San Francisco 49ers' wide receiver Jauan Jennings looks on during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium
The San Francisco 49ers offense was forced to rely on a handful of new players last with significant injuries to Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk in 2024.
Yet, one NFL analyst has 49ers breakout player from last year entering the 2025 NFL season with a big opportunity to establish himself as a long-term go-to option for the Niners offense for 2025 — and potentially beyond.
Jauan Jennings Aims to Seize Big Opportunity Entering 2025 NFL Season
The door swung wide open last year for 49ers WR Jauan Jennings to see his role expand last season with injuries to Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey, and Ricky Pearsall combined with Deebo Samuel’s outlier per touch efficiency finally crashing back to reality in 2024. By all metrics, Jennings made the most of his opportunity.
This is why PFF NFL Analyst Nathan Jahnke believes Jennings enters the 2025 NFL season with a big opportunity to prove last year’s breakout year was no mistake.
Jahnke wrote, “Jennings was an afterthought leading into 2024 fantasy drafts. The 49ers drafted Ricky Pearsall with their first-round pick, leading many to assume Jennings would fall to fourth on the depth chart. However, Pearsall was shot while someone attempted a robbery, costing Pearsall the first six weeks of the season. This allowed Jennings to remain the third receiver in three receiver sets, and split time with Chris Conley as Samuel and Aiyuk’s backup. Samuel missed Week 3 due to an injury, so Jennings completely took over in two-receiver sets rather than continuing to split time with Conley. Jennings caught 11 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns.”
There is no question Jennings entered the 2024 campaign as nothing more than a depth piece in the eyes of many NFL fans, but once the injuries began to pile up in the 49ers WR room — Jennings quickly established himself as the next man up.
Jahnke continued, “Samuel was back in Week 4, returning Jennings to his old role, but he still managed three receptions for 88 yards in Week 4. He caught four passes for 40 yards in the following two weeks combined and then missed two weeks due to injury. When he returned, Jennings took Aiyuk’s spot in the lineup while Pearsall took the slot role. He played at least 90% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps in seven of the final nine games.”
What Will Jauan Jennings Role Look Like in 2025?
Many things that have taken place this offseason in San Francisco have only helped position Jennings for another chance to build off of his success from last year.
Deebo Samuel was traded to the Commanders and Brandon Aiyuk’s significant knee injury makes his status for Week 1 uncertain. This could lead to Jennings possibly being the WR1 on the roster to start the 2025 NFL season.
Jahnke touched on what he believes Jennings’ role in this 49ers passing game will look like by adding, “Jennings has notably played better against zone coverages than man, so the Z spot should be better than the X. Unfortunately, he’s played better in the slot compared to out wide. His yards per route run have been higher from the slot every season, including last season. When he lined up on the line of scrimmage and on the outside last season, he averaged 2.47 yards per route run, but when he was off the line, that dropped to 1.35. The 49ers’ X receiver typically lines up on the line significantly more than off, while their Z receiver is off the line a little more often than on when lined up out wide.”
Even if Jennings alignment isn’t easy to nail down at this moment, it certainly looks like he is going to be on the field often this year. If that is the case, then Jennings posting the first 1,000 yard season of his NFL career in 2025 certainly feels very much within the range of outcomes.
