What It Means:

Barrows says typical recovery is 10-12 weeks if Samuel avoids any complications, but that the 49ers may take a little longer in an effort to avoid re-injury. The team may be more inclined to err on the side of caution after Trent Taylor missed the entire 2019 season with the same injury. Samuel suffered the injury on June 16. First-rounder Brandon Aiyuk likely stands to gain the most if Samuel isn't available at the start of the season. Kendrick Bourne should also benefit and local beat writers have been high on Taylor this offseason. The run-first 49ers also figure to rely more on their ground game and increase George Kittle's workload if Samuel misses time. Samuel saw an 18.1 percent target share as a rookie. He added the fifth-most yards after catch (473) among all wideouts last year and ranked 10th in yards per target (9.9) out of 79 receivers with at least 50 targets.

numberFire's models currently expect him to average 6.9 targets, 4.5 catches, and 59.1 yards with 3.6 touchdowns this season after missing the first six games.