49ers' emerging stars: Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall poised to explode in 2025

The San Francisco 49ers may be coming off a disappointing 2024 campaign, but their roster remains stacked with elite talent—names like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa, and Fred Warner still anchor the team. Yet, as the 2025 season approaches, two wideouts are still looking to make names for themselves. With Deebo Samuel now in Washington and Brandon Aiyuk recovering from a torn ACL and MCL, the opportunity is wide open for Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall to become key contributors in head coach Kyle Shanahan's high-powered offense.

Bleacher Report's Alex Kay recently ranked the most underrated wide receivers in the NFL, and Jennings earned the top spot.

"Initially buried on the depth chart behind stars such as Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and George Kittle, the little-utilized fourth-year wideout was not expected to become the reigning NFC champions' most important receiver," Kay wrote.

"That is exactly what happened, however, as Jennings stayed relatively healthy and vastly outperformed expectations during a down Super Bowl hangover season in the Bay Area."

Jennings finished the 2024 season with 77 receptions for 975 yards and six touchdowns—all career highs. His yardage total ranked second on the team only to All-Pro tight end George Kittle. Now firmly entrenched as a starting wideout, Jennings is in a prime position not only to replicate his success but potentially surpass it.

He enters 2025 in the final year of the two-year, $15.4 million contract he signed in 2024, giving him added motivation to prove his value long-term.

"While health was kind to Jennings during a campaign in which Aiyuk tore his ACL and MCL and first-round rookie Ricky Pearsall got off to a slow start due to an offseason gunshot wound, he deserves merit for seizing his opportunity and proving to be more than capable of serving as a No. 1 receiver despite his seventh-round draft status," Kay added.

Meanwhile, Pearsall finished 2024 with 31 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns in 11 appearances after missing the start of the season. Interestingly, 210 of those yards came in the final two games of the season, a surge that provided momentum heading into the offseason.

CBS Sports' Jared Dubin named Pearsall the NFC West's top young player to watch in 2025.

"With Deebo Samuel in Washington and Brandon Aiyuk still working his way back from injury, Pearsall should be counted on as one of Brock Purdy's top targets from the jump in 2025," Dubin wrote.

Pearsall appears more than ready for the increased responsibility and says his unwavering mindset has prepared him for the opportunity.

"I feel like my mindset-wise is not changing at all," Pearsall recently told NBC Sports Bay Area. "I'm gonna attack it the exact same way. No matter what place I'm at, whatever the coach tells me, I still have that wide receiver one mindset, and that's just how I was raised. I've always been a hard worker. My parents raised me that way, and I've always had that same mindset. No matter what position you're in, whether you're in the depth chart or whatever it is, that's how I just attack my life in general."

With Jennings and Pearsall ready to rise, the 49ers are counting on their young wideouts to help power the team's passing attack, providing reliable targets for quarterback Brock Purdy. If the team has better injury luck, this duo could be critical in proving that 2024 was an outlier and not the end of San Francisco's championship window.