Ever since the San Francisco 49ers surprised people and drafted wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling with their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, he’s been compared to Jauan Jennings. It seems Stribling won't be able to escape that comparison as he will wear No. 15 next season, which is the same number Jennings wore.
Stribling has been highly touted as a run blocker, which is something that Jennings thrived at. Fans will never forget Jennings blocking opponents into the Gatorade cooler and truly annoying players with how hard he would block.
Somewhat surprisingly, Jennings remains unsigned in free agency. He and his camp must be asking for too much money or he is valuing himself much higher than NFL teams do. One anonymous NFL coach said that Jennings has outplayed his talent, which is harsh but seems to suggest the NFL at large views him as a player who was propped up by head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
He should go to some team at some point, but the 49ers are probably going to miss having him in the offense. Not only does Jennings block well, but he’s always been a favorite target of quarterback Brock Purdy especially on third down. Having Mike Evans in the fold will certainly make it easier to stomach Jennings' absence, but he will still be missed.
It will be interesting to see if Stribling lives up to the number bestowed upon him. The Niners were clearly very high on him, and even though the mock draft universe thought he would go later, there are some analysts who have now come out of the woodwork to say that they viewed him favorably.
The nice thing is there shouldn’t be a ton of pressure on Stribling in his rookie season to replace Jennings all by himself. Evans, Ricky Pearsall, Christian Kirk, and Demarcus Robinson are all probably going to be ahead of Stribling on the depth chart if everyone is healthy.
Year two may be the season they need him to step up since Evans and Kirk could potentially be gone after this upcoming season. If everything goes according to plan, Stribling will get some playing time as a rookie but won’t have to start and won’t be tasked with carrying the pass game.
Yet, injuries have a way of forcing rookies into the heat of battle in the NFL, so there’s always a chance that Stribling will receive a baptism by fire.
Stribling was going to inevitably be compared to Jennings no matter what, but the fact that he’s wearing his number could make it hard to escape his shadow early on as a rookie.
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