Why 49ers wide receiver Marquise Goodwin has had the best training camp so far

The San Francisco 49ers have been in camp for more than two weeks now. Among several standouts, wide receiver Marquise Goodwin has been better than any other player.

The San Francisco 49ers signed wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to a two-year, $6 million contract on March 9, 2017, according to spotrac.com.

NFL Insider Ian Rapoport’s tweet couldn’t have been more true.

In 2016, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan deployed wide receiver Taylor Gabriel as his weapon out of the slot. Of course, Shanahan was the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator. The Falcons were on their way to a Super Bowl appearance under Shanahan’s guidance.

Fast forward almost one year, and Shanahan is already working on the same style of game planing in San Francisco.

His receiver of choice: former Buffalo Bill wide receiver Marquise Goodwin.

Goodwin could have a breakout year, as the speedy wide-out has had a tremendous camp by all accounts. Our own Peter Panacy points out a tweet by 49ers beat writer Eric Branch in his article: 49ers training camp: Predicting 2017 depth chart at wide receiver.

Here is Branch’s tweet showing a video of Goodwin beating 49ers no. 1 cornerback Rashard Robinson, on a stop-n-go route:

But it’s not just Panacy and Branch talking about the 49ers new No. 2 receiver’s camp as if it’s impressive. The San Francisco 49ers YouTube page showed off this strong catch on the sideline by the fifth-year wide receiver from Sunday’s camp session.

However, KNBR’s Kevin Jones probably has the best tweet regarding Goodwin’s emergence in 49ers training camp:

If five touchdowns in four days doesn’t convince you, what will?

What Goodwin’s presence means for the 49ers?

To talk about this, let’s take a look at the 49ers receiving corp and dissect it just a little bit. Let’s use Panacy’s list form his article mentioned earlier in this post.

Although for reference, this list is agreeable:

No.1- Pierre Garcon

No. 2- Marquise Goodwin

No. 3- Jeremy Kerley

No. 4- Aldrick Robinson

No. 5- Trent Taylor

No. 6- DeAndre Smelter

Garcon is generally considered a 1B at wide receiver, which is good news. Kerley had a fantastic season last year for the 49ers. He’ll hope to improve on his 667 receiving yards in a more well-oiled offense, despite less targets in all likelihood. Robinson was brought in because of system knowledge. And Taylor will probably be the primary backup to Goodwin because of a similar skill-set. Rookies don’t tend to play right away.

So, you can see that Goodwin has a hold on the no. 2 job. He has performed admirably on the outside in camp. Shanahan will likely move him around though, too.

Why Goodwin will have a breakout year

At only 26 years of age, Goodwin is hitting his prime as an athlete. Goodwin turns 27 in November. He’s transitioning to a system that is proven to use speed well. Also, a lot of players are late bloomers, taking until years four or five of their careers to shine.

Finally, Goodwin took a huge leap forward last season in Buffalo, when he amassed 29 receptions for 431 yards and three touchdowns in his nine starts.

Next: John Lynch: 49ers will play starters more than usual in preseason opener

Sometimes a fresh start is all a player needs to leap forward. We’ll see if Goodwin Takes a leap in 2017.

Prediction that’s not even bold if you’re following Niners’ camp: Goodwin will be a consistent deep threat throughout 2017.