The 49ers have had a turbulent season, and are just 5-5 after their last-minute Week 11 home loss to the Seahawks. The team has had multiple injuries to skill position players, and has shuffled things around as the season has gone on. Over the last few weeks, it has become clear that Jauan Jennings ($5,600) is the top wide receiver for fantasy football on the team, while Deebo Samuel Sr. ($6,500) still brings sizzle but not as much substance as Jennings.
Let’s take a look at how to appraoch this situation going forward from a fantasy perspective.
Jauan Jennings’ breakout season
Jennings has been a reliable option for the 49ers the past few seasons but hasn’t gotten as much volume as other options on the team. He earned his “Third-and-Jauan” nickname for his reliability in pressure situations but didn’t typically draw high volume targets or break big plays.
This season, though, he has had to step up with Deebo hurt earlier in the year, George Kittle ($6,000; hamstring) absent on multiple occasions and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) out for the year. Rookie Ricky Perasall ($4,700) has also looked goot at times but has had to work his way back slowly after his shoulder injury and off-field incident.
Jennings first went off back in Week 3 against the Rams when Kittle was sidelined, and Jennings dominated the fantasy landscape with 49.5 fantasy points after scoring three touchdowns on 11 catches for 175 yards. No one who played Jennings that week will soon forget such a dominant performance.
He was back in a reduced role the next week but still had three catches for 88 yards. He had a couple of quiet weeks after that with Kittle, Aiyuk and Samuel all available, but then he sustained a hip injury in Week 6 that kept him sidelined for two games. While he was out, Aiyuk was lost for the season to a knee injury.
In each of his two games since returning, Jennings has received a team-high 11 targets. He caught seven passes for 93 yards and 16.3 fantasy points against the Bucs in Week 10 and followed that up with 10 catches for 91 yards and 25.1 fantasy points against the Seahawks highlighted by this touchdown:
No words, just JJ 😍
📺 #SEAvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/nmanRyzlGA— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 17, 2024
Deebo Samuel Sr.’s struggles
It’s been a rough few weeks for Samuel, who has just 13 targets in the last two games compared to 22 for Jennings. He has actually only had 20 targets in his last four games active since he played so little vs. the Chiefs in Week 7 due to illness. Samuel had 102 yards and a touchdown back in Week 6, but aside from that game, the star receiver has averaged only 7.4 fantasy points per game since Week 2.
Samuel has undeniable breakout potential on any play, and therefore, in any game, but for now, Jennings is getting more attention from Brock Purdy ($6,400) and has been a much more reliable contributor.
His big-play ability makes him a key to San Fran’s offense but his incosistent workoad and results makes him higher risk than Jennings at this point.
The Bottom Line
I ranked Jauan Jennings as my No. 17 wide reciever this week in a tough road game in Green Bay. For the rest of the season, I see him as a low-end, low-risk fringe WR1. I ranked Samuel No. 21 in my rankings, and I view him as a high-risk WR2 with big-time upside but also that comes with sinificant risk.
For DFS contests like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], Jennings is cheaper and a much better play than Samuel based on his higher floor and very high ceiling. Samuel can be used as a leverage play since his ownership will be low, but he’s high-risk overall.
The 49ers are 1.5-point road underdogs for their Week 12 matchup with the Packers in what should be a great playoff-like atmosphere at historic Lambeau Field.
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