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The emergence of Jimmy Garoppolo in the San Francisco 49ers starting lineup has brought with it a big step forward by wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. In Week 15, Goodwin had his biggest game of the season, catching a career high ten receptions and near career high 114 receiving yards.
Pro Football Focus released their All-Week 15 team on Tuesday, and they included Goodwin. The receiver gained 2.65 yards per route run, and dominated Tennessee Titans cornerback Adoree’ Jackson much of the day.
The favorite target of Jimmy Garoppolo this week against the Titans, Marquise Goodwin saw 13 passes thrown his way over the entire game, catching ten of them for 114 yards, 25 of which came after the catch. His chief victim was rookie corner Adoree’ Jackson, who saw nine of those targets and surrendered seven of the receptions for 77 yards.
Goodwin has quickly emerged as Garoppolo’s favorite receiver. In three starts, Garoppolo has connected with Goodwin 24 times for 319 yards. Just to compare, in his first three seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Goodwin had 20 receptions for 349 yards. Goodwin currently has 51 receptions for 897 yards. Based on his full-year stats, he is on pace for 1,025 yards. If he maintains his three-game Garoppolo pace, he would finish with 1,109 yards.
The 49ers close out the season against two of the three best pass defenses in the NFL. Football Outsiders ranks the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams No. 1 and No. 3 against the pass, respectively. They rank the Jaguars and Rams No. 1 and No. 11, respectively, against opposing No. 1 wide receivers. Suffice to say, this will be a big challenge for Jimmy Garoppolo, and just as big for Goodwin’s continued career year.