Jauan

Jennings

Jennings caught a 20-yard pass, his longest reception of the season. He was targeted three times, nearly catching a long touchdown from Kyler Murray in the second quarter, but failing to haul it in. Jennings is outside of the top-three pass-catching options for the Vikings and is irrelevant for fantasy purposes in this role. Fantasy managers should keep an eye on him in case he is traded, but Jennings does not need to be in fantasy lineups heading in to Week 8.

Jennings has been a major disappointment in Minnesota, falling behind Tai Felton on the depth chart. A small stakes trade could make sense for the 49ers, who are down to hoping Brandin Cooks can provide for Brock Purdy in a major rash of injuries.

Jordan Addison missed this game with an ankle injury and the Vikings deployed Felton as their WR2 over Jauan Jennings. Jennings ran fewer routes and failed to catch his only target. Felton wasn’t awfully productive either, but it’s good to see the former third-round pick picking up more work in his second season. He will return to a rotational role, assuming Addison is cleared to play after the Vikings’ Week 6 bye.

Jennings simply isn’t meaningfully involved in the Vikings’ game plan. That is unlikely to change in Week 5 against the Saints, especially with the Vikings’ offensive line getting banged up in Week 4. Jennings could be asked to contribute more as a run blocker next week.

Jennings hasn’t been part of the Minnesota passing attack through three weeks. Against the Bucs Jennings ran the second most pass routes on the Vikings, behind only Jordan Addison. The low-volume Vikings passing offense likely can’t support more than one fantasy viable pass catcher per week. Jennings should remain on waivers for now.

Jennings was targeted just once in Week 1. It could be argued that we’re not sure what his target count would look like in a normal Vikings game given how quickly Kyler Murray got hurt, but there’s never been a normal Vikings game anyway. Jennings is best monitored from the waiver wire.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell ruled out veteran receiver Jauan Jennings, citing a death of a close family member. Jennings will step away from the team to mourn the passing, leaving Tai Felton as the player most likely to step into his vacated role when the Vikings take on the Bears. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison should take on all the volume they can handle with the team also without Jordan Mason. Jefferson is a locked-in WR1 while Addison offers an intriguing upside-WR2 profile after putting up a dud in Week 1.

Things went off the rails in the first quarter when Kyler Murray left with a concussion, but one target is a bad omen no matter who is under center. Jennings was also a distant third on the team in routes behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. He is not on the fantasy radar headed into Week 2.

Pelissero affirmed Addison’s role as a guest on the Rich Eisen Show. He prefaced the remarks by saying that WR Jauan Jennings’ signing “immediately raises questions” about whether the Vikings planned to move on from Addison before saying that they, in fact, do not. Jennings was brought in on a “cut-rate,” one-year deal to play the No. 3 wide receiver role.

We assumed this was the case, though Jennings’ size allows one to wonder if he might be valuable in heavy personnel packages. Nailor departed for the Raiders earlier this offseason. Vikings No. 2 WR Jordan Addison was suspended for Weeks 1-3 last season. From Week 4 on, Addison out-snapped Nailor 714-to-507. Expecting a similar split from Addison and Jennings this season is reasonable.