With the San Francisco 49ers trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by six points entering the fourth quarter on Sunday, head coach Kyle Shanahan reached deep into his bag of tricks to pull out a surprise play for wide receiver Jauan Jennings. The fifth-year receiver out of Tennessee took a double-handoff and wound up throwing a 29-yard touchdown strike to running back Christian McCaffrey for the score, eventually helping the Niners secure a win over the Eagles and eliminating Philadelphia from the playoffs.
Immediately after the play was made, some fans were quickly drawn back to Jennings’ touchdown pass against the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2023 Super Bowl. The former Vol now has two career postseason passes, which is the most by any non-QB player in the playoffs since the merger.
Fun fact: Jauan Jennings has the most passing touchdowns by a non-QB in postseason history since the merger. pic.twitter.com/i2j9g9U9kN
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 12, 2026
It also had fans remembering the upbringing of Jennings, who started his collegiate career as a four-star dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 recruiting class. Jennings was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 89 prospect in the class, the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback, and the No. 2 player from the state of Tennessee.
As many on social media pointed out, Jennings was actually a higher-ranked prospect than now-NFL quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson.
Jauan Jennings was a four-star dual threat QB recruit, ranked just ahead of Darnold, Burrow and Lamar pic.twitter.com/tQBV09Hirt
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) January 12, 2026
More From RTI: VFL Jauan Jennings Throws Deep Touchdown Pass On Niners’ Trick Play in the Playoffs
The Twitter fun didn’t stop there, though. With underwhelming performances from both Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Chargers QB Justin Herbert, fans and organizations all began pointing out Jennings’ numbers in comparison.
Jauan Jennings had more 15+ air yard completions tonight than Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert combined 😭 pic.twitter.com/MfjGqZn3pv
— Underdog (@Underdog) January 12, 2026
Throws of 15+ Air Yards Downfield during the 49ers-Eagles Wild Card matchup:
🏈 Jalen Hurts: 0-5, 0 yards
🏈 Brock Purdy: 3-5. 122 yards, 1 INT
🏈 Jauan Jennings: 1-1, 29 yards, 1 TD pic.twitter.com/tjgxmHem9e— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) January 12, 2026
Justin Herbert and WR Jauan Jennings have THE SAME AMOUNT of TD passes in the NFL playoffs 😳 pic.twitter.com/dt8DnvEhlW
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 12, 2026
Jauan Jennings is an interesting free agent quarterback option for the Jets
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) January 12, 2026
Jauan Jennings had more completed passes over 15 air yards (1) in that game than Jalen Hurts did (0-5)
— Dante Koplowitz-Fleming (@DanteKopFlem) January 12, 2026
Career postseason touchdown passes:
Jauan Jennings: 2
Derek Carr: 1— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) January 12, 2026
Jalen Hurts can’t make the throw that Jauan Jennings just made
— red (@bluelemxnade) January 12, 2026
Most touchdown passes on throws of 20+ air yards in the playoffs so far, per @NextGenStats
Jauan Jennings – 1
Drake Maye – 1
All others – 0🎥: @nfl pic.twitter.com/paPSlRwkOb
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 12, 2026
“It was insane,” 49ers QB Brock Purdy said about Jennings’ play on ESPN after the game. “Like, the wind, man. I looked up and the ball was caught up in the wind. It was over the shoulder and Christian caught it. We all came back to the sideline and all of the quarterbacks were like, ‘Dude, J.J. just threw a dot.’ It was cool.”
Next up for the Niners? Their NFC West rival, the Seattle Seahawks.
“CAN’T WAIT!” Jennings said, screaming into the microphone and banging his hands on the table.
That’s the type of guy you want on your team for this type of run.
“Can’t wait!” 😂
Jauan Jennings on getting to face the Seahawks for the third time this season. pic.twitter.com/gypneqtyvh
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 12, 2026
