Barber: Marquise Goodwin gives 49ers rare deep threat

Forty-Niners fans are pretty fired up about the game their team just played against the Minnesota Vikings. The 49ers lost 32-31 on Sunday, but no one cares about that in the preseason.

There were more important developments. Rookie linebacker Reuben Foster dazzled with a combo of speed and power, blowing up a swing pass in the backfield on one play and barreling over Alex Boone, the 310-pound guard who used to play in Santa Clara, on another. And quarterback Brian Hoyer, eight days after a game symbolized by the ball squirting out of his hand and popping straight up in the air, found his rhythm and completed 12 of 17 passes for 176 yards.

Those performances were notable, but I saw something even more intriguing.

It happened on the 49ers’ fifth offensive play, and it looked like this: Wide receiver Pierre Garcon motioned right to left just before center Daniel Kilgore snapped the ball to Hoyer at 10:37 of the first quarter. The offensive linemen stretched right, and running back Carlos Hyde followed fullback Kyle Juszczyk in the same direction. Meanwhile, Garcon deepened his motion and ran behind Hoyer.

It was a double fake. Rather than handing off, Hoyer planted and threw deep over the middle, where Marquise Goodwin was so alone in the Minnesota secondary that his family, watching on TV, probably worried that he wasn’t making friends in his new home.

Forty-six-yard touchdown, and 7-0 San Francisco.

Granted, the Vikings blew the coverage on the play. Cornerback Xavier Rhodes let Goodwin run by him, and safety Harrison Smith failed to pick up the receiver. But for starved 49ers followers, this was like the finicky food critic tasting the signature dish in the animated movie “Ratatouille.” One bite was all it took to bring back distant, heartbreaking memories.

Yes, the 49ers might actually have a viable deep threat.

Think about how long it’s been since this team boasted a player who could consistently run straight down the field and frighten defensive coordinators.

Torrey Smith, part of the Baltimore crew who beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl, was supposed to be that guy when he signed with San Francisco in 2015. And in fact, Smith averaged a career-best 20.1 yards per catch in his first season out west. But his per-reception average plummeted to 13.4 yards in 2016 and, more important, he scored just seven touchdowns in the two seasons combined.

The problem wasn’t Smith. It was an offense that was shooting blanks, first under Geep Chryst and then under Chip Kelly and Curtis Modkins.

Amble back in time, and looking for 49ers deep threats is like hunting for an operational telephone booth. They really haven’t been seen around here in quite a long time.

The two standout San Francisco wide receivers in the previous decade were Michael Crabtree (2009-2014) and Anquan Boldin (2013-15). Crabtree is nifty after the catch but doesn’t have the speed to separate from cornerbacks. Boldin was as dependable and as tough as they come, but he was a pure possession receiver.

Who else you got? Stevie Johnson? Didn’t work out that way. Randy Moss? Had a few moments, but he was 52 years old in 2012. Ted Ginn Jr.? World-class speed, couldn’t catch the football. Josh Morgan? Eh, not really. Brandon Lloyd? Kind of, but he was so inconsistent and his teams were awful.

Honestly, the closest thing the 49ers have had to a true vertical weapon in recent memory was Vernon Davis, a tight end whose size and speed made a matchup nightmare. To find a wide receiver who fit the bill, you probably have to go back to Terrell Owens. He last played for the 49ers in 2003. And even T.O. was known more for his courage over the middle than his pure speed.

Let’s just say it’s been a while since a long throw from a 49ers quarterback had the power to elicit a gasp rather than a chuckle.

And now here comes Goodwin, a former Olympic long jumper with elite speed. He ran a 4.27-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in 2013. It was the fastest 40 clocked by any player that year, and the fifth fastest ever. The guy can get from Point A to Point B.

The touchdown wasn’t our only evidence of that on Sunday. With a little over 5 minutes left before halftime, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was talking about Minnesota cornerback Trae Waynes, who had just made a tackle.

“I mean, he can just flat-out fly,” Collinsworth said. “ … And they say sometimes he worries about people running past him. They keep trying to convince him, ‘Nobody’s gonna run past you. Don’t worry about that.’?”

On the next play, Hoyer dropped back, felt his pocket pinched from the outside in both directions, and threw quickly down the right sideline. Goodwin had a step on Waynes, but the pass hung; the receiver adjusted as he drifted to the sideline but couldn’t reel it in.

“OK, let me revise that,” Collinsworth said. “Nobody can run with you except maybe Marquise Goodwin, the Olympian.”

As demonstrated by his bobbled ball that turned into an interception against the Broncos a week earlier, Goodwin does not have great hands. But he can get past the cover men like few receivers.

So what’s to prevent Goodwin from becoming the next Torrey Smith, flying down the field and frantically waving his arm while the quarterback fails to see him, or is buried by pass rushers?

Kyle Shanahan’s offense, that’s what. Or at least that is the hope.

The touchdown pass to Goodwin on Sunday was prefaced by a beautiful play design. And that is Shanahan’s calling card. He spent two years as offensive coordinator in Atlanta. In the first season, 2015, the Falcons weren’t particularly explosive. But last year the team-wide yards-per-catch jumped from 11.2 to 13.3. Five of Matt Ryan’s 38 touchdown passes were longer than 40 yards, and nine of them were longer than 30.

Julio Jones ain’t walking in the 49ers’ front door anytime soon. I get that. But a lot of Atlanta’s big chunks of yardage were set up by Shanahan’s play-action and misdirection. He creates opportunities.

These 49ers still have to prove they can run the ball effectively, and that Hoyer can distribute the ball accurately, and that Goodwin can catch the ball consistently enough to justify being on the field. The well-oiled machine has not arrived yet.

But this weekend we caught a glimpse of how it might operate, and for fleeting moments it looked like some of those great 49ers offenses of the past. No, really, it did. You just might have to break out the VHS tapes for confirmation.