Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers had a disappointing season after failing to live up to their usual lofty expectations in the 2024 regular season. Still, that doesn’t mean there weren’t memorable performances.
The San Francisco 49ers 2024 regular season may have been disappointing from a results standpoint, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t performances to build on moving forward.
Looking back at some of the success stories from last season, we thought we’d decide which 49ers player exceeded expectations the most. A few come to mind, but I’ll name the biggest outlier from this past season.
Part of the reason wide receiver remains a need is Deebo Samue’ls inevitable departure and the false premise that Jauan Jennings will duplicate his nearly 1,000-yard season moving forward.
Jennings's previous career highs were 35 receptions and 416 yards. That was back in 2022. Last season, when everyone remained healthy, Jennings was an afterthought in the offense, only having 19 receptions during the regular season and 265 receiving yards. When Murphy’s Law happened on offense this past season, Jennings was the only mainstay outside of George Kittle.
That’s not to say Jennings isn’t a capable WR2 or someone the team can’t rely on moving forward. We have four years of data, and one of those is an obvious outlier. I think we saw Jennings’s ceiling this past season.
In 2025, Brandon Aiyuk will return at some point. Ricky Pearsall is a first-rounder and showed plenty of promise when targeted. He’s also a first-rounder and figures to be more involved. It’d be surprising if the 49ers didn’t add another wideout, whether via the NFL Draft or free agency. And that’s before we get to Jacob Cowing and the All-Pro tight end on the roster or the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year.
There are too many mouths to feed in this offense. That’s not a bad thing, but it means Jennings’s volume will be cut in half next year.
Who do you think exceeded expectations in 2024? Scroll down to let us know in the comments.
