Niners Are Betting on Goodwin's Potential
Former Bills wide receiver and 2012 Olympian will bring his elite speed to Kyle Shanahan's new passing game in 2017
By Doug Williams	• Published March 14, 2017 • Updated on March 14, 2017 at 9:27 am
So far in his NFL career, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin hasn't produced the way he or the Buffalo Bills hoped he would when they selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft.
The 2012 Olympic long jumper, multipurpose track star and former University of Texas standout caught just 49 passes over four injury-marred seasons in Buffalo for 780 yards and six touchdowns. He also returned just 22 kickoffs for a 21.3-yard average. His statistics were underwhelming.
But Goodwin, 26, has now signed a two-year deal with the 49ers, who are hoping the improvement he showed in 2016 with a career-best 29 catches will translate into an even better season in the Bay Area in 2017.
Goodwin, too, is hopeful. He says the stats he put up in Buffalo don't represent what he believes he can do as a pro.
Goodwin has exceptional speed and is eager to make it work in Kyle Shanahan's new offensive system.
Goodwin says he wants to show he's "capable of doing everything that everybody else is out there doing, the top receivers. All I've got to do is continue to work hard, continue to do the right thing, be in the right positions and be where I'm supposed to be."
And, as David Fucillo of SB Nation pointed out, Goodwin's deal with the 49ers – as outlined by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle – is filled with incentives. If Goodwin's production increases, so will his paycheck. His two-year deal is for approximately $6 million, with $2 million more available if his production meets standards to add $1 million each year to his payout.
Wrote Fucillo: "Goodwin could end up operating in a role similar to what Kyle Shanahan did with Taylor Gabriel in Atlanta (in 2016). Goodwin is listed at 5-foot-9, 179 pounds to Gabriel's 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, but the extra 14 pounds likely don't make him any slower than Gabriel. The 49ers have possession targets in Pierre Garcon and Jeremy Kerley. Goodwin, Aldrick Robinson and DeAndre Carter are among the receivers who will compete for extensive work stretching out defenses left and right and up and down."
How fast is Goodwin? He ran a 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2013 at 4.27 seconds, the fourth best time in combine history, according to 49ers. com.
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