San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin may only have 23 receptions this season, but he has already matched the team leader in receiving yards and done so with 17 fewer catches. His next reception will put him over the top because the team's leading receiver, Pierre Garçon, is out for the season with a neck injury.
Goodwin is showing flashes of becoming the deep receiving threat that the 49ers envisioned him to be. His 21.7 yards per reception ranks first in the NFL among players with 10-or-more catches. When comparing receivers with 20-or-more catches, Goodwin's average is more than T.Y. Hilton (20.1) of the Indianapolis Colts and Brandin Cooks (17.5) of the New England Patriots.
Goodwin is on pace for 37 receptions and 800 yards this season, which would eclipse the career high of 29 receptions for 431 yards he had last season with the Buffalo Bills. He only has one touchdown reception, but it was a memorable one that came on November 12 against the New York Giants. It set the tone for the 49ers offense on the way to the team's first victory of the season.
Of course, the story that dominated the headlines in the days that followed was Goodwin playing despite dealing with the personal tragedy of losing his baby boy in the hours that preceded the game.
Goodwin's wife, Morgan, encouraged her husband to play and cheered from the hospital as he scored his first touchdown of the season.
"I was in the hospital, on the bed watching and I bust out crying," Morgan said during an interview last week, "and I immediately said, 'That was for you baby.'"
The 49ers signed Goodwin to a two-year, $6 million contract on March 9.
