3 problems still facing 49ers after 2020 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Elite Speed at Wide Receiver
One of the ways the 49ers were able to move around on day three of the NFL Draft was by trading oft-injured wide receiver Marquise Goodwin to the Philadelphia Eagles, prompting a Round 6 pick swap.
Goodwin, although seldom a factor in the last two years, was Kyle Shanahan’s primary deep threat. Even though the Niners brought aboard Brandon Aiyuk and former Tennessee wideout Jauan Jennings to bolster a questionable receiving corps in support of Deebo Samuel and Kendrick Bourne, there’s not quite the elite-level speed threat San Francisco once had.
Granted, Aiyuk ran a 4.50 40-yard time at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this spring, which isn’t a terrible time at all. But it’s not elite.
Jennings, meanwhile, was north of the 4.70 mark, which isn’t good.
While Shanahan’s offense isn’t predicated entirely on speed, all one needs to do is go back to 2017 and 2018 to see the kind of difference Goodwin made when healthy. Again, the 49ers managed to get by without a true speed threat for much of last season, although one could ask if fellow wideout Richie James somehow figures into the equation more in 2020.
Still, missing on one of the bigger speed threats in the NFL Draft could create some complications for Shanahan or, at the very least, force him to rely more on scheming instead of opening up secondaries.