11. Odell Beckham Jr., Cleveland Browns
Insert the “Elmo in flames” gif here, because things are spicy right out of the gate.
Outside of the 2017 season, when he was battling injuries, you could pretty much pencil Odell Beckham Jr. in for over 100 targets, over 75 receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards and be pretty confident that you’d hit on those bets. Even last year, Beckham came close to hitting all of those numbers, falling one reception shy of that 75 number.
But watching him in the Cleveland Browns offense in 2019, there were issues. He was good, but it was not the same level of dominance we have grown accustomed to seeing from him in years past. To that point, last season Baker Mayfield threw seven interceptions on passes in his direction, and Mayfield had a passer rating of just 70.5 when targeting Beckham. That was the lowest QB passer rating when targeted of Beckham’s career.
Of course, some of that is on the quarterback, and perhaps even more on the coach. There are reasons that Freddie Kitchens was fired and that Mayfield is under some pressure as 2020 beckons. I mean, are you putting this INT on Beckham’s plate:
Sure, he slows up a bit but Mayfield both overthrows him, and throws this into coverage. Not exactly on the WR.
But what about this interception:
Beckham is open on the dig route and Mayfield delivers a catchable ball, but the pass goes through the receiver’s hands and is intercepted. This is something to watch in 2020. Beckham was charged with seven drops this past season, his most since 2016.
If there is reason for optimism, it comes in the form of Kevin Stefanski. You can see how in the 2020 version of Cleveland’s offense, Beckham will fill the downfield threat role held by Stefon Diggs in the 2019 Minnesota Vikings’ offense. In such a system, Beckham could very well return to the top-flight form we have seen from him in year’s past.