The San Francisco 49ers selected Jauan Jennings, Wide Receiver, out of the University of Tennessee. He was the third pick in the seventh round and was the 34th wide receiver drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Biography
Jauan Jennings is 6’3” and 215 pounds. He played five years at Tennessee after medically redshirting in 2017 after dislocating his wrist. The converted high school quarterback will be 23 years old at the beginning of the 2020 NFL season. Jennings was kicked off the Tennessee football team for publicly criticizing the former coaching staff in 2017. He was able to repair his standing with the program and became one of the more popular players on the team after his return. He withstood poor quarterback play at times and competed for targets with Marquez Callaway and Josh Malone in college.
College Production
Jauan Jennings broke out at the age of 19 (age during their first season with a 20% receiving dominator rating) in his second season for the Volunteers. Jennings’s best season was his redshirt-senior season at 22 years old. Jennings had 72 receptions, for 1,020 receiving yards, and nine scrimmage touchdowns for a receiving dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) of 37.9% (70th percentile). When adjusting for his injury-shortened season in 2017, Jennings had respectable age-adjusted production considering his injury back in 2017. He averaged 557.3 scrimmage yards (40th percentile) and 4.8 scrimmage touchdowns (47th percentile) per season for an average scrimmage dominator rating (average percentage of their team’s scrimmage yards and scrimmage touchdowns) per season of 12.0% (53rd percentile). Jennings was average from an efficiency perspective as well averaging 0.68 scrimmage yards per team play (47th percentile).
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Athleticism
[profiler]JauanJennings[/profiler]
Jauan Jennings has a below-average height-adjusted speed score of 89.0 (33rd percentile) after running a 4.72-second 40-yard time at the NFL Combine. He has an impressive burst score of 108.8 (3rd percentile). Jennings is a big and physical possession receiver that will use his size and strength to win in the NFL.
NFL Landing Spot
San Francisco 49ers: 2019’s Cinderella team, went from a four win season in 2018 to a Super Bowl contender, who did the public health world a favor by losing. Kyle Shanahan’s second ranked offense ran the second lowest percentage of pass plays of any team in 2019, and ran fewer plays than two thirds of the rest of the NFL. The tenacious running game took a lot of the pressure off of GQ model turned QB, Jimmy Garoppolo. Despite his flop on the biggest stage, Garoppolo finished 2019 as the eighth highest rated passer, and was above average targeting most of the field. Any conversation about receivers needs a TE George Kittle disclaimer. He was the TE2 in 2019 and soaked up 22% of the team’s targets. For all intents and purposes, he is the team’s top receiver. Rookie Deebo Samuel was incredibly efficient as the second option and accounted for 17% of the targets. But the team’s WR2, Emmanuel Sanders, is gone. The rest of their depth chart is rounded out by Jalen Hurd, Kendrick Bourne, Trent Taylor, Marquise Goodwin, and 2019 uber-flop Dante Pettis. Hurd was a third round pick who profiles well and could be a great red zone player, but he missed all of 2019 and is an unknown. Any receiver that comes in has a clear opportunity to play, but they will always be behind Kittle and will have to compete with Samuel for fantasy-relevant targets in an offense that clearly relies on the run.
***Editor’s Note*** The San Francisco 49ers selected Brandon Aiyuk in the second round of the draft.
Rivals’ Rapid Analysis
Jauan Jennings had average age-adjusted production in college and doesn’t offer much in terms of speed or burst. However, he is a big, physical wide receiver that will use his strength and size to win contested catches in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers invested early-seventh round draft capital into Jennings. He has a modest opportunity with the 49ers and will compete with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and Kendrick Bourne for targets from Jimmy Garoppolo.
Jauan Jennings is one of the lower ranked rookies for Shawn. If you’ve reached the point in your rookie draft where you are thinking of Jauan Jennings you’ve undoubtedly reached dart throw territory. Jennings in a vacuum doesn’t do anything to impress but landing on a team with little reliable pass catchers could make him worth a throw.
Jauan Jennings is outside of Dave’s top 25 rookie wide receivers and isn’t a target in dynasty rookie drafts. Jennings does have a chance to earn a spot on the end of the 49ers wide receiver depth chart. However, this lack of age-adjusted production, athleticism, draft capital, and initial opportunity make him an uninteresting option in rookie drafts.
This article was written in collaboration with Dave Wright. For more analysis check out Dave and Shawn’s previous articles at Dynasty Football Factory. Additionally, you can also find Dave’s dynasty superflex rankings at Dynasty Football Factory. Stay tuned for more rookie wide receiver rapid reaction articles from us throughout the entire NFL Draft. We will also give you instant reactions for priority UDFA wide receivers to help you try and find the next Adam Thielen. Interact with Dave and Shawn on Twitter @ff_spaceman and @ff_walrus. You can listen to our rivalry on our podcast @ATaleofTwoRivals with @ff_banterman.
Information found in this article was gathered from @ff_spaceman’s College Prospect Database, PlayerProfiler.com, Sports-Reference.com, AirYards.com, and a prospect’s college team website.
