Stats show why 49ers offense is struggling under Kyle Shanahan

49ers statistic No. 2: Deebo Samuel rushing isn’t fooling anyone

One of the reasons why the Niners’ ground game was so potent a year ago despite other injuries to running backs like Elijah Mitchell was due to Deebo Samuel’s breakout efforts as a multifaceted weapon.

Samuel’s 1,770 all-purpose yards took the league by storm, and his 6.2 yards-per-carry average spoke to just how much he could provide a spark for an offense that was otherwise struggling throughout most of the playoffs last season.

On the surface, as Niners Nation’s Rob Guerrera pointed out, Samuel’s rushing efforts in 2022 actually look better than what he posted last year, but they’re actually quite misleading:

"On the surface, things don’t look that bad. Deebo has 111 yards on 17 carries, which works out to 6.5 yards per attempt. A deeper look at the stat sheet shows that 51 of those yards came on a single carry against the Seahawks. Take that away, and Samuel has 16 rushes for just 60 yards, which is a paltry 3.75 yards per attempt."

Samuel also has two fumbles on the year in comparison to only one touchdown.

Overall, the All-Pro’s lack of a massive impact over three weeks forced Kyle Shanahan to admit, “we’re not surprising anybody” with regards to Samuel’s usage.

And while that potency will remain in place, signs are pointing towards Shanahan needing to get creative elsewhere on offense.