Shrewd signing
Former Buffalo wide receiver paying big dividends
After he had a momentumshifting drop in a season-opening loss to Carolina, 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin sounded undeterred.
“I know we’ll have many more opportunities because I’m fast as hell,” Goodwin said on Sept. 10. “And I’m going to keep running fast as hell.”
Goodwin’s turnaround from a shaky start didn’t happen overnight, but three months later this is clear: He’s enjoying one hell of a season.
After spending his first four seasons with the Bills as a one-dimensional speedster, the free-agent signee is making the 49ers look shrewd for bringing him aboard with a two-year, $6 million contract in March.
Goodwin, who had 49 catches for 780 yards in 39 games in Buffalo, essentially has matched those figures in 13 games with the 49ers. Goodwin has 41 catches for 783 yards and has a chance to join Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin as the 49ers’ only wide receivers to post a 1,000-yard season since 2003.
In the offseason, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan insisted the 2012 Olympic long jumper could be an all-around wideout. They also admitted they were making something of an educated guess: Goodwin, among the fastest players in the NFL, had been only a deep-ball specialist.
“Just us even studying him on tape, there wasn’t a ton of routes you could see him do,” Shanahan said. “His route tree was pretty limited, and how he had been used. But he’s a guy who has the ability to do a lot of things.”
Goodwin didn’t do too much in the first half of the season. He had crucial drops in each of the first two games and had fewer than 27 yards in five of the first eight weeks, a stretch that ended with a zero-catch stinker in a 30-10 loss at Philadelphia.
However, he has responded since Pierre Garcon, the No. 1 wideout, was lost for the season with a neck injury in the loss to the Eagles. On Monday, Shanahan said Goodwin has “become more of a pro” this season and become more adept at handling on-field adversity.
That has become clear to Shanahan as Goodwin has taken Garcon’s go-to receiver role. In five games without Garcon, Goodwin has more yards (434) than he had in any of his four seasons with the Bills.
“Sometimes people get a lot of experience, and they struggle a little bit, and they get worse because they get intimidated by the situation. It’s a little too much pressure,” Shanahan said. “I think ’Quise has gone the other way.”
Goodwin has reached another level in the two games started by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. With Garoppolo, Goodwin has caught 14 of 20 targets for 205 yards. Before that stretch, Goodwin did not have more than eight catches or 161 yards in back-to-back games.
In the process, Goodwin, who has five receptions of 40plus yards this season, has flashed his all-around skills. He has flourished on intermediate routes or shorter routes that are available because of the cushion cornerbacks offer him because of his speed. In the past two games, only one of his 14 catches has been longer than 20 yards.
In 2018, the 49ers will welcome back Garcon and presumably will look to upgrade at the position in free agency and the draft. They might not have a true No. 1 wideout on their roster, but Goodwin has proven to be, well, a hell of a signing.
“I think his ceiling is extremely high,” Shanahan said. “He has the speed that scares people. He can break down very well. His hands are much better than people realize. He’s a tough guy who’s not scared to compete and not scared to go over the middle.” Receiver signed: The 49ers signed wide receiver Max McCaffrey to their 53-man roster off the Packers’ practice squad, a league source said.
McCaffrey is the older brother of Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey, and his dad, Ed, is a former NFL wide receiver who was a Stanford teammate of 49ers general manager John Lynch.
Max McCaffrey, 23, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Raiders in 2016 after he had 117 receptions for 1,341 yards and 12 touchdowns at Duke. He has also spent time with the Saints and Jaguars. He was with Jacksonville for five games this season and had one catch for 4 yards.
The 49ers have not announced a corresponding roster move. Undrafted rookie wide receiver Victor Bolden was sidelined with an ankle injury in Sunday’s win at Houston and could be a candidate for injured reserve with three games left in the season.