He’s the second talented playmaker San Francisco has lost to injury early this season. Running back Christian McCaffrey (calf strain/Achilles tendonitis) was placed on the short-term injured reserve list on Saturday.
Samuel leads the Niners in targets (19), receptions (13) and receiving yards (164) through two games. On Sunday, he had eight receptions for 110 yards.
As the 49ers showed in their 23-17 Week 2 loss at the Vikings, replacing one All-Pro talent is hard enough. Losing two could turn San Francisco’s season upside down.
The next few weeks will either change Purdy’s narrative or confirm suspicions that the talent around him is the main reason for his success.
He struggled in his first professional road start without McCaffrey, finishing Sunday’s game against Minnesota 28-of-36 for 319 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Per data from Pro Football Focus, he had three turnover-worthy plays and was sacked six times on 16 defensive pressures.
Minnesota provided a blueprint for other defenses to follow by incessantly blitzing Purdy. PFF data shows the Niners quarterback had a 64.3 passer rating when blitzed and averaged 6.7 yards per attempt — as opposed to a 129.2 passer rating and 10.8 yards per attempt when not blitzed.
San Francisco still has a pair of outstanding weapons, tight George Kittle and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but so much of what made the Niners hard to defend was their multitude of elite options.
Defenses can focus on Kittle and Aiyuk and force Purdy to beat them while targeting wideouts Jauan Jennings and Chris Conley.
Fortunately for the Niners, they play the only team with more injury misfortune to begin the season, the Rams, in Week 3.
Los Angeles’ offensive line is riddled with injuries, and the team is also without its top two wide receivers, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.
That’s about the only solace for San Francisco, which suddenly appears much more vulnerable that it did entering the season.