3. 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings
Jennings is a restricted free agent, meaning the 49ers can match any offer sheet he gets from another team as long as he is tendered a qualifying offer. If he is not tendered an offer for some reason, he would become an unrestricted free agent.
If the Lions do consider pivoting away from Josh Reynolds in free agency, Jennings looks like a fantastic fit regardless of the required mechanics of an offer.
Check out this block in the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers. Dan Campbell would love this guy.
Jauan Jennings gonna block! #49ers #FTTB #GBvsSF pic.twitter.com/oKOn5wQdgK
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) January 22, 2024
When asked about that play, 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan brushed it off as being "just what he (Jennings) does."
"What he did on that— taking the guy into the Gatorade— that’s what he does every play out at practice,” Shanahan said.“Our defense tried to fight him all last year because they thought he was going above and beyond and then the next day in the meeting I had to show them what he does every single play and say it’s not personal. This is just how he blocks. He stops after the whistle. He just drives into people. He puts his hands and face into people and never stops and when it’s over he usually goes back to the huddle. But usually people take it personal, but it’s not personal. It’s just what he does.”
Jennings stepped up when Deebo Samuel was injured early in that game against the Packers, with that angry block overshadowing his five catches for 61 yards.
A wide receiver for the Lions who can't block, or won't at least put an effort into blocking with the proper mentality to do it, is a wide receiver who won't play for the Lions for very long-if at all. Jennings obviously does not lack for anything in that area.