Why Jauan Jennings Will Find Himself a Role in 49ers Offense

The stock of Jauan Jennings is rising.

The stock of Jauan Jennings is rising.

After spending his rookie season as an afterthought for the 49ers, he now finds himself in an advantageous position.

Jennings is riding a wave of a momentum right now and it has been that way since training camp started. He enhanced that momentum with his impressive performance against the Chiefs in Week 1 of the preseason. It is something that Kyle Shanahan is taking serious notice of.

“Yeah, I mean, first of all, on Jauan. I was excited with how Jauan played. I mean, he's a physical guy who loves to play football and I wanted to see it transfer over to the game and make sure he could still stay under enough control and do his assignments also. And if you watched him in the running game, he really got after it trying to bring the maximum effort every play. How he dug out those safeties on blocks, how he's blocking on the backside, on the corners. And then when he got his opportunities when the ball was thrown to him, he came through. We hit him on that seam and on a couple of screens that he hit hard and got us, I think, two first downs on them. I was happy with Jauan."

Jennings will find himself a role in the 49ers offense this year.

He will go from practice squad player, to a contributor in the offense. What Shanahan said about him nearly confirms he will be that. Jennings has taken advantage of every opportunity given. Once Shanahan starts to rave about a player like he did in that quote, there is a strong chance that player will have a nice role.

Jennings checks all the boxes for a typical Shanahan-type wide receiver. He plays physical and isn't afraid to block a defender. You could argue that is a key trait a receiver needs to have to play in the offense because Shanahan needs those stretch runs to work with the receiver or even if they are cracking back towards a linebacker in the middle. Jennings also showed he is lethal with the ball in hands. These are all good enough to get Jennings a role in the offense.

As it stands, the way the rankings go for receivers with the 49ers looks like Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Mohamed Sanu, Trent Sherfield, and now Jennings. To be that fifth receiver is crucial. It means he will make the team this year after final roster cuts and can find himself integrated into the offense throughout the season. Jennings still has time to show his role can be expanded.

With the way he is maximizing his chances, I would not doubt he will be able to do so.