Emergence of Jauan Jennings a good problem for 49ers, Aiyuk

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Through the season's opening month, the San Francisco 49ers have watched as almost all of their top offensive threats have missed games because of injury.

At various times, the Niners have been without running back Christian McCaffrey, receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. and tight end George Kittle, leaving all eyes to turn to a wide receiver who signed a lucrative contract extension in the offseason. It's just not the one you might expect.

Unlike many of the other 49ers' top skill position players, wideout Brandon Aiyuk has been healthy and available in all four of San Francisco's games. But to this point, it's been Jauan Jennings, the 2020 seventh-round pick who signed a two-year extension worth up to $15.4 million in May, to pick up the playmaking slack.

"I think Jauan was born this confident," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "He's always like that... and I think that's one of his best assets. He's a very talented player, but Jauan never feels 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 important catches on third down, he's never been more important to them than in this season's opening month.

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

All of that 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 carried the Niners to a victory with one of the best performances by a wideout in recent memory. Jennings finished with 11 catches, 175 yards and three touchdowns on 12 targets, becoming the fourth player in franchise history and first since Terrell Owens in 2001 to have 175-plus receiving yards and three or more touchdowns in a game.

Even after that outburst, Jennings was so disappointed in the loss that he declined to talk to reporters, noting later that he "wasn't in the right headspace" to discuss individual achievements on a day when the team fell short of its objective.

In the days that have followed, Jennings remains focused on keeping his foot on the gas.

"I'm always locked in," Jennings said. "I go to sleep at night thinking about (that) game. I don't want to disappoint the next one. I'm not saying I got to go for 175 every week, but just making the best out of every opportunity."

Undoubtedly, Jennings has earned more chances even as Kittle and Samuel have returned and Aiyuk continues rounding into form. In an offense where it can be difficult to earn targets, Jennings' 22.3% target share is the highest on the team, slightly above Aiyuk's 20.7%.

In some ways, Jennings is not only taking advantage of his chances but excelling in many of the areas that made Aiyuk one of the league's best receivers in 2023.

As opposing defenses have assigned their best cornerbacks to travel with Aiyuk as the New England Patriots did with Christian Gonzalez for chunks of last week's game and others have played large amounts of zone and/or rolled safety help his direction frequently, it's been more difficult for Aiyuk and quarterback Brock Purdy to pick up where they left off in 2023.

"They just know what we want to do, what we like to do, me and Purdy especially," Aiyuk said. "It's for sure different but anyone who has watched 49ers football for the last four years probably maybe besides last year, it's not much different."

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

By the end of last year, Aiyuk was one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL, finishing 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 in breakers like crossing routes (407 yards).

So far this season, there haven't been as many opportunities for Aiyuk in those areas. He has yet to make a catch on a vertical route despite running them 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 has been targeted, he's often had defenders nearby with an average separation of 2.07 yards (according to NFL Next Gen Stats), which ranks 140th in the league. Previously his average target separation for a season has never been lower than 2.84 yards. When Aiyuk has been targeted in tight windows this season, he's converted just one of seven into a completion. Jennings has five such catches.

Some of those misfires have been behind Aiyuk but he's also missed on others. In Week 1, he couldn't hang on to a tough diving catch on a perfectly placed ball in the right corner of the end zone.

Those types of misses have raised complaints that someone who just signed a four-year, $120 million contract extensionshould make those plays and that when he doesn't, it's because he and Purdy missed valuable reps together in camp.

It's a notion that Purdy rejects.

"I'm not dropping back thinking B.A.'s not been like what he was like," Purdy said. "I don't think that at all. ... He's been where he needs to be. There's probably a couple routes maybe in certain looks where we both could have been better on some stuff but that's like early in the season stuff if you ask me. I know we'll continue to get better together in our connection."

While the production might not show it, Shanahan says Aiyuk is getting plenty open and just hasn't had the numbers to match. After initial reticence to even watch tape for fear of how it might look, Aiyuk says he's feeling better and stronger each week.

And with Samuel and Kittle back in the mix and Jennings continuing to produce, defenses will again have to decide how to defend San Francisco's many threats. Jennings' emergence should, in theory, make that even more difficult as Shanahan and the 49ers figure out ways to ensure he's still heavily involved.

"It's a good problem to have," Shanahan said. "I want to get Jauan out there more. He's that type of player. It doesn't always mean that you go totally different with your scheme but you can always rotate him in more too."