged up, too, even though he recorded a back-breaking interception late in the game.

So far for the Niners this season, it’s been Samuel and nobody else from this group. Bad.