Former Vols and current 49ers WR Jauan Jennings had a humble take on a quirky fact from his recruiting days
San Francisco WR Jauan Jennings is a combination of intensity and toughness. That earned him the nickname "dog" or "dawg" (spelled both ways on social media) during his time with the Tennessee Volunteers. That personality and style has stuck in the NFL, as Jennings has become a symbol of toughness as well as clutch. However, […]
San Francisco WR Jauan Jennings is a combination of intensity and toughness. That earned him the nickname "dog" or "dawg" (spelled both ways on social media) during his time with the Tennessee Volunteers.
That personality and style has stuck in the NFL, as Jennings has become a symbol of toughness as well as clutch.
However, being a hardnosed NFL wide receiver wasn't exactly something that was expected when Jennings was a recruit out of high school. The former Vol was a highly rated quarterback recruit. In fact, he was more highly rated (#165 overall/#6 dual-threat QB in 247 Sports' 2015 composite rankings) than both Patrick Mahomes (#389 overall/#22 Pro-style QB in 2014) and Brock Purdy (#839 overall/#36 Pro-style QB in 2018).
AtoZ Sports' 49ers beat writer Nicholas McGee spoke with Jennings in Las Vegas on Thursday and asked the former Vol his thoughts on being the highest rated QB of the three.
"I don't bring that up a lot actually," Jennings said. "A lot of people find out by doing a little bit of research. It comes up here and there, but I'm not focused on that. Hats off to the guys that are quarterbacks in the NFL now. They're doing something that I always wanted to do. You can tell why they're there. They're just great players. [I] had to play receiver to make it to where I'm at. Where I'm at now is such a blessing. I wouldn't trade it for the world."
It's interesting to hear that Jennings explain that he wanted to end up as a quarterback in the NFL but that he had to end up as a receiver in order to get where he wanted to be: the Super Bowl. But it was clear in Knoxville that Jennings' talents of going up and getting the ball were too good to not utilize, and he started off his career as a wide receiver. He ended up becoming one of the best wideouts in Tennessee history, currently sitting in the top five in program history in catches and receiving yards.
Now, he will look to hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. And you can best believe he's perfectly happy with how he ended up getting there.
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