The last time the San Francisco 49ers had a 1,000-yard receiver was in 2014 when Anquan Boldin caught 83 passes from Colin Kaepernick for 1,062 yards. The drought could end this year.
With 783 yards receiving, Marquise Goodwin is just 217 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season with three games left to play. Of course, when you factor every game he has played this year, he is on pace for 964 yards, which would just miss the milestone.
When you throw out a Week 8 performance at Philadelphia where he had no catches, that number increases to 979 receiving yards. That's closer, but not quite there.
Now, let's take a look at his two games with Jimmy Garoppolo as his starting quarterback. Goodwin has caught 14 passes for 205 yards. If that trend continues in these final three games, the receiver will cross the threshold with 1,090 receiving yards.
Garoppolo threw an interception early against the Houston Texans, but kept his poise and guided the 49ers to their third win of the season. He finished the game completing 20 of 33 pass attempts for a single-game career-high 334 yards, a touchdown, and the interception.
"This game moves so fast that you just have to really move on to the next play, whether it be a good or a bad play," Goodwin said following Sunday's win over the Texans. "When we start out shakey like that, you've got a guy like Jimmy who's like, 'Hey guys, it's alright. But we can't let it happen again. Let's go. Let's get it going.' He does a great job at managing the huddle and keeping everybody composed throughout the game."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan feels the same way about Goodwin.
"I think [Goodwin has] learned a lot about himself, and we've learned a lot about him throughout the year," Shanahan said on Monday. "He's a guy to me who's become more of a pro in a good way as the year has gone on. He just knows how to handle it each day. I think he's done a better job overcoming negative things that happened in the game and rebounding, letting one play move on and go to the next. I think it's really carried over to him getting better too."
The 49ers have now won three of their last four games and look to finish the season strong. They will host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and then the Jacksonville Jaguars. San Francisco will travel to play the Los Angeles Rams in its finale.
"Winning is hard to do, especially in this league, surrounded by such great athletes, good coaches," Goodwin said. "It's just hard to do so when you get one, and then you get another back-to-back, it kind of becomes a habit, and you want to form those good habits. Especially leading into the end of the year, we want to finish strong, finish as a team, and have high hopes for next year, so I think we're getting the ball rolling. Things are starting to fall into place, and I'm just thankful for that."
Over the course of the 49ers' first seven weeks, Goodwin had 20 receptions. Over the past three weeks, he has nearly as many with 18. Goodwin's play has elevated since the beginning of the season. That may have started when he caught an 83-yard touchdown during Week 10 against the New York Giants, which set the pace for the 49ers' emotional first victory of the season.
"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 scared to go over the middle. I think he's getting a lot of experience this year that he's never had before."
