Drafting football players is an inexact science, but perhaps no team has benefitted more from other NFL teams' missteps than the 49ers.
Jauan Jennings is among the star players on San Francisco's roster that were selected after sliding into the middle or late rounds of the NFL draft.
During an interview with Greg Papa on NBC Sport's Bay Area's "49ers Game Plan," Kyle Shanahan offered a detailed look into the pre-draft process that enabled San Francisco to select Jennings in the seventh round.
"Jauan, luckily he fell, just like Brock [Purdy]. You go back and you watch their college tape and it's the most obvious thing in the world, you're like, 'how could this guy fall?' The NFL overthinks some things," Shanahan told Papa. "I remember the first time I saw Jauan, it wasn't the tape. They put all the combine numbers up, the measurables and stuff -- he didn't test well at the combine. Now that I know Jauan, because Jauan had a bad vertical at the combine, but go watch him on YouTube. He can do a 360 dunk. So that doesn't make much sense.
"He [Jennings] had a bad [40-yard dash], but he can run. Watch his post from last week. You see all his numbers up there, now that I know Jauan, I think Jauan is the most confident guy in the world. He probably didn't think he needed to do much at the combine, just didn't take it as seriously as he should've. But when you see those things, guys fall on that. Then he was at a school where a lot of stuff happened at that school at that time. Guys were transferring, I think the coaches were changing, guys were getting kicked out and stuff.
"So, I was like, 'Obviously this guy is at the back of the draft. And then we put on his tape, and his tape looked like a first-or-second rounder. I think he was the all-time leading receiver in Tennessee history. So it didn't totally match up. But when you see those numbers at the combine and stuff, and you hear some of the things that are question marks, then you get an idea of where he's going to go. So we put him as the fifth or sixth round."
Jennings continued to slide as the 2020 NFL Draft neared its conclusion, with San Francisco's brain trust anxiously awaiting their chance to take the wide receiver with their final pick at No. 217 overall.
"Now you compare those to other positions. And then you get to the seventh round and he's still there, and you're shocked," Shanahan explained. "But we're just praying that we can get him."And then he's there for our pick in the seventh round. We were so excited to get him and I remember meeting with him on Zoom all offseason because it was during Covid. I knew how excited I was because I knew how good of a playmaker he was."
Shanahan was confident in the 49ers' selection of Jennings, relaying his excitement to anyone who asked about his thoughts on San Francisco's 2020 draft class. The 49ers coach detailed that while Jennings faced plenty of adversity early in his NFL jersey, the wide receiver's relentless work ethic never wavered before ultimately seizing the opportunity to become a staple in San Francisco's offense.
"I remember telling people who always call me after the draft [and say], 'Who should we watch? Who do you like?' I'm like, 'Just watch Jauan Jennings' college highlight tape, and watch what type of player this guy is. He came to training camp, wasn't quite ready for camp coming out of Covid and stuff, and ended up going on the practice squad, then got hurt. About a week before he got hurt, we were going to move him up to help us play, as in being one of our top-three guys.
And then he just had some bad luck, but he stuck with it the whole time, he's been playing like this for us for a number of years, but now he's getting the attention he deserves because his numbers are so good. But he's always played at thid level."
Now in his fifth season, Jennings is among the NFL's most productive wide receivers through four games, currently ranking fifth in receiving yards (364) and tied for fourth with three touchdowns.
While his impact on the 49ers is no surprise to anyone who watches the team regularly, Jennings' breakout performance is making him a househould name to the rest of the football world discovering the greatness that Shanahan saw on his college tape.
