49ers OC Klay Kubiak Says Jauan Jennings Will be WR1 Again in 2025

Jauan Jennings caught just 19 passes during the 2023 regular season. Then, something clicked for him and he became the 49ers' best wide receiver for the entire calendar year of 2024.

He would have won the Super Bowl MVP Award had the 49ers held onto the lead in the overtime.

And when Brandon Aiyuk went down with a gruesome knee injury last season, the wide receiver who stepped up was Jennings, not Deebo Samuel. Samuel was a disappointment -- he had just 51 catches for 670 yards while Jennings had 77 catches for 975 yards. The player on the 49ers who had more catches and receiving yards than Jennings was tight end George Kittle.

This week at 49ers rookie minicamp, offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak was asked if Jennings will be the 49ers' No. 1 wide receiver again this year.

"Yeah," Kubiak said. "I think, if you ask Jauan, he says, ‘I'm number one.' And that's his mindset and that's why we love Jauan. That's how he sees himself. He sees himself as a dominant player. I think you guys all saw last year when he got more chances, he played really, really well. So really fired up about Jauan."

I also would expect Jennings to lead all 49ers wide receivers in catches, touchdown catches and receiving yards next season. He'll turn 28 in July, he's in his prime and he's entering a contract season so he needs to produce. The 49ers most likely won't re-sign him because he'll be quite expensive if he gains 1,000 yards as he probably will if he stays healthy and doesn't get ejected from games for blocking defensive backs too vigorously.