In March, 2019, the Cleveland Browns sent a 2019 first-round pick, a 2019 third-round pick and safety Jabrill Peppers to the Giants for the services of receiver Odell Beckham Jr. In five seasons with the Giants, the 2014 first-round pick out of LSU ranked 11th in the NFL in receptions (390), 10th in targets (622), seventh in receiving yards (5,476), and third in receiving touchdowns (44). He also became the fastest player in NFL history to reach both 200 career receptions and 4,000 career receiving yards. Beckham did all that despite playing in just 44 games through those five seasons — he played in just four games and had just two starts in 2017 due to an ankle injury, and a quadriceps issue cost him the final four games of the 2018 season, his last with Big Blue.
Beckham also left behind a litany of amazing catches that seemed out of the skill set of most other people playing his position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCkAbxVvWw4
During his time with the Browns, Beckham’s productivity has been far more in question. 2019 was the usual good-season-when-healthy — 74 catches on 133 targets for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns in a dysfunctional offense led by head coach Freddie Kitchens.
In Week 7 of the 2020 season under new head coach and offensive shot-caller Kevin Stefanski, Beckham — who had caught just 23 passes on 43 targets for 319 yards and three touchdowns — suffered a torn ACL that ended his season. The recovery from that injury also cost him the first two games of the 2021 season, and he made his season debut against the Bears in a 26-6 win in which Beckham caught five passes on seven targets for 77 yards.
That seemed like a nice way to get back in the swing of things, but in the next two games — 1 14-7 Week 4 win over the Vikings, and last Sunday’s heartbreaking 47-42 loss to the Chargers — Beckham caught just four passes on 10 targets for 47 yards. Quarterback Baker Mayfield’s inability to connect with Beckham as the Chargers erased and overcame Cleveland’s 27-13 third-quarter lead seemed the last straw for a lot of Browns observers. Now, the only talk about Beckham seems to be what the team could get in trade for him.
It’s not that Beckham isn’t getting opportunities — through Cleveland’s first five games, only running back Kareem Hunt (20) has more targets than Beckham’s 19, but Beckham has caught just nine of those passes (a 47.4% completion rate) for 124 yards and no touchdowns. And remember, that’s with Beckham playing just three of those games. Beckham is also the team’s most targeted deep receiver, with seven targets of 20 or more air yards. He’s caught just one of those passes for 26 yards.
So, Beckham isn’t the odd man out from an opportunity perspective, but he obviously is when it comes to results. That’s not the way the team perceives it, at least in public. Mayfield was asked once again about this week (it is a constant topic in press conferences), and he amplified the idea that Beckham provides value in ways that don’t show up in pure stats.
“For one, the run game, he was off the charts physicality-wise. We talk about our identity is run first and we are physical team, and we are trying to finish people in the run game and dominate that. You go back and watch him in the run game, and he is physical. You do that, and then go look at Rashard Higgins’ touchdown, and see how many guys are covering Odell compared to Higgy, and you will see exactly what kind of value he brings to us. Whether it is numbers on the outside or whoever wants to put a label on it, we are just trying to win ball games. However that comes, if teams want to roll coverage over the top, he understands that is going to happen. We have to take advantage of his opportunities when they are there because they are not going to come that often. That is the emphasis right now.”
Higgins’ touchdown is a good place to start. The Browns are clearly using Beckham to roll deep and open things up for other receivers. This is both an asset and a liabilty.