Highlights

Strengths

Gary Jennings Jr. showed his versatility in his junior and senior seasons with West Virginia. As a junior he caught 97 passes for over 1,000 yards and as a senior caught 54 passes, including 13 touchdowns. Jennings showed strong hands and consistently found the first down marker on third downs. Jennings does an excellent job of putting his body between the ball and the defender. Gary also showed strong after-catch skills including the ability to drag weaker cornerbacks or step through leg tackles. Gary is underrated as a blocker, where he has shown a willingness to engage in the run game.

Weaknesses

Jennings showed speed but rarely was able to beat cornerbacks in short-area routes. Jennings often played as a slot receiver for the Mountaineers and it brings into question how capable Jennings is of beating a player straight off the line. Gary helped answer some of these questions at the Combine where he ran a 4.42 but his film showed a player who didn’t play with that speed all of the time.

Possible Fits

Possession receivers are the undervalued player of any offense. Everyone is aware that linemen are necessary and quarterbacks are based on scheme but a guy who can find the first down marker, catch the ball with strong hands while falling out of bounds, those guys pick up plays when they matter.

A team like Arizona or New York that already have those types of players aren’t likely to pick up Jennings, but a team like Atlanta who has Julio Jones and could use another reliable catcher in their offense is a good bet. Teams that like physical receivers like the Steelers could also look at Gary

Outlook

Because he doesn’t have the height, standing only a 6’-1” and played in an offensive scheme designed to help maximize the passing game, teams are going to overlook Jennings in the first few rounds, but I fully believe Gary is one of the more underrated players in this draft. He could be as early as a Day 2 pick or an early Day 3 selection.

Projection that will be wrong: Gary Jennings - pick #79 to Atlanta