Saturday afternoon turned emotional for Jauan Jennings in a hurry.
Jennings and his family found out early in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft that he would have a chance to realize his professional football dreams when the San Francisco 49ers selected him with the 217th overall pick in the draft. Jennings was live on Instagram during the process, and he let fans get a firsthand look at how he and family — specifically his mother — celebrated him getting drafted.
Twitter user @christie0106 recorded about 90 seconds of Jennings’ live video from Instagram, and Jennings and his mother both got very emotional after he was picked by the 49ers.
Here’s a snippet of Jennings’ reaction:
Gah y’all! Him and his momma gives me all the feels! 49ers….LETS GO!!! pic.twitter.com/L1qtPXPG2r
— Christie (@christie0106) April 25, 2020
Jennings capped off his Tennessee career with a stellar senior season, leading the Vols in receptions (59), receiving yards (969), and receiving touchdowns (8). Jennings played some wildcat quarterback for the Vols as well, totaling 51 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.
In his Vol career, Jennings scored 18 receiving touchdowns, two passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown. He also picked off a pass as a sophomore.
The Tennessee native had two of the biggest catches in recent Vol history in his sophomore season in 2016, hauling in the game-winning Hail Mary against Georgia and burning Florida cornerback Jalen “Teez” Tabor for a 67-yard touchdown in the Vols’ first win against the Gators since 2004.
Jennings led all FBS wide receivers in 2019 with 30 broken tackles according to the Pro Football Focus college division. He rarely went down on first contact, and he was Tennessee’s go-to receiver target throughout most of the season.
In five seasons with the Vols, Jennings appeared in 50 games and finished scattered throughout Tennessee’s record books. Jennings finished fourth in career receiving yards (2,153), fifth in receptions (146), and tied for fifth in receiving touchdowns (18). He also totaled six games of 100 or more receiving yards in his UT career, with four of those instances coming in the 2019 season.
Jennings is the first Vol wide receiver selected in the NFL Draft since his former UT teammate Josh Malone was taken by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2017 draft. He’s the 11th Vol to be drafted by the 49ers franchise.
It may have taken a while for Jennings, but he finally got to hear his named called in the 2020 NFL Draft. Jennings being picked with the 217th overall selection is the latest a Vol has been drafted into the NFL since linebacker Marvin Mitchell was taken by the New Orleans Saints with the 220th pick in the 2007 draft.
Jennings is the second Vol to be drafted into the NFL this year. He joins edge rusher Darrell Taylor, who was taken with the No. 48 overall pick in the second round by the Seattle Seahawks.
