Seahawks add WR Marquise Goodwin in vote of confidence in QB room

The Seahawks signed Marquise Goodwin, a wide receiver with blistering speed. This tells me Seattle feels they’re set at the quarterback position. The competition at wide receiver helps, too.

The Seahawks made a pair of roster moves this weekend as they headed into this week’s OTAs. In their first move, they released rookie quarterback Levi Lewis. As Lee Vowell writes, he did put up some solid numbers in college, but at 5’11” and 185 pounds, you have to be spectacular to have a shot at an NFL roster. He might very well catch on with another team; we wish him luck.

As the bookend to that roster move, the Seahawks added much-needed depth and competition at the position everyone is talking about in Seattle. Oh, sorry; you thought I was talking about another quarterback, didn’t you? Once again the Hawks zagged when you expected them to zig. Or something like that.

Seahawks add speed to WR group. A lot of speed.

The Hawks added veteran wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, instead of another quarterback. At first glance, that may seem like an odd choice. After all, Seattle has the NFL’s best receiver tandem in the league with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Who needs another receiver when you have those two, right?

The Seahawks, that’s who. Three receiver sets are the standard in today’s NFL. If you were somehow unaware of that, take a look at this chart from Warren Sharp’s incredible website. On average, the league ran that set – two receivers set wide and one in the slot – 61 percent of the time. As you can see, the Hawks came out in the 11 personnel package on 67 percent of their plays. They need a reliable third wideout.

Dee Eskridge is expected to challenge Freddie Swain for that third spot. Eskridge, of course, missed most of last season with a concussion. Swain was spectacular at times, but those times were too infrequent. The Hawks could definitely use some competition here. Enter the newest member of the Seahawks, Marquise Goodwin.

I can confirm he does not have the most spectacular career stats. In eight seasons, he’s only been the full-time start once. 12s will remember Goodwin’s best seasons as they all came with the Niners. His best year was in 2017 when he caught 56 passes for 963 yards. Unfortunately, he only had two touchdowns and needed 105 targets to reach those numbers. He did manage four TDs in the following year. Overall, Goodwin has caught 160 passes for a little over 2600 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Sounds like I’m down on the guy, right? Not at all. He isn’t going to be the best receiver on your team, not unless you’re in real trouble. He doesn’t have great numbers, until you look at this one: 4.27. That was his 40 time in the Combine. Yes, that was nine years ago, but the man still has the speed to burn corners and stretch coverages to the breaking point.

And that’s why I like this signing. He’ll have to show he still has that speed and can cash in on it to beat out Eskridge and Swain, of course. That’s a win for the Seahawks either way. Besides, you know he and DK are going to race. Probably for calamari.

Bringing in Goodwin also tells me that the Seahawks really are happy with the quarterbacks they have. The ageless Ryan Fitzpatrick is still on the market. Cam Newton is still available. It appears that any chance to sign Nick Foles has passed as he’s reported to join the Colts in about a minute. The Hawks have already passed on multiple options at QB. Signing Goodwin tells me they’re going to continue to pass, too.