Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall set to reprise Tennessee-Florida rivalry at 49ers minicamp
Jauan Jennings did not participate in practices at San Francisco 49ers OTAs until last Wednesday as he negotiated over a new contract with the team. His return came after Jennings and the 49ers agreed to a two-year, $15.39 million contract with $10.54 million guaranteed and $8.435 million fully guaranteed at signing. It means Jennings, who […]
Jauan Jennings did not participate in practices at San Francisco 49ers OTAs until last Wednesday as he negotiated over a new contract with the team.
His return came after Jennings and the 49ers agreed to a two-year, $15.39 million contract with $10.54 million guaranteed and $8.435 million fully guaranteed at signing.
It means Jennings, who had previously refused to sign a second-round restricted free agent tender, will be under contract through the 2025 season. He will now report for mandatory minicamp, setting the stage for a battle for the third wide receiver position with a new teammate from one of his alma mater Tennessee's biggest rivals.
San Francisco drafted Ricky Pearsall with the 31st overall selection in the first round in April, with the selection of the Florida wideout furthering speculation about the futures of Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.
But, with Aiyuk and Samuel seemingly both set to remain with the team for 2024 at least, for now the focus with Pearsall surrounds whether he can snatch the WR3 spot from Jennings.
Pearsall impressing early
The signs, albeit very early ones, from OTAs have been good. Pearsall took advantage of the extra reps the absences of Aiyuk, who is still waiting to receive a long-term extension from the Niners, and Jennings gave him.
Indeed, NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco wrote last week: "Pearsall has looked to be a quick study with his extended practice reps after being the No. 31 overall pick in the draft.
"He has seen significant work with Purdy and the first-team offense while Aiyuk and Jennings have not been on the field."
It should not be a surprise that Pearsall is impressing early and is benefiting from extensive early work with Purdy. As a well-refined and creative route-runner who boasts excellent stop-start quickness and gets great burst out of his breaks, Pearsall is a separator who gets open quickly, making him an ideal fit for a quarterback who processes as quickly as Purdy.
But that does not mean he is a lock to leapfrog Jennings on the depth chart.
Don't count out Jennings
Purdy and Jennings have a well-established bond that proved critical to the 49ers in last year's Super Bowl season. Per Sports Info Solutions, Jennings averaged 0.66 Expected Points Added per target in the postseason, fourth among all pass-catchers with at least 10 targets. Had the 49ers prevailed in Super Bowl 58, he likely would have been named MVP of the game.
Jennings may not possess the same level of quickness as Pearsall, but he uses his 6ft 3in and 212-pound frame to his advantage consistently to defeat coverage and make highlight reel plays at catch point. On top of that, he has an outstanding track record of making huge plays in the clutch. Per nflindex.com, he is second in second success rate among receivers on third down since 2021.
With Jennings firmly established as one of the best blocking wideouts in the NFL, Pearsall will need to stack a lot more impressive practices together across minicamp and training camp to have a hope of taking the third wideout spot from him as a rookie.
The most likely outcome of this fascinating position battle is that the 49ers use the complementary skill sets of Jennings and Pearsall to present defenses with different looks from 11 personnel, increasing the menu for a team that already has arguably the most malleable offense in the NFL with their ability to get five dynamic pass catchers on the field from 21 personnel.
But how the 49ers divide the snaps between Jennings and Pearsall may well be decided by their respective performances in minicamp and training camp. With a Tennessee cult hero and a former Florida star going head to head for playing time, a major SEC rivalry will be reprised on the smaller stage of the 49ers' practice field as the reigning NFC champions prepare for 2024.
Jennings had some great moments in college against Florida, throwing a touchdown pass to Joshua Dobbs, now the 49ers' backup quarterback, in 2015 in a play eerily similar to the touchdown he threw to Christian McCaffrey in Super Bowl 58.
The 2016 season saw him rack up 111 yards and a touchdown in a 18-point comeback win over the Gators that ended Tennessee's 11-game losing streak against Florida.
Pearsall's best performance against the Vols in his two seasons with Florida saw him put up 103 yards and a touchdown in a 2022 loss. The outcome of this Tennessee-Florida battle won't be known for some time, but Jennings and Pearsall's competition will be an intriguing storyline to follow as the season draws ever closer.
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He didn’t like his comments.
