The San Francisco 49ers may be up against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 without one of their key weapons on offense, wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
The injury to Jennings may give second-year wideout Ronnie Bell a chance at redemption.
While most of the focus goes towards Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk on San Francisco's offense, Jennings is very underrated and is clearly a reliable target for quarterback Brock Purdy. Jennings has had a great season thus far, hauling in 25 catches for 404 yards and three receiving touchdowns.
Of course, much of that production came in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams when Jennings had a monster game, catching 11 passes for 175 yards and three touchdowns. A big reason why he had such a huge game is because Samuel and Kittle were both out due to injury, so Jennings became Purdy's primary target through the air.
Now, Purdy has Samuel and Kittle back. But if Jennings is not able to go against Kansas City, the quarterback will be missing one of his favorite targets, especially on third down.
There are several players who could step into the void left at the WR3 spot. Veteran Chris Conley is one option, although he has not done much this year. Rookie Jacob Cowing is another option, but it is clear head coach Kyle Shanahan does not think he is ready for a large role on offense yet.
Fellow rookie Ricky Pearsall has begun practicing after suffering a gunshot wound in late summer, which is a great sign, but it may be a bit too much to ask Pearsall to play a huge role against the Chiefs if he is even active.
That leaves the second-year wideout who played at the University of Michigan, Ronnie Bell.
Some fans may roll their eyes at the notion that Bell could replace Jennings, given the former's struggles thus far in his career. Most notably, he had a massive drop against the Rams in Week 3 that may have cost San Francisco the game.
However, Purdy had his teammate's back and said that they are going to need Bell down the road.
That time is now.
In what figures to be a close game against Kansas City, one play could make all the difference. With the Chiefs likely to place all their focus on Aiyuk, Samuel, and Kittle, Bell could find himself wide open and in position to make a big play.
We know things did not work out last time, but Bell has a chance to redeem himself in Week 7 against the Chiefs and help the Niners win a big game that has eluded them as of late.
