"3rd and Jauan" Jennings l WR Tennessee, signs with Vikings

Guy is like Kittle, refuses to be tackled, can't wait to see what he can do.

I think this guy is for real. I also think he's faster than his 40 yd. You have to be fast to do those sweeps and win those races against the DB's. But what really stands out is his emotion when he's playing. You can tell from his game, from his actions, from his face. If they say Kwon's energy is contagious, they better watch this guy, I mean this "dog". When everyone in the team, player's and coaches alike are saying he's one of the best players in training camp, as a receiver taken in the seventh round, that tells something. Size, skills- he has skills based on the film, and attitude. I don't want to get too excited but I really think we got lucky on this one; 7th round, SMH for the rest of NFL teams.

49ers fans, Vols fan here with a looooooooong post on Jennings. I've been meaning to post on here all summer, but...life. You guys definitely got some Vol fans that are now Niners fans because of how popular Jauan Jennings was in college. He wasn't quite Peyton Manning level, ha. But I'm not sure a player has been more beloved by our fanbase since maybe Eric Berry. And for a 7th rounder that's saying something. I'm sure you've had some Vol fans post on here before, but here's my admittedly biased breakdown of who your 7th round pick is.

Post above mine sums it up nicely actually. Dude is just a gamer, a player. Often times, one can get by on that alone in college, but it won't pan out in the pros. There's the potential for that in Jauan too, but I think it's somewhat low. He played in the SEC, and didn't just bully the weaker competition. I will say one thing right off the bat, no one needs to worry about this guy's character or behavior (I've seen it posted that's partly why he fell). Maybe the later is true (it's partly why he fell), but you don't have an entire fan base love a player that's an a-hole. Jauan is passionate about the game, and passionate about his team. Sometimes that boils over a bit, but way better to have to reign that in vs. the contrary. Our previous coaching staff was a bit of a dumpster fire at the end of their tenure, it's 100% why Jalen Hurd transferred from TN to Baylor, and it's why Jauan lashed out at the interim coaching staff and got himself kicked off the team (one of the reasons I sometimes see cited for his draft fall). The interim staff was a disaster too, along with our AD at the time (if any of you follows college football, our coaching search around then was a public relations nightmare....and all those folks are the ones who kicked Jauan off the team). Anyway, new coach comes in, asks his teammates (and other personnel) if Jennings should be allowed back on the team and everyone said yes. You don't have that kind of peer support if you're an a-hole. Coach put a plan in place, took Jennings the entire offseason and then he earned his way back on the team with the new staff, and they both never looked back. Now, was the public NSFW rant on the interim staff the right thing for a player to post on social media....heck no, that's why he got booted (video is online, it's pretty harmless but he called his recently fired coach and staff a bunch of liars). But he learned from it and came back. Here's his behavioral "issues" summed up in a nutshell: Jennings isn't the kind of guy you have to worry about punching a woman in an elevator lobby, but he is a guy you "might" have to worry about getting in a fight with a teammate that's being lazy in practice; he's most likely a guy you worry about punching an opponent, but even that is pretty low threat. Personal foul flag? A definite worry. :) He's not an AB throwing furniture off the roof kind of dude, he's just a dude that gets emotional about football. Oh, to follow up on the new head coach redemption story, he said this about their first meeting:

"So the first time I ever met Jauan Jennings, he comes in my office," Pruitt recalled, "and we're going to decide and create a plan to see if he's going to be able to get back on the team. I think everybody knows, it's pretty well-documented, but anyhow. We lay out a plan and it's a pretty tough deal. It's lots of things, and Jauan's done every bit of it to do it, but by the time he left my office, he was trying to negotiate what position he was going to play. I said, 'Dude, you're not even on the team yet, aight, so let's just see if we can make it to this first thing before we start talking that way.' But that's the way Jauan is. He's always in there, trying to represent."

Guy just loves football.

As to the player, Jennings was probably our best special teams player/tackler every time he put on the pads in college. He played QB in high school, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get him on the field as a freshman in Knoxville. So he switched to WR, a position he'd never really played before. He might have been even better as a college safety, or most likely a LB, but we'll never know. He feels like a defensive player, even on offense. He loves to block as a WR, loves to bully people, though he's truly not the biggest guy (for those that say maybe he can play TE, that will never happen...he's way too small). It's also correct that he's not fast, especially straight line speed. He's never going to make a guy miss and take it to the house (except Tabor when he broke his ankles). But despite his slowness, he plays faster than he looks. We've all seen guys that are speedsters in the 40 and look great in the underwear olympics (football played without pads), but when the pads come on, they slow down. Jauan doesn't slow down. I think he ran a 4.72 40 at the combine, but if you put full pads and a helmet on him, put a cornerback hanging on his jersey, timed him again, my guess is he'd run a 4.72. I'm exaggerating, but he has pretty poor numbers as far as measurables go (hand size, 40, etc.) but if there was such a thing as difference between 40 times in shorts vs in pads, I'd guess he'd be elite at the minuscule difference. The problem is, and mainly why I suspect he dropped so low, is he really does have those other limitations and they are real concerns for an NFL WR. He doesn't have the greatest hands (he bobbles more balls than he should...hey oh!), he is slow and gets caught relatively easy, and he's not excessively large (he just plays like it).

Despite all that though, the dude is just competitive as all get out and a winner. When you watch him get caught from behind with ease, you think he's super slow. But then you'll see him run really good crisp routes for such a 'slow' guy, which is surprising. He's slow but surprisingly 'quick twitch' at times; he uses his body really well when things get congested, and he's obviously tough to tackle. He led the nation in forced missed tackles at WR last year with 30. And that was in the SEC, no less, with lots of future NFL players on the field. You don't lead the nation in forcing missed tackles in the SEC, by being slow. The guy has some wiggle to him. He's also had some pretty below average QB play in college. He hasn't spent any time at the position other than his college career, so there's some potential upside as well.

Also, based on the injuries I've seen creep up, it's worth noting he hasn't been injured much. I mean he's actually been injured a decent bit, but he's one of those guys that never seems to miss much game time based on how beat up he seems to be. He's been limited in practice a ton due to being banged up, but when the lights come on, the guy just lives to play football on gameday. If you haven't seen it, watch the video of him getting the draft phone call. Those same emotions are the ones that will earn him an early flag in his career. But those are also the same emotions that make fans, coaches, and teammates absolutely love him.

My guess is if he makes the team and gets some PT, he's going to draw a few flags early on as he lets his emotions get the best of him, even if it's just on special teams. But this dude is loyal to a fault, and if I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes an impact even if a small one early on. I'm pulling for him, just like E-man before him (Moseley). That was the skinniest kid I've seen play DB for the Vols in a while, and he just came out of no where as a young freshman and just slowly got better and better.

One last thing. I haven't followed training camp a ton, but I suspect that there is very little contact work. Little hitting, little tackling to the ground. There are no preseason games. Jauan does not thrive in these settings. I mean, make no mistake, he was always a practice warrior but as I've alluded to, the guy needs to hit. Needs to block. Needs to get hit. Needs to have an opponent to hate. Needs to hit the other team and try to break tackles and make third down catches when it counts. Every 3rd down pass he caught last year was for a first down. 1 of only 3 WRs in the nation to do so. He needs pads, lights, emotion to show some of his value.

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Originally posted by AFVolunteer:

.....

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Hot damn! That's a quality post. Love the man that loves the game. Hope he gets to shine.

Originally posted by AFVolunteer:
49ers fans, Vols fan here with a looooooooong post on Jennings. I've been meaning to post on here all summer, but...life. You guys definitely got some Vol fans that are now Niners fans because of how popular Jauan Jennings was in college. He wasn't quite Peyton Manning level, ha. But I'm not sure a player has been more beloved by our fanbase since maybe Eric Berry. And for a 7th rounder that's saying something. I'm sure you've had some Vol fans post on here before, but here's my admittedly biased breakdown of who your 7th round pick is.

Post above mine sums it up nicely actually. Dude is just a gamer, a player. Often times, one can get by on that alone in college, but it won't pan out in the pros. There's the potential for that in Jauan too, but I think it's somewhat low. He played in the SEC, and didn't just bully the weaker competition. I will say one thing right off the bat, no one needs to worry about this guy's character or behavior (I've seen it posted that's partly why he fell). Maybe the later is true (it's partly why he fell), but you don't have an entire fan base love a player that's an a-hole. Jauan is passionate about the game, and passionate about his team. Sometimes that boils over a bit, but way better to have to reign that in vs. the contrary. Our previous coaching staff was a bit of a dumpster fire at the end of their tenure, it's 100% why Jalen Hurd transferred from TN to Baylor, and it's why Jauan lashed out at the interim coaching staff and got himself kicked off the team (one of the reasons I sometimes see cited for his draft fall). The interim staff was a disaster too, along with our AD at the time (if any of you follows college football, our coaching search around then was a public relations nightmare....and all those folks are the ones who kicked Jauan off the team). Anyway, new coach comes in, asks his teammates (and other personnel) if Jennings should be allowed back on the team and everyone said yes. You don't have that kind of peer support if you're an a-hole. Coach put a plan in place, took Jennings the entire offseason and then he earned his way back on the team with the new staff, and they both never looked back. Now, was the public NSFW rant on the interim staff the right thing for a player to post on social media....heck no, that's why he got booted (video is online, it's pretty harmless but he called his recently fired coach and staff a bunch of liars). But he learned from it and came back. Here's his behavioral "issues" summed up in a nutshell: Jennings isn't the kind of guy you have to worry about punching a woman in an elevator lobby, but he is a guy you "might" have to worry about getting in a fight with a teammate that's being lazy in practice; he's most likely a guy you worry about punching an opponent, but even that is pretty low threat. Personal foul flag? A definite worry. :) He's not an AB throwing furniture off the roof kind of dude, he's just a dude that gets emotional about football. Oh, to follow up on the new head coach redemption story, he said this about their first meeting:

"So the first time I ever met Jauan Jennings, he comes in my office," Pruitt recalled, "and we're going to decide and create a plan to see if he's going to be able to get back on the team. I think everybody knows, it's pretty well-documented, but anyhow. We lay out a plan and it's a pretty tough deal. It's lots of things, and Jauan's done every bit of it to do it, but by the time he left my office, he was trying to negotiate what position he was going to play. I said, 'Dude, you're not even on the team yet, aight, so let's just see if we can make it to this first thing before we start talking that way.' But that's the way Jauan is. He's always in there, trying to represent."

Guy just loves football.

As to the player, Jennings was probably our best special teams player/tackler every time he put on the pads in college. He played QB in high school, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get him on the field as a freshman in Knoxville. So he switched to WR, a position he'd never really played before. He might have been even better as a college safety, or most likely a LB, but we'll never know. He feels like a defensive player, even on offense. He loves to block as a WR, loves to bully people, though he's truly not the biggest guy (for those that say maybe he can play TE, that will never happen...he's way too small). It's also correct that he's not fast, especially straight line speed. He's never going to make a guy miss and take it to the house (except Tabor when he broke his ankles). But despite his slowness, he plays faster than he looks. We've all seen guys that are speedsters in the 40 and look great in the underwear olympics (football played without pads), but when the pads come on, they slow down. Jauan doesn't slow down. I think he ran a 4.72 40 at the combine, but if you put full pads and a helmet on him, put a cornerback hanging on his jersey, timed him again, my guess is he'd run a 4.72. I'm exaggerating, but he has pretty poor numbers as far as measurables go (hand size, 40, etc.) but if there was such a thing as difference between 40 times in shorts vs in pads, I'd guess he'd be elite at the minuscule difference. The problem is, and mainly why I suspect he dropped so low, is he really does have those other limitations and they are real concerns for an NFL WR. He doesn't have the greatest hands (he bobbles more balls than he should...hey oh!), he is slow and gets caught relatively easy, and he's not excessively large (he just plays like it).

Despite all that though, the dude is just competitive as all get out and a winner. When you watch him get caught from behind with ease, you think he's super slow. But then you'll see him run really good crisp routes for such a 'slow' guy, which is surprising. He's slow but surprisingly 'quick twitch' at times; he uses his body really well when things get congested, and he's obviously tough to tackle. He led the nation in forced missed tackles at WR last year with 30. And that was in the SEC, no less, with lots of future NFL players on the field. You don't lead the nation in forcing missed tackles in the SEC, by being slow. The guy has some wiggle to him. He's also had some pretty below average QB play in college. He hasn't spent any time at the position other than his college career, so there's some potential upside as well.

Also, based on the injuries I've seen creep up, it's worth noting he hasn't been injured much. I mean he's actually been injured a decent bit, but he's one of those guys that never seems to miss much game time based on how beat up he seems to be. He's been limited in practice a ton due to being banged up, but when the lights come on, the guy just lives to play football on gameday. If you haven't seen it, watch the video of him getting the draft phone call. Those same emotions are the ones that will earn him an early flag in his career. But those are also the same emotions that make fans, coaches, and teammates absolutely love him.

My guess is if he makes the team and gets some PT, he's going to draw a few flags early on as he lets his emotions get the best of him, even if it's just on special teams. But this dude is loyal to a fault, and if I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes an impact even if a small one early on. I'm pulling for him, just like E-man before him (Moseley). That was the skinniest kid I've seen play DB for the Vols in a while, and he just came out of no where as a young freshman and just slowly got better and better.

One last thing. I haven't followed training camp a ton, but I suspect that there is very little contact work. Little hitting, little tackling to the ground. There are no preseason games. Jauan does not thrive in these settings. I mean, make no mistake, he was always a practice warrior but as I've alluded to, the guy needs to hit. Needs to block. Needs to get hit. Needs to have an opponent to hate. Needs to hit the other team and try to break tackles and make third down catches when it counts. Every 3rd down pass he caught last year was for a first down. 1 of only 3 WRs in the nation to do so. He needs pads, lights, emotion to show some of his value.

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Originally posted by GangstaGangsta:

Originally posted by AFVolunteer:
49ers fans, Vols fan here with a looooooooong post on Jennings. I've been meaning to post on here all summer, but...life. You guys definitely got some Vol fans that are now Niners fans because of how popular Jauan Jennings was in college. He wasn't quite Peyton Manning level, ha. But I'm not sure a player has been more beloved by our fanbase since maybe Eric Berry. And for a 7th rounder that's saying something. I'm sure you've had some Vol fans post on here before, but here's my admittedly biased breakdown of who your 7th round pick is.

Post above mine sums it up nicely actually. Dude is just a gamer, a player. Often times, one can get by on that alone in college, but it won't pan out in the pros. There's the potential for that in Jauan too, but I think it's somewhat low. He played in the SEC, and didn't just bully the weaker competition. I will say one thing right off the bat, no one needs to worry about this guy's character or behavior (I've seen it posted that's partly why he fell). Maybe the later is true (it's partly why he fell), but you don't have an entire fan base love a player that's an a-hole. Jauan is passionate about the game, and passionate about his team. Sometimes that boils over a bit, but way better to have to reign that in vs. the contrary. Our previous coaching staff was a bit of a dumpster fire at the end of their tenure, it's 100% why Jalen Hurd transferred from TN to Baylor, and it's why Jauan lashed out at the interim coaching staff and got himself kicked off the team (one of the reasons I sometimes see cited for his draft fall). The interim staff was a disaster too, along with our AD at the time (if any of you follows college football, our coaching search around then was a public relations nightmare....and all those folks are the ones who kicked Jauan off the team). Anyway, new coach comes in, asks his teammates (and other personnel) if Jennings should be allowed back on the team and everyone said yes. You don't have that kind of peer support if you're an a-hole. Coach put a plan in place, took Jennings the entire offseason and then he earned his way back on the team with the new staff, and they both never looked back. Now, was the public NSFW rant on the interim staff the right thing for a player to post on social media....heck no, that's why he got booted (video is online, it's pretty harmless but he called his recently fired coach and staff a bunch of liars). But he learned from it and came back. Here's his behavioral "issues" summed up in a nutshell: Jennings isn't the kind of guy you have to worry about punching a woman in an elevator lobby, but he is a guy you "might" have to worry about getting in a fight with a teammate that's being lazy in practice; he's most likely a guy you worry about punching an opponent, but even that is pretty low threat. Personal foul flag? A definite worry. :) He's not an AB throwing furniture off the roof kind of dude, he's just a dude that gets emotional about football. Oh, to follow up on the new head coach redemption story, he said this about their first meeting:

"So the first time I ever met Jauan Jennings, he comes in my office," Pruitt recalled, "and we're going to decide and create a plan to see if he's going to be able to get back on the team. I think everybody knows, it's pretty well-documented, but anyhow. We lay out a plan and it's a pretty tough deal. It's lots of things, and Jauan's done every bit of it to do it, but by the time he left my office, he was trying to negotiate what position he was going to play. I said, 'Dude, you're not even on the team yet, aight, so let's just see if we can make it to this first thing before we start talking that way.' But that's the way Jauan is. He's always in there, trying to represent."

Guy just loves football.

As to the player, Jennings was probably our best special teams player/tackler every time he put on the pads in college. He played QB in high school, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get him on the field as a freshman in Knoxville. So he switched to WR, a position he'd never really played before. He might have been even better as a college safety, or most likely a LB, but we'll never know. He feels like a defensive player, even on offense. He loves to block as a WR, loves to bully people, though he's truly not the biggest guy (for those that say maybe he can play TE, that will never happen...he's way too small). It's also correct that he's not fast, especially straight line speed. He's never going to make a guy miss and take it to the house (except Tabor when he broke his ankles). But despite his slowness, he plays faster than he looks. We've all seen guys that are speedsters in the 40 and look great in the underwear olympics (football played without pads), but when the pads come on, they slow down. Jauan doesn't slow down. I think he ran a 4.72 40 at the combine, but if you put full pads and a helmet on him, put a cornerback hanging on his jersey, timed him again, my guess is he'd run a 4.72. I'm exaggerating, but he has pretty poor numbers as far as measurables go (hand size, 40, etc.) but if there was such a thing as difference between 40 times in shorts vs in pads, I'd guess he'd be elite at the minuscule difference. The problem is, and mainly why I suspect he dropped so low, is he really does have those other limitations and they are real concerns for an NFL WR. He doesn't have the greatest hands (he bobbles more balls than he should...hey oh!), he is slow and gets caught relatively easy, and he's not excessively large (he just plays like it).

Despite all that though, the dude is just competitive as all get out and a winner. When you watch him get caught from behind with ease, you think he's super slow. But then you'll see him run really good crisp routes for such a 'slow' guy, which is surprising. He's slow but surprisingly 'quick twitch' at times; he uses his body really well when things get congested, and he's obviously tough to tackle. He led the nation in forced missed tackles at WR last year with 30. And that was in the SEC, no less, with lots of future NFL players on the field. You don't lead the nation in forcing missed tackles in the SEC, by being slow. The guy has some wiggle to him. He's also had some pretty below average QB play in college. He hasn't spent any time at the position other than his college career, so there's some potential upside as well.

Also, based on the injuries I've seen creep up, it's worth noting he hasn't been injured much. I mean he's actually been injured a decent bit, but he's one of those guys that never seems to miss much game time based on how beat up he seems to be. He's been limited in practice a ton due to being banged up, but when the lights come on, the guy just lives to play football on gameday. If you haven't seen it, watch the video of him getting the draft phone call. Those same emotions are the ones that will earn him an early flag in his career. But those are also the same emotions that make fans, coaches, and teammates absolutely love him.

My guess is if he makes the team and gets some PT, he's going to draw a few flags early on as he lets his emotions get the best of him, even if it's just on special teams. But this dude is loyal to a fault, and if I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes an impact even if a small one early on. I'm pulling for him, just like E-man before him (Moseley). That was the skinniest kid I've seen play DB for the Vols in a while, and he just came out of no where as a young freshman and just slowly got better and better.

One last thing. I haven't followed training camp a ton, but I suspect that there is very little contact work. Little hitting, little tackling to the ground. There are no preseason games. Jauan does not thrive in these settings. I mean, make no mistake, he was always a practice warrior but as I've alluded to, the guy needs to hit. Needs to block. Needs to get hit. Needs to have an opponent to hate. Needs to hit the other team and try to break tackles and make third down catches when it counts. Every 3rd down pass he caught last year was for a first down. 1 of only 3 WRs in the nation to do so. He needs pads, lights, emotion to show some of his value.

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Yeah, nice post, AF.

Originally posted by elguapo:
I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:
I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:
I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Originally posted by AFVolunteer:
49ers fans, Vols fan here with a looooooooong post on Jennings. I've been meaning to post on here all summer, but...life. You guys definitely got some Vol fans that are now Niners fans because of how popular Jauan Jennings was in college. He wasn't quite Peyton Manning level, ha. But I'm not sure a player has been more beloved by our fanbase since maybe Eric Berry. And for a 7th rounder that's saying something. I'm sure you've had some Vol fans post on here before, but here's my admittedly biased breakdown of who your 7th round pick is.

Post above mine sums it up nicely actually. Dude is just a gamer, a player. Often times, one can get by on that alone in college, but it won't pan out in the pros. There's the potential for that in Jauan too, but I think it's somewhat low. He played in the SEC, and didn't just bully the weaker competition. I will say one thing right off the bat, no one needs to worry about this guy's character or behavior (I've seen it posted that's partly why he fell). Maybe the later is true (it's partly why he fell), but you don't have an entire fan base love a player that's an a-hole. Jauan is passionate about the game, and passionate about his team. Sometimes that boils over a bit, but way better to have to reign that in vs. the contrary. Our previous coaching staff was a bit of a dumpster fire at the end of their tenure, it's 100% why Jalen Hurd transferred from TN to Baylor, and it's why Jauan lashed out at the interim coaching staff and got himself kicked off the team (one of the reasons I sometimes see cited for his draft fall). The interim staff was a disaster too, along with our AD at the time (if any of you follows college football, our coaching search around then was a public relations nightmare....and all those folks are the ones who kicked Jauan off the team). Anyway, new coach comes in, asks his teammates (and other personnel) if Jennings should be allowed back on the team and everyone said yes. You don't have that kind of peer support if you're an a-hole. Coach put a plan in place, took Jennings the entire offseason and then he earned his way back on the team with the new staff, and they both never looked back. Now, was the public NSFW rant on the interim staff the right thing for a player to post on social media....heck no, that's why he got booted (video is online, it's pretty harmless but he called his recently fired coach and staff a bunch of liars). But he learned from it and came back. Here's his behavioral "issues" summed up in a nutshell: Jennings isn't the kind of guy you have to worry about punching a woman in an elevator lobby, but he is a guy you "might" have to worry about getting in a fight with a teammate that's being lazy in practice; he's most likely a guy you worry about punching an opponent, but even that is pretty low threat. Personal foul flag? A definite worry. :) He's not an AB throwing furniture off the roof kind of dude, he's just a dude that gets emotional about football. Oh, to follow up on the new head coach redemption story, he said this about their first meeting:

"So the first time I ever met Jauan Jennings, he comes in my office," Pruitt recalled, "and we're going to decide and create a plan to see if he's going to be able to get back on the team. I think everybody knows, it's pretty well-documented, but anyhow. We lay out a plan and it's a pretty tough deal. It's lots of things, and Jauan's done every bit of it to do it, but by the time he left my office, he was trying to negotiate what position he was going to play. I said, 'Dude, you're not even on the team yet, aight, so let's just see if we can make it to this first thing before we start talking that way.' But that's the way Jauan is. He's always in there, trying to represent."

Guy just loves football.

As to the player, Jennings was probably our best special teams player/tackler every time he put on the pads in college. He played QB in high school, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get him on the field as a freshman in Knoxville. So he switched to WR, a position he'd never really played before. He might have been even better as a college safety, or most likely a LB, but we'll never know. He feels like a defensive player, even on offense. He loves to block as a WR, loves to bully people, though he's truly not the biggest guy (for those that say maybe he can play TE, that will never happen...he's way too small). It's also correct that he's not fast, especially straight line speed. He's never going to make a guy miss and take it to the house (except Tabor when he broke his ankles). But despite his slowness, he plays faster than he looks. We've all seen guys that are speedsters in the 40 and look great in the underwear olympics (football played without pads), but when the pads come on, they slow down. Jauan doesn't slow down. I think he ran a 4.72 40 at the combine, but if you put full pads and a helmet on him, put a cornerback hanging on his jersey, timed him again, my guess is he'd run a 4.72. I'm exaggerating, but he has pretty poor numbers as far as measurables go (hand size, 40, etc.) but if there was such a thing as difference between 40 times in shorts vs in pads, I'd guess he'd be elite at the minuscule difference. The problem is, and mainly why I suspect he dropped so low, is he really does have those other limitations and they are real concerns for an NFL WR. He doesn't have the greatest hands (he bobbles more balls than he should...hey oh!), he is slow and gets caught relatively easy, and he's not excessively large (he just plays like it).

Despite all that though, the dude is just competitive as all get out and a winner. When you watch him get caught from behind with ease, you think he's super slow. But then you'll see him run really good crisp routes for such a 'slow' guy, which is surprising. He's slow but surprisingly 'quick twitch' at times; he uses his body really well when things get congested, and he's obviously tough to tackle. He led the nation in forced missed tackles at WR last year with 30. And that was in the SEC, no less, with lots of future NFL players on the field. You don't lead the nation in forcing missed tackles in the SEC, by being slow. The guy has some wiggle to him. He's also had some pretty below average QB play in college. He hasn't spent any time at the position other than his college career, so there's some potential upside as well.

Also, based on the injuries I've seen creep up, it's worth noting he hasn't been injured much. I mean he's actually been injured a decent bit, but he's one of those guys that never seems to miss much game time based on how beat up he seems to be. He's been limited in practice a ton due to being banged up, but when the lights come on, the guy just lives to play football on gameday. If you haven't seen it, watch the video of him getting the draft phone call. Those same emotions are the ones that will earn him an early flag in his career. But those are also the same emotions that make fans, coaches, and teammates absolutely love him.

My guess is if he makes the team and gets some PT, he's going to draw a few flags early on as he lets his emotions get the best of him, even if it's just on special teams. But this dude is loyal to a fault, and if I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes an impact even if a small one early on. I'm pulling for him, just like E-man before him (Moseley). That was the skinniest kid I've seen play DB for the Vols in a while, and he just came out of no where as a young freshman and just slowly got better and better.

One last thing. I haven't followed training camp a ton, but I suspect that there is very little contact work. Little hitting, little tackling to the ground. There are no preseason games. Jauan does not thrive in these settings. I mean, make no mistake, he was always a practice warrior but as I've alluded to, the guy needs to hit. Needs to block. Needs to get hit. Needs to have an opponent to hate. Needs to hit the other team and try to break tackles and make third down catches when it counts. Every 3rd down pass he caught last year was for a first down. 1 of only 3 WRs in the nation to do so. He needs pads, lights, emotion to show some of his value.

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Thanks for the comment! I agree with all of it

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:

I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

I like that comparison as well. I do think Jennings and Marshall are better breaking tackles then Fitzgerald but he's got a great mix of both of those players. This guy does not go down

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:
I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Nah dude, Fitz was a high 4.4 guy. He also played outside in his prime.

IMO Jennings is more Mohamed Sanu if we want to comp NFL players. Both are lower end athletes, both are tough, both played QB, both make their hay living in the slot.

If he turns into something like that it will be a great draft pick.

Originally posted by AFVolunteer:
49ers fans, Vols fan here with a looooooooong post on Jennings. I've been meaning to post on here all summer, but...life. You guys definitely got some Vol fans that are now Niners fans because of how popular Jauan Jennings was in college. He wasn't quite Peyton Manning level, ha. But I'm not sure a player has been more beloved by our fanbase since maybe Eric Berry. And for a 7th rounder that's saying something. I'm sure you've had some Vol fans post on here before, but here's my admittedly biased breakdown of who your 7th round pick is.

Post above mine sums it up nicely actually. Dude is just a gamer, a player. Often times, one can get by on that alone in college, but it won't pan out in the pros. There's the potential for that in Jauan too, but I think it's somewhat low. He played in the SEC, and didn't just bully the weaker competition. I will say one thing right off the bat, no one needs to worry about this guy's character or behavior (I've seen it posted that's partly why he fell). Maybe the later is true (it's partly why he fell), but you don't have an entire fan base love a player that's an a-hole. Jauan is passionate about the game, and passionate about his team. Sometimes that boils over a bit, but way better to have to reign that in vs. the contrary. Our previous coaching staff was a bit of a dumpster fire at the end of their tenure, it's 100% why Jalen Hurd transferred from TN to Baylor, and it's why Jauan lashed out at the interim coaching staff and got himself kicked off the team (one of the reasons I sometimes see cited for his draft fall). The interim staff was a disaster too, along with our AD at the time (if any of you follows college football, our coaching search around then was a public relations nightmare....and all those folks are the ones who kicked Jauan off the team). Anyway, new coach comes in, asks his teammates (and other personnel) if Jennings should be allowed back on the team and everyone said yes. You don't have that kind of peer support if you're an a-hole. Coach put a plan in place, took Jennings the entire offseason and then he earned his way back on the team with the new staff, and they both never looked back. Now, was the public NSFW rant on the interim staff the right thing for a player to post on social media....heck no, that's why he got booted (video is online, it's pretty harmless but he called his recently fired coach and staff a bunch of liars). But he learned from it and came back. Here's his behavioral "issues" summed up in a nutshell: Jennings isn't the kind of guy you have to worry about punching a woman in an elevator lobby, but he is a guy you "might" have to worry about getting in a fight with a teammate that's being lazy in practice; he's most likely a guy you worry about punching an opponent, but even that is pretty low threat. Personal foul flag? A definite worry. :) He's not an AB throwing furniture off the roof kind of dude, he's just a dude that gets emotional about football. Oh, to follow up on the new head coach redemption story, he said this about their first meeting:

"So the first time I ever met Jauan Jennings, he comes in my office," Pruitt recalled, "and we're going to decide and create a plan to see if he's going to be able to get back on the team. I think everybody knows, it's pretty well-documented, but anyhow. We lay out a plan and it's a pretty tough deal. It's lots of things, and Jauan's done every bit of it to do it, but by the time he left my office, he was trying to negotiate what position he was going to play. I said, 'Dude, you're not even on the team yet, aight, so let's just see if we can make it to this first thing before we start talking that way.' But that's the way Jauan is. He's always in there, trying to represent."

Guy just loves football.

As to the player, Jennings was probably our best special teams player/tackler every time he put on the pads in college. He played QB in high school, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get him on the field as a freshman in Knoxville. So he switched to WR, a position he'd never really played before. He might have been even better as a college safety, or most likely a LB, but we'll never know. He feels like a defensive player, even on offense. He loves to block as a WR, loves to bully people, though he's truly not the biggest guy (for those that say maybe he can play TE, that will never happen...he's way too small). It's also correct that he's not fast, especially straight line speed. He's never going to make a guy miss and take it to the house (except Tabor when he broke his ankles). But despite his slowness, he plays faster than he looks. We've all seen guys that are speedsters in the 40 and look great in the underwear olympics (football played without pads), but when the pads come on, they slow down. Jauan doesn't slow down. I think he ran a 4.72 40 at the combine, but if you put full pads and a helmet on him, put a cornerback hanging on his jersey, timed him again, my guess is he'd run a 4.72. I'm exaggerating, but he has pretty poor numbers as far as measurables go (hand size, 40, etc.) but if there was such a thing as difference between 40 times in shorts vs in pads, I'd guess he'd be elite at the minuscule difference. The problem is, and mainly why I suspect he dropped so low, is he really does have those other limitations and they are real concerns for an NFL WR. He doesn't have the greatest hands (he bobbles more balls than he should...hey oh!), he is slow and gets caught relatively easy, and he's not excessively large (he just plays like it).

Despite all that though, the dude is just competitive as all get out and a winner. When you watch him get caught from behind with ease, you think he's super slow. But then you'll see him run really good crisp routes for such a 'slow' guy, which is surprising. He's slow but surprisingly 'quick twitch' at times; he uses his body really well when things get congested, and he's obviously tough to tackle. He led the nation in forced missed tackles at WR last year with 30. And that was in the SEC, no less, with lots of future NFL players on the field. You don't lead the nation in forcing missed tackles in the SEC, by being slow. The guy has some wiggle to him. He's also had some pretty below average QB play in college. He hasn't spent any time at the position other than his college career, so there's some potential upside as well.

Also, based on the injuries I've seen creep up, it's worth noting he hasn't been injured much. I mean he's actually been injured a decent bit, but he's one of those guys that never seems to miss much game time based on how beat up he seems to be. He's been limited in practice a ton due to being banged up, but when the lights come on, the guy just lives to play football on gameday. If you haven't seen it, watch the video of him getting the draft phone call. Those same emotions are the ones that will earn him an early flag in his career. But those are also the same emotions that make fans, coaches, and teammates absolutely love him.

My guess is if he makes the team and gets some PT, he's going to draw a few flags early on as he lets his emotions get the best of him, even if it's just on special teams. But this dude is loyal to a fault, and if I was a betting man, I'd bet he makes an impact even if a small one early on. I'm pulling for him, just like E-man before him (Moseley). That was the skinniest kid I've seen play DB for the Vols in a while, and he just came out of no where as a young freshman and just slowly got better and better.

One last thing. I haven't followed training camp a ton, but I suspect that there is very little contact work. Little hitting, little tackling to the ground. There are no preseason games. Jauan does not thrive in these settings. I mean, make no mistake, he was always a practice warrior but as I've alluded to, the guy needs to hit. Needs to block. Needs to get hit. Needs to have an opponent to hate. Needs to hit the other team and try to break tackles and make third down catches when it counts. Every 3rd down pass he caught last year was for a first down. 1 of only 3 WRs in the nation to do so. He needs pads, lights, emotion to show some of his value.

Sorry for the long post, but in summary: Jennings is a 7th round pick, so if he's a bust, you've lost nothing. But I can't imagine a higher upside, higher potential guy as a 7th rounder. I think you guys got yourself a bit of a steal here. Time will tell. Go Niners!

Epic f**king post! Thank you for the input. Too many Vols fans have vouched for this guy for him not to be potentially special.

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:
I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Nah dude, Fitz was a high 4.4 guy. He also played outside in his prime.

IMO Jennings is more Mohamed Sanu if we want to comp NFL players. Both are lower end athletes, both are tough, both played QB, both make their hay living in the slot.

If he turns into something like that it will be a great draft pick.

Sanu is a good comparison - but, Fitz ran a high 4.5, IIRC.

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by NYniner85:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:

I see this guy as a slower version of Brandon Marshall

I see him as another Larry Fitzgerald. No speed , but great hands and body control.

Nah dude, Fitz was a high 4.4 guy. He also played outside in his prime.

IMO Jennings is more Mohamed Sanu if we want to comp NFL players. Both are lower end athletes, both are tough, both played QB, both make their hay living in the slot.

If he turns into something like that it will be a great draft pick.

Sanu is a good comparison - but, Fitz ran a high 4.5, IIRC.

Even if Fitz ran faster than we think, he runs slower than Wrs and quite a few tight ends and he has been at that slower speed for quite a few years. Either way he's a big boy that can break tackles and run over people. We have four players like that now. Kittle Kyle J, Samuel and Jennings.

I can't think of another offense that has four players like this. Just bullies