Odell Beckham Jr. has been a star since his rookie year when he made the famous one handed catch in the divisional game against the Dallas Cowboys. Since then he has been at the center of many highlight reels but also many controversies including outbursts of rage on the sideline, drama within the Giants organization, drama outside of the facility and now has signed with the Rams after drama in Cleveland.
Odell Upside
Let’s start with the positives he’s shown since being with the Browns. When he first signed with them in 2019 he had a good first season, posting over 1,000 yards receiving even though he only had 4 touchdowns. Many people thought this would be his opportunity to bring his career to the former glory it had been in New York.
In 2020 he only played 7 games but in those seven he racked up just over 300 yards but also had 3 touchdowns. Only one less than the year prior when he had 4 through all 16 games. He wasn’t posting the yardage most people thought he was capable of posting but his points output was increasing and that’s what matters at the end of the game.
Unfortunately though, that’s about the end of Odells contributions in Cleveland. Things start to get much more bleak when looking at his stats after his injury.
Odell Downside
Odell simply has not been the WR1 level receiver he looked like he could be back in 2014. He has not had a 10+ touchdown season since 2016 and it only gets worse from there. His production has slowly but surely declined and it does not seem to be at the hands of his quarterback.
Since joining the Browns he had been catching balls thrown by Baker Mayfield. Baker is not the best QB in the league but he certainly isn’t the worst either. Other receivers never seemed to have an issue with Baker and how he throws but suddenly Odell did. He argued Baker chose not to throw to him even when he was open and granted, sometimes Baker would straight up miss throws but he does that on occasion to every receiver, most guys do, it happens.
The reason Odell wasn’t putting up great numbers was not because of who was throwing him the ball, it was because of his own performances. Since 2018 Odells catch percentage has been steadily decreasing every year. In 2018 it was 62.1%, in 2019 55.6%, 2020 53.5%, and 2021 so far only 50%. This is why Odell has not been performing well and it’s nobody’s fault but his own.
With an elite proven QB like Matthew Stafford now throwing him the ball he will not be able to blame the guy throwing the rock. Any failures will squarely fall on him and him alone. If he continues down this path of mediocrity he will show exactly why I think this signing was a waste of money for the Rams.
