Though Kyle Shanahan has yet to say anything definitively on how many San Francisco 49ers starters will play in their meaningless regular-season finale with the Los Angeles Rams, Deebo Samuel made it clear he expects to play in Week 18. 

Samuel told 'Up and Adams' on Tuesday he will "for sure" be playing and that the expects the Niners to play the game "a good bit" despite San Francisco already being sure of the one seed in the NFC and the first-round bye and homefield advantage that comes with it.

While playing in a game with nothing riding on it for the 49ers is a clear risk for a player who missed the best part of three games with a shoulder injury earlier in the campaign, Samuel has obvious incentive from an individual standpoint to want to do so.

The 49ers wide receiver is 129 receiving yards away from recording 1,000 for the second time in his career. Samuel also racked up 1,000 yards receiving during his remarkable 2021 campaign.

Him achieving that feat would see the 49ers make history as only the sixth team to have three 1,000-yard receivers in the same season. George Kittle joined Brandon Aiyuk in surpassing 1,000 yards in the Week 17 win over the Washington Commanders.

The 1980 San Diego Chargers were the first team to produce three 1,000-yard receivers, with Washington joining them on the list in 1989.

The Atlanta Falcons became the third team in the select club in 1995, followed by the 2004 Indianapolis Colts.

If Samuel gets 129 yards against the Rams, the 49ers would become the first team since the 2008 Arizona Cardinals to produce three 1k receivers in the same campaign.

It's perhaps unlikely that Samuel will get the amount of time on the field or the target share to help the 49ers to another piece of history, but the prospect of him getting to 1,000 might be a small factor in the league's most versatile wideout being so forthright in his desire to play.

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