Deebo Samuel was a key piece of the puzzle on offense throughout his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan lined him up all over the field to exploit mismatches and wreak havoc upon opposing defenses.
Those days for Samuel, in the Bay Area at least, are a thing of the past after the Niners elected to ship the former All-Pro wide receiver across the country to the Washington Commanders as part of a trade that netted San Francisco a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, a selection they ultimately used on former Oregon Ducks standout running back Jordan James.
John Lynch and the Niners front office did not make any flashy moves in the draft or free agency for a wideout replacement for Samuel, and there doesn't appear to be any rush to do so with OTAs and training camp on the horizon.
There is good reason for this as well, the wide receiver room should be more than strong enough to provide Brock Purdy with reliable options all over the field. Once healthy, Brandon Aiyuk will return to the field and serve as the no-question No. 1 option on the outside. With Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall flanking Aiyuk, and George Kittle penciled in as the starter at tight end for years to come, spending the money or draft capital it would have taken to try and replace Samuel with a single player would have come at a great cost to the franchise.
Jennings is chomping at the bit to get out there and show off exactly how talented he is to the rest of the football world. As Niners offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak put it, the former Tennessee Volunteers standout believes he can be "the guy" on the outside for San Francisco.
“Yeah, I think, if you ask Jauan, he says ‘I’m number one,’” Kubiak said, via Marc Adams of 49ersWebzone.com. “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.”
Kubiak has plenty of reasons to be fired up about Jennings as the big-bodied wideout is coming off of a year in which he reeled in 77 catches for 975 yards and six touchdowns, all career-high marks.
Niners fans will find out soon enough whether Jennings' opinion of himself is accurate and if this trio can lead San Francisco's wide receiver group forward once the 2025 season kicks off.