Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a flurry of moves this offseason, turning over a good chunk of the roster in an effort to close the gap between them and the AFC’s top contenders. One glaring need that went unaddressed was the WR2 position, with George Pickens shipped out of town. The options on the free agent market are unsurprisingly underwhelming, but over the last 24 hours, an intriguing playmaker has requested a trade—San Francisco 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings.
2024 was an unexpected breakout campaign for the fourth-year pro, going from utility man/safety blanket on third down to a legitimate weapon in the passing game. He crushed his career highs across the board in all of the box score categories but also improved in more advanced metrics such as yards per route run, EPA per target, and wins above replacement. Now, we’re left to figure out whether his ascension is sustainable over a larger sample size or if this was simply a flash in the pan simply fostered by more opportunities. To figure that out, I dove into his film to figure out whether this is someone that the Steelers should aggressively pursue.
This is a big, physical receiver with outstanding size and very good play strength that shows up in all three phases of receiver play: before the throw, at the catch point, and after the reception. There is an old saying in sports that best describes his style of play: “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Despite not being an explosive athlete, he’s still able to create separation for himself versus man coverage by understanding how to set defenders up at the break point with calculated footwork and/or head fakes, or by simply using his body to lean on opponents before breaking opposite. He aggressively works back to the ball in flight and knows how to use his frame to shield off defenders, remaining unfazed through contact even on high-impact collisions over the middle.
Throughout his time with the Niners, he’s aligned primarily as a power slot or flanker, but due to injuries, he was thrust into the X-receiver role last season. On the inside, his route tree primarily consists of short out-breakers that were extremely high percentage conversions for the offense. Kyle Shanahan also liked to put him in stacks or bunches to give him a free release on option routes, allowing him to attack the leverage of defenders underneath. Like the Steelers offense, they often put their outside receivers in condensed splits, and this is where Jennings would work a lot of intermediate in-breaking routes, especially off play-action, where his catch radius comes in handy. When lining up closer to the sideline, he would frequently work curl routes after bullying defenders through the rep.
With his quarterback Brock Purdy being a guy with some second-reaction ability, he is generally solid in the scramble drill. His toughness is really his best trait as a player, and it shows up big-time, both as a blocker...
