San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel emerged as a bonafide option down the stretch in the 2019 campaign. It seems he was able to make quite an impression on former tackle Joe Staley during that time.

According to the Sacramento Bee’s Chris Biderman, Staley offered up some high praise for Samuel heading into the 2020 NFL season:

“Basically, he’s one of the most talented rookies I’ve ever seen,” Staley said. “I was just telling him how important this offseason is and he can be the greatest receiver in the NFL. Just to work really hard this offseason and use this as motivation.”

It is safe to say that Staley has rather high expectations for his former teammate. He certainly witnessed his fair share of elite wideouts throughout his illustrious 13-year career. The fact that he feels Samuel can become the best player at his position is indicative of the potential he showed as a rookie.

The 49ers had high hopes after taking Samuel in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He struggled to find his footing as a go-to option in the passing game for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo early on. Fortunately, he was eventually able to get comfortable and wound up finishing the year with 57 receptions for 802 an three touchdowns during the team's Super Bowl run.

It appears Staley was quite impressed with Samuel's performance in the second half of the season with the 49ers when he hauled in 575 of his 802 receiving yards (77%). He also set a franchise rookie record with three 100-yard receiving games while leading all led wideouts in rushing yards (159) and rushing touchdowns (three).

Staley is expecting Samuel's versatile skill set to be on full display in the coming years for the 49ers.

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San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk next to 49ers general manager John Lynch and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Aiyuk has a speech bubble that says “Fire pick, can’t lie.”

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