- Mike Evans looked as good as usual in his team debut: Evans hauled in all three of his contested targets to produce a 76.8 PFF receiving grade.
- Deebo Samuel was Kyle Shanahan's short-passing vehicle: Six of Samuel's seven targets were within nine yards, helping disrupt the Rams' pass rush.
- Introducing the NEW PFF Pro subscription: PFF Pro includes everything in PFF+, plus an upgraded Premium Stats Pro experience, higher base access to Guru AI, revamped player and team pages, enhanced data and visualizations, an improved interface and programmatic data access for modeling. Click here to subscribe.
Entering Thursday night’s showdown between the Rams and 49ers, most focus naturally fixated around the seemingly iron-clad Rams, not to mention a distinct travel plan arriving in Melbourne. But after four quarters of game action, the conversation quickly pivoted to San Francisco after a 27-7 throttling of Los Angeles.
A number of factors played a role in the 49ers’ surprisingly large victory, from a revitalized defense to a slew of miscues from the Rams. However, what was very much apparent was the instant impact of new receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel.
After playing all 12 seasons of his illustrious career in Tampa Bay, Evans headed west to join the 49ers on a three-year, $60.4 million contract in March. The move wasn’t without doubt after Evans produced a career-worst 2025 season, earning a 69.8 overall PFF grade while playing only 357 snaps due to injury.
The efficacy, let alone health, of the 33-year-old Evans have been in the crosshairs all offseason — particularly as he’s been sidelined throughout much of training camp. However, Evans helped silence critics in a big way in Melbourne. He produced a strong 76.8 PFF receiving grade, grabbing six of seven targets for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Watching Evans in vintage form was impressive on the surface, but the underlying metrics point to extra reasons to be excited. A highlight was Evans’ work in the contested catch game. A season ago, Evans hauled in just 48% of his 50-50 targets, his worst mark in a year since 2017. However, against the Rams’ talented secondary, he secured all three such tries — including a score on a goal-line fade against the decorated Jaylen Watson.
Further, each of Evans’ six receptions moved the chains. In only his first game with Brock Purdy, the tandem showed off real chemistry with Purdy routinely trusting Evans to make a play when a drive counted on it. The receiver’s acumen to extend possessions helped the 49ers average 6.4 plays and 1.8 points per drive — far more than the Rams’ 3.8 and 0.4, respectively — and control 33:50 of game action.
Pressure has been on Evans to serve as the 49ers’ No. 1 receiver in light of injury, and he established himself as exactly that in Week 1. However, secondary targets were up for grabs after standout rookie De’Zhaun Stribling left the game in the second quarter due to an ankle injury. That’s where Samuel came into the fold.
The longtime 49er great returned to the team on a one-year deal late this offseason, but how well he would fare in his age-30 campaign was tenuous at best. So far, head coach Kyle Shanahan has to be very pleased.
Against the Rams, Samuel also snared six of his seven targets for 48 yards and a score. While his 66.4 PFF receiving grade is more pedestrian than Evans’, Samuel’s excellent 2.53 yards per route run led the team. On top of that, Samuel was responsible for a 134.8 passer rating when targeted by Purdy.
Where Samuel particularly helped is with Shanahan’s deliberate game plan of executing quicker, shorter passes to mitigate the Rams’ dynamic pass rush. Purdy’s average depth of target sat at just 4.9 yards, and 55.8% of his pass attempts were short of the sticks. Likewise, the 49ers ran screens on 30.6% of attempts, and 82.4% of their passes were either behind the line of scrimmage or within nine yards.
As if the clock turned back to 2021 — when Samuel was at his best with the team — he fit right into that equation. Six of Samuel’s targets were within nine yards of the line of scrimmage, and none exceeded the intermediate range. The former All-Pro caught all three of his short-to-intermediate tries, netting first downs on each while finishing with at least a 75.3 PFF receiving grade in each category. Further, 28 of his 33 receiving yards on passes behind the line of scrimmage or within nine yards came after the catch, although he finished with a more mediocre 4.7 extra yards per reception.
Samuel's Week 1 receiving chart by depth
The 49ers would be the first to recognize that the 2026 season spans infinitely longer than one game, especially a standalone one with unique conditions at that. Even getting Evans and Samuel to stay on the field will be paramount as San Francisco looks to maintain its robust offensive foundation.
However, if Week 1 is any indication, Shanahan has two pieces with adequate juice left in Evans and Samuel. The two veterans complement each other with their skillsets while working next to the talented Stribling, helping form an exciting pass-catching corps with Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle. Paired with a run game that averaged 5.8 yards per attempt and an offensive line that surrendered only six pressures on Thursday, Shanahan’s group may be as dangerous as ever.
© 2026 PFF - all rights reserved.