Commanders' Quinn: Samuel 'one of the fastest players on the team'

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn has been impressed with the speed of newly acquired wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

"Somewhere along the way, I'd forgotten until (he was) out here how fast he is," Quinn said, according to team writer Zach Selby.

"I can remember one time he just ran by somebody down the field on a deep ball, and I was like, 'Yeah, I forgot about that. So...it didn't surprise me, but it was maybe (that) I missed talking about it to that space because I was easily reminded, he's one of the fastest players on the team."

Washington sent a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Samuel in March. He spent the first six years of his career in the Bay Area after being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft.

The 29-year-old is coming off arguably the worst year of his NFL tenure, totaling just 51 receptions for 670 yards and three touchdowns. He set career lows in catch percentage (63%), success rate (40.7%), and receiving yards per game (44.7).

Samuel is projected to be the No. 2 wideout on the Commanders in 2025. The South Carolina product ran a 4.48 40-yard dash at the combine and can lineup all across the field on offense. He's racked up 202 rushing attempts during his six-year career.

"He was such a difficult person to tackle that you spent so much time, 'How are you going to tackle this person?'" Quinn said.

"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?"

Samuel's best season came in 2021 when he posted 1,405 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns.