Who Should I Start? Deebo Samuel Sr. or Brian Thomas Jr.

Friday, October 16, 3:00 PM

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. (hamstring) missed a second straight practice on Friday, according to Harrison Rich of The San Francisco Chronicle. Although the 49ers do not plan to place Samuel on Injured Reserve at this time following his hamstring injury on Sunday in the Week 5 win over the division-rival Seattle Seahawks, the 30-year-old veteran is expected to miss several weeks, including Monday night's clash against the Washington Commanders in Week 6. Fantasy managers should not realistically expect him to make a return until their Week 9 game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 8 after their bye in Week 8. San Francisco is running out of healthy bodies at the receiver position, with veteran Mike Evans (ribs, Achilles) also hobbled and not practicing yet this week. It is possible that Christian Kirk (calf) makes his return from Injured Reserve this weekend to give the team some reinforcements. Samuel was seeing increased usage in 2026 in his return to the Niners given all their injuries and had 16 catches on 20 targets for 206 yards and three touchdowns before his hamstring injury on Sunday.