The emergence of Jauan Jennings is a good problem for the 49ers, Aiyuk

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the opening month of the season, the San Francisco 49ers saw nearly all of their biggest offensive opponents miss games due to injury.

At various times, the Niners were without running back Christian McCaffrey, receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and tight end George Kittle, so all eyes turned to a wide receiver who signed a lucrative contract extension in the offseason. It's just not what you would expect.

Unlike many of the 49ers' other top players, wideout Brandon Aiyuk was healthy and available in all four of San Francisco's games. But so far it's been Jauan Jennings, a 2020 seventh-round pick who signed a two-year extension worth up to $15.4 million in May to fill the playmaker void.

“I think Jauan was born with that confidence,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “He's always like that… and I think that's one of his best assets. He is a very talented player, but Jauan never feels like he can be denied. That’s why he’s been so important to us over the years.”

While the 49ers have always valued Jennings for his willingness to do the dirty work as a blocker and deliver key catches on third down, he has never been more important to them than in the opening month of this season.

After four weeks, Jennings ranks fourth in the NFL in receiving yards (364), 12th in receiving yards (21), third in touchdown catches (three), seventh in yards per catch (17.3) and second in yards per target (13.5) and first in yards per route run (4.0).

And all this for a player who never had more than 35 receptions, 416 yards or five touchdowns in a season. In a Week 3 loss (27-24) to the Los Angeles Rams, Jennings nearly led the Niners to victory with one of the best wideout performances in recent memory. Jennings finished the game with 11 catches, 175 yards and three touchdowns on 12 targets, becoming the fourth player in franchise history and the first since Terrell Owens in 2001 to have more than 175 receiving yards and three or more touchdowns in one game scored.

Even after that outburst, Jennings was so disappointed by the loss that he declined to speak to reporters. He later remarked that he was “not in the right mood” to talk about individual successes on a day when the team fell short of its goal.

In the days that followed, Jennings remained focused on keeping pushing.

“I’m always locked in,” Jennings said. “I go to sleep at night thinking about this game. I don't want to disappoint the next game. I’m not saying I have to hit 175 every week, just make the most of every opportunity.”

There is no doubt that Jennings has created more opportunities, although Kittle and Samuel have returned and Aiyuk continues to find form. In an offense where scoring can be difficult, Jennings has the highest target percentage on the team at 22.3%, slightly ahead of Aiyuk's 20.7%.

In a way, Jennings is not only taking advantage of his opportunities, but also excelling in many areas that have made Aiyuk one of the league's best receivers in 2023.

As opposing defenses have used their best cornerbacks to travel with Aiyuk, as the New England Patriots did with Christian Gonzalez for parts of last week's game, and others have frequently played wide zones and/or rolled safety to his direction Aiyuk and quarterback Brock Purdy will pick up where they left off in 2023.

“They just know what we want to do, what we like to do, especially me and Purdy,” Aiyuk said. “It’s definitely different, but anyone who’s watched 49ers football over the last four years, it might not be much different, other than last year.”

Aiyuk's results through the first four games – 13 receptions (69th in the NFL), 167 yards (tied for 51st) and zero touchdowns – are mostly consistent with the slow starts he's had in most of his other seasons, barring the 17 catches for 320 yards and two scores in the first four games of 2023.

At the end of last year, Aiyuk was one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL, ranking third in the league with 3.26 yards per route run and second in yards per reception (17.9). According to ESPN Analytics and NFL Next Gen Stats, Aiyuk did most of his damage on vertical routes (502 receiving yards) and on breaks like crossing routes (407 yards).

So far this season, Aiyuk hasn't had as many opportunities in these areas. He has yet to make a catch on a vertical route despite completing it 36.5% of the time, and he has just three catches for 57 yards on ins and crossers. Jennings has seven catches for 201 yards on verticals and five catches for 88 yards on ins and crossers.

When Aiyuk was targeted, he often had defenders close by, averaging 2.07 yards (according to NFL Next Gen Stats), which ranks 140th in the league. So far, his average target distance in a season has never been less than 2.84 yards. When targeted in tight windows this season, Aiyuk converted just one of seven goals into direct goals. Jennings has five such catches.

Some of those misses came behind Aiyuk, but he also missed others. In Week 1, he failed to save a difficult diving catch on a perfectly placed ball in the right corner of the end zone.

These kinds of misses have led to complaints that someone who just signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension should be making these plays, and that if he doesn't, it's because he and Purdy are in the game together missed valuable reps at camp.

Purdy rejects this idea.

“I’m not going to back down and think that BA wasn’t who he was,” Purdy said. “I don't believe that at all. … He's where he needs to be. There are probably a few routes, maybe in certain looks, where we both could have been better at some things, but that's like the beginning of the season, if you will.” Ask me. I know we will continue to get better in our relationship.

While it may not show in production, Shanahan says Aiyuk gets a lot open and just didn't have the numbers to match. After initially being reluctant to even watch the tape for fear of what it might look like, Aiyuk says he's feeling better and stronger each week.

And with Samuel and Kittle back in the game and Jennings continuing to produce, the defense will once again have to decide how to stop San Francisco's many threats. The emergence of Jennings should, in theory, make that even more difficult as Shanahan and the 49ers find ways to ensure he remains heavily involved.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Shanahan said. “I want to get Jauan out more often. He is that type of player. That doesn’t always mean going completely different with your plan, but it does mean you can use it more and more often.”