Jauan Jennings

A 2020 seventh-round pick, Jennings didn't play until 2021 and then spent three seasons as a lightly targeted No. 3/4 receiver, before making a name for himself with two TDs in a Super Bowl loss at the end of the 2023 campaign. He opened 2024 in his familiar, complementary role, but then exploded for 11-175-3 in Week 3 when Deebo Samuel was out. Brandon Aiyuk tore an ACL a few weeks later, opening the door for Jennings to average 5.8 catches for 63.4 yards and 0.33 TDs on 8.6 targets over his final nine games. He never reached 100 yards after Week 3, but he had seven instances of 64-plus receiving yards -- a number he'd hit just once in 54 games (including playoffs) before 2024. Jennings drew targets on 28.8 percent of his routes, ranking seventh among WRs with 300-plus routes and nearly doubling his rate from 2023 (15.1 percent TPRR). He also had career highs for catch rate (68.1 percent) and yards per target (8.6), although those numbers still don't match the best work from Aiyuk, Samuel and TE George Kittle under coach Kyle Shanahan. Samuel is now in Washington, Kittle is another year older, and Aiyuk is uncertain for Week 1, but the 49ers also have 2024 first-round pick Ricky Pearsall, who had 210 yards and two TDs over the final two games of last season. We now know Jennings can put up good numbers if forced into a high-volume role, but it's not clear he'll have that role in the first place unless the injury bug takes a bite out of some combination of Aiyuk, Pearsall and Kittle. Read Past Outlooks