A viral clip at mandatory minicamp didn't do Deebo Samuel any favors last week.
As Samuel went through a route in practice, a single video clip of the scene surfaced online and led fans to believe that he was out of shape and missed a step. It didn't sit right with Samuel's former teammate, George Kittle, who stars for the San Francisco 49ers.
The Washington Commanders dusted it off. Dan Quinn praised his wide receiver, indirectly responding to the narrative that has been built over the past few days.
"Somewhere along the way, I'd forgotten until [he was] out here how fast he is," Quinn told reporters last week. "He was such a difficult person to tackle that you spent so much time, 'How are you going to tackle this person?' And so, sometimes when you're playing against the receiver, you say, 'Man, you better either get him at the line or you better be on top of him.' With him, so many times there were so many runs after catch plays that we had a tackling plan, and how would you go about it?"
Despite the looks of everything on a single piece of evidence from a spring practice, there hasn't been much real smoke surrounding a narrative that would suggest Samuel's decline is going to reach new lows when he debuts in Washington for the first time this year.
In fact, one NFL analyst believes that the veteran wide receiver will improve, listing Samuel among a handful of "guaranteed risers."
"Despite his declining production over the last couple seasons in San Francisco, Samuel has been one of the most productive wide receivers since 2021," NFL.com analyst Marc Ross writes.
"Yet, for as good as he was with the 49ers, an argument could be made that the seventh-year veteran is entering the best situation of his career after being traded to Washington this offseason. The change of scenery puts Samuel in an offense that is led by an MVP-caliber quarterback in Jayden Daniels. Also, he'll pair with a true No. 1 receiver in Terry McLaurin to form a dangerous tandem in Kliff Kingsbury's passing attack."
The Commanders are on the rise in the NFC. Just last season, they witnessed their rookie quarterback put up elite numbers while becoming one of two NFC East teams to make a playoff bid.
Washington upset the third-seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers before waltzing into Detroit and taking down the top-seeded Lions. The playoff run was stopped short in Philadelphia against the Eagles in the NFC Championship round.
Adding Samuel was a priority move for the Commanders, who wanted to stack proven weapons for the young Daniels to keep him sharp. Last season, the young quarterback completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards. He tossed 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions.
As for Samuel, he's struggled to live up to his third season in the NFL, when he led the league in average yards per catch with 18.2. That year, he caught 77 passes for 1,405 yards. Since then, Samuel has averaged a little over 700 yards per season.
The Commanders acquired the veteran after he produced 4,792 yards and 22 receiving touchdowns in San Francisco. He was also a threat on the ground, rushing for over 1,100 yards and scoring 20 touchdowns.
