All 49ers

The 49ers Need to Start Jauan Jennings and Sit Kyle Juszczyk

These days, Juszczyk is nothing more than a decoy who goes in motion before the snap. He is utterly inessential to their passing game and their running game.

Grant Cohn

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) celebrates with fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) after making a catch for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) celebrates with fullback Kyle Juszczyk (44) after making a catch for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In this story:

The 49ers have a terrific problem on their hands.

Apparently, they have three starting wide receivers on their team, not just two. Jauan Jennings has been better than Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel since the Super Bowl and that trend has carried over to this season. Now Kyle Shanahan has to figure out which player to send to the bench.

Unless Shanahan starts all three.

Since Shanahan became the 49ers' head coach, their base offensive personnel package has been two wide receivers, one tight end and two running backs. That's the way Shanahan wants his offense to look like most of the time. Call it an aesthetic preference.

But a good coach plays his best 11 players. And right now, Jennings is better than Juszczyk. Jennings is a legit weapon considering he's the third-leading receiver in the league right now. Meanwhile, Juszczyk hardly ever gets the ball. Last week, he had 6 yards and a holding penalty which means he produced a net of negative 4 yards. Not great.

These days, Juszczyk is nothing more than a decoy who goes in motion before the snap. He is utterly inessential to their passing game and their running game.

As opposed to Jennings, who is an excellent receiver and an excellent blocker. And with Jennings on the field, defenses would have to match up with their nickel package, which means they'd be soft against the run.

The 49ers offense has an opportunity to evolve and become the best version of itself this season. Let's see if Shanahan wants to evolve.

Published
Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

Home/News