Minnesota Vikings Week 1 Matchup Nightmare: Marquise Goodwin

The San Francisco 49ers wideout broke out toward the end of last season and is a major threat for the Minnesota Vikings’ defense.

When players come into the NFL, they have plenty of athleticism to go around. With blazing 40-times and freakish vertical jumps, the show that some of these prospects put on is enough to make team scouts have to wipe the drool off their polos by the end of the afternoon.

While any NFL player compared to an average human being can be considered a freak of nature, every once in a while the NFL is introduced to an Olympic athlete that takes the standard and puts it into a different level.

The problem here is that there is a big difference between being an elite athlete and a productive NFL player. For the first four seasons of his career, San Francisco 49ers wideout Marquise Goodwin looked to be a guy that had world-class traits (and was an Olympic long jumper), but couldn’t play wide receiver. After a breakout 2017 season, he appears on the verge of making that transition.

After being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2013 draft, Goodwin was handicapped in an offense that has failed to take to other prominent receivers such as Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins. As a result, the Texas product put up an underwhelming line of 49 catches, 680 yards, and six touchdowns.

Last season, the stars began to align for Goodwin as he joined forces with Kyle Shanahan. The former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator was able to find a role for Taylor Gabriel during the Falcons’ run to the Super Bowl a year ago and after being gifted with an even faster toy, things started to click — especially once San Francisco acquired Jimmy Garoppolo.

In Goodwin’s final five games of the season (all Garoppolo starts), the speedster went on a tear racking up 29 catches for 384 yards and a touchdown. A key reason for this was the improvement in his route running as he ran more routes in the short and intermediate passing game.

Because of his tear to end the season, the 49ers sank a three-year, $18.85 million extension into Goodwin and view him as the number one option in the passing game ahead of veteran Pierre Garçon and rookie Dante Pettis.

As he comes to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, it might be easy for Minnesota Vikings fans to write him off with a simple “Rhodes Closed,” but Goodwin has gotten the best out of the Vikings’ defensive backs before scoring a 46-yard touchdown in a preseason game on August 27, 2017.

While his score against the Vikings came in the preseason, it’s still an example of what he can do. Yes, most of his routes are coming in the intermediate game instead of the deep game, but that just makes Goodwin a better receiver than he was the last time he faced the Vikings (even if it didn’t count).

If the Minnesota Vikings don’t want to start off their “all-in” 2018 season on a sour note, they’ll have to keep clamps on Goodwin.