Jauan Jennings lands on Athlon’s top 50 receivers list

Athlon Sports has released their rankings of the top 50 receivers in college football heading into 2018. The dismissed and now returned Jauan Jennings cracked the list, checking in at No. 42 overall.

Here’s what Athlon had to say of Jennings.

Jennings is on track to return to Tennessee’s receiving corps in 2018. The talented Tennessee native played in just one game due to a wrist injury and was later removed from the team in November. As evidenced by his 2016 totals (40 catches for 580 yards and seven scores), having Jennings back on the field would be a huge boost for the Volunteers.

It’s worth wondering where Jennings would land on this list had he been healthy in 2017. Tennessee certainly could have used his contested catching ability to perhaps spark what turned out to be one of the worst offenses in the FBS.

Jennings at 42nd on this list is probably fair, considering his wildcard status with the Vols. If he returns to form, there’s a massive boost for Tyson Helton’s offense in year one. He isn’t going to take the top off of many defenses, but he can win you some 50-50 ball in tight situations.

I’ll maintain my opinion that Marquez Callaway has the higher ceiling as a receiver, he just doesn’t have the numbers to be placed on a list like this yet. It’s tough not to be excited about the duo that these two are going to form in 2018, but as always, it’s going to come down to the play of the quarterback.

For the sake of both Jennings and Callaway, let’s hope Keller Chryst or Jarrett Guarantano take quickly to the new offense.