It’s safe to say no one on the 49ers’ roster knows Jauan Jennings as well as Josh Dobbs.
Dobbs, whom San Francisco signed this offseason to a one-year, fully guaranteed $2.35 million contract to compete for the backup quarterback spot, was a college teammate of Jennings' at Tennessee.
So when Jennings took the big stage at Super Bowl LVIII, the veteran signal-caller was fully rooting for the receiver, who threw back the clock with a pair of clutch plays.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“It did,” Dobbs replied when asked if Jennings’ Super Bowl performance brought back memories. “I was so excited for him. I think I literally tweeted [and] I was like, 'Jauan is about to be Super Bowl MVP,’ when everyone thought, obviously, the 49ers here were going to win – last year’s team.”
Jennings, who arrived in Tennessee as a quarterback, threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey to give the 49ers a 10-0 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas during the second quarter of the Super Bowl.
After falling behind for the first time in the game in the third quarter, Jennings responded with a 10-yard touchdown catch to help San Francisco regain the lead.
San Francisco 49ers
Meanwhile, Dobbs was over the moon for his good friend.
“I was so excited for him,” Dobbs added. “I know a couple of plays [were] right there. It’s just the difference between wins and losses in the NFL, especially in the Super Bowl, in that stage. I was just so excited to see him go out and really be Jauan Jennings on the biggest stage of football.”
After all, Dobbs and Jennings had been teammates for two seasons during a time in which the receiver was in the midst of a pivotal yet unique position transition.
During that time, they were inseparable.
“I remember when I was at Tennessee, he came and was a quarterback,” Dobbs said. “He was like my little brother. We were doing squats together and everything.”
Now teammates once again, Dobbs recognizes Jennings has come a long way, although he also believes that the best is yet to come.
“To see him maturing from coming as a quarterback to playing as a freshman in college at receiver to going five years at Tennessee and coming here and earning every opportunity he’s gotten and going on and excelling to getting on the biggest stage and [doing] what he does, it’s been great to see his growth throughout his football career,” Dobbs concluded.
“I know he’s just scratching the surface of the player he can be.”
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast