Thumbing Marquise Goodwin: Eagles beat writers rate the trade for the former 49ers wide receiver

Thumbs sideways

Since they got him for next to nothing — a 20-position swap of draft picks in the sixth round — it’s hard to call the Eagles’ acquisition of Marquise Goodwin a bad deal. I mean, if somebody gives you a Lamborghini and it only starts one out of every seven days, it’s not a good deal, but it’s not quite a bad deal either since you got it for free.

As with the three wideouts they added in the draft, Goodwin can run fast. Really, really fast. His 4.27 40-yard dash at the 2013 scouting combine is tied for the fifth fastest ever at the predraft event.

That’s the good news. The bad news is he’s basically had just one exceptional season in his seven-year career — 2017 when he caught 59 passes for 962 yards with the 49ers — has inconsistent hands — four drops in 21 targets last season — and has trouble staying healthy. Other than that, how’d you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

He has caught more than 29 passes in a season just once and has had more than 17 catches just three times.

He has missed 12 games the last two years after that breakout season in ’17. With the Niners last year, he fell below Deebo Samuel, Emmanuel Sanders and Kendrick Bourne on the depth chart, played in just nine games, and finished the season on injured reserve with knee and foot injuries.

Given their new hope-is-not-a-strategy approach to players who are injury risks, Goodwin isn’t a guy Howie Roseman probably would’ve touched under normal circumstances. But the guy is fast and the Eagles don’t need him to catch 70 passes and all they had to do to get him was move back a few spots in the sixth round. And if he gets hurt again or doesn’t play well enough to earn a roster spot, they can just wave bye-bye to him and feel no remorse.

Thumbs sideways

Hard to rip the acquisition since they pretty much got him for free, but I am wary.

Marquise Goodwin, 5-foot-9, 192, would have been a nifty addition after his 2017 season, in which he caught 56 passes for 962 yards. Even then, though, Goodwin had to be targeted 105 times to amass such numbers. Since 2017, his career has gone like this: He catches a few passes, he gets injured, he catches a few passes, he gets injured, etc. I’m not sure he makes the team if the Eagles really are serious about holding on to Alshon Jeffery, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside shows a pulse.

I can’t believe the way the team is hyping this pickup. Howie Roseman called him “one of the fastest men in the world,” which was true at one point, not at all sure it still is today, as Goodwin looks to turn 30 in November. Carson Wentz, when asked if the team has done enough this offseason to upgrade the weapons around him, went into a riff about having watched film of Goodwin through the years, and having found him “impressive.”

Well, last season, Goodwin played in nine games before going on IR. He caught 12 passes, on 21 targets, for 186 yards. Mack Hollins played in a dozen 2019 Eagles games before being released, catching 10 passes, on 22 targets, for 125 yards.

Nothing against Goodwin, who is here on a one-year deal for $1.35 million, but if he turns out to be a difference-maker, I’ll be shocked.

Thumbs up

It’s not a given that Goodwin will make the Eagles roster when it’s all said and done — perhaps he’ll be on the opening-day roster but put on IR at some point — but they got a player who has a chance to make an impact next season by simply moving 20 spots down in the sixth round of the draft.

With Goodwin in the fold, all of a sudden the Eagles have far more burners than they do bullies in their receiving corps. Alshon Jeffery, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and, you guessed it, Rob Davis are the only big contested-catch wideouts on the roster. Davis doesn’t figure to be in the team’s long-term plans, Jeffery is regressing, and Arcega-Whiteside is coming off an underwhelming rookie season.

As it stands right now, the Eagles will roll out Jalen Reagor, DeSean Jackson and whomever they choose between the rest of the nine receivers they have to pick from. Goodwin could be the third, but that’s a pretty redundant group of undersize,, fast receivers. It’s far more likely a guy like Greg Ward or maybe a resurgent Arcega-Whiteside takes that spot.

So why a thumbs up for the acquisition of a player with a vast injury history and a chance of getting cut before Week 1? Because the Eagles have clearly learned their lesson about going into a season with just one respectable deep threat. At the time, many ripped Roseman for going into last year with one burner in DeSean Jackson, who has an injury history, without a backup plan. If Marquise Goodwin becomes DeSean Jackson insurance for the low cost of 20 spots in the sixth round, it’s a good move.