Jauan Jennings proved himself capable of being the San Francisco 49ers’ top wide receiver during stretches of last season. But he has a limited track record of production. With Deebo Samuel Sr. gone and Brandon Aiyuk’s health uncertain, should fantasy football managers be targeting Jennings in 2025 drafts?
Jauan Jennings Fantasy Outlook
It’s been quite the interesting career arc for the 2020 seventh-rounder. Jennings is already a massive success for where he was drafted by simply making an NFL roster and getting on the field every week. But for the first three years of his career, there was no reason for fantasy managers even to be aware he existed.
Before 2024, Jennings’ best season involved him catching 35 passes for 416 yards. With all of the talent on the 49ers’ roster, Jennings didn’t have a chance to break through. Plus, his draft capital suggested he didn’t have the talent to do so.
Then, last season, Samuel struggled with injuries, as he does. Christian McCaffrey missed all but four games. Aiyuk tore his ACL. Jennings was asked to do more, and he delivered.
In Week 3, Jennings got the start alongside Aiyuk with Samuel out. He posted one of the best fantasy performances from a wide receiver of all time with 11 catches for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 3.
Naturally, that put Jennings firmly on the fantasy radar. While Jennings wasn’t exactly a reliable weekly fantasy option, he did have six more useful performances, including three WR1-caliber games.
Jauan Jennings pic.twitter.com/LU129wb1qr
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) April 15, 2025
This year, the 49ers’ receiving corps is in a bit of flux. For the first time in the Kyle Shanahan era, it’s pretty wide open.
Aiyuk is set to miss the start of the season, and he’s unlikely to be his usual elite self until 2026. That leaves the 49ers with a starting receiver duo of potentially Jennings and sophomore Ricky Pearsall to open the season. George Kittle is about to get a lot of burn in the passing game.
Fantasy managers seem split on who the top 49er to target should be. Jennings has the highest ADP at WR4, but he’s only one spot ahead of Pearsall. That far down the rankings, it’s not a meaningful gap.
It makes sense, as Jennings is a fifth-year wide receiver who technically broke out in year four. Pearsall is coming off an unconventional rookie campaign that saw his start delayed due to getting shot. It’s easy to dismiss his lack of production while betting on the incredibly strong track record of sophomore wide receivers.
The data on Jennings looks pretty strong, though. He earned a 26.5% target share last season and was targeted on 28.4% of his routes run. Jennings’ 2.45 yards per route run was 11th. These are all WR1-level metrics.
There are some concerns with this offense, though. For starters, this offense runs through McCaffrey. Yet, even in a season where McCaffrey missed all but four games, the game plan didn’t change. The 49ers want to play slow as molasses, control the clock, and run the ball.
Over the past two seasons, no team has run plays at a slower pace than the 49ers’ 30.5 seconds per snap. The fact that the next slowest team, the Titans, are nearly a full second faster than the 49ers (29.6) is outrageous.
San Francisco also has a 46% neutral game script run rate over the past two seasons. That’s good for eighth in the league. As a result, Purdy averaged 27.75 pass attempts per game in 2023 and 30.3 per game in 2024.
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There is reason for optimism in 2025, though. The 49ers aren’t as good as they used to be. Therefore, they may not be able to dominate games, resulting in more passing. We saw a glimpse of that last year, as Purdy’s attempts per game ticked up by 2.5.
In fantasy, we want to embrace uncertainty. That’s how we gain an edge. The lack of clarity on who the top receiver will be depresses the ADP of both Jennings and Pearsall. I have Jennings ranked as my WR44, which is right in line with the consensus. While not necessarily someone I am going out of my way to draft, he’s definitely not a player to avoid, either.
Mason LeBeau‘s Jauan Jennings Fantasy Projection
To start the summer, the debate between Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall was nearly even. Now, after a contract demand and calf injury that’s held him out of camp, they’re still about the same value. Jennings at WR45 is pretty wild to me, so Pearsall would be the easy pick between the two — even if Jennings is a full go to start the season.Â
That said, a calf injury is tricky business. We saw Christian McCaffrey deal with a similar issue last preseason, only for it to cost him half the year. The 49ers are in a tough spot between making sure Jennings is at full health and needing extra firepower while they await Brandon Aiyuk’s return. Unless we hear differently by Week One, it feels like he’s in the worst of spots between recovery and a crowded receiver room.Â
That doesn’t mean Jennings won’t or can’t be a good option — we never know what the season has in store, and he could quickly become the WR1 at any point — but even at a reduced price, I’d prefer to take chances on Pearsall, Matthew Golden, or Emeka Egbuka in the same range.
