Odell Beckham Jr has become a superstar in this league. To be honest, he’s one of the more colorful characters and has been since he’s entered the league. Over the years, he’s been in the news for both the right and wrong reasons. The one thing I’ve always held against him is his sideline antics. Whether he’s getting the ball or not, he hasn’t always been a model citizen on the sideline. I understand he’s been up and down since coming to Cleveland. Also, understand that the play-calling has been suspect at times because they don’t dial his number. Although the Browns won a shootout yesterday, Odell was lost for the remainder of the game with a knee injury. Today, the news came out that he tore his ACL and he’s done for the year.
When he’s getting the football and his head is on straight, he’s regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the league. The one-handed catches of course stand out. What he doesn’t get credit for is what he does after he catches the ball. Odell gets in and out of cuts with pure speed and power. You can try jamming him at the line of scrimmage and he can handle the physicality. In space, he displays the shiftiness of a running back. Whenever the ball hits his hands, you think he has a chance of scoring. I’ve seen him catch passes on short slant routes and take it to the house.
It’s tough to replace a guy of Odell’s caliber. His presence on the field opens lanes up for Jarvis Landry, David Njoku, and any other weapon on that Cleveland offense. As Kevin Stefanski said, it’ll take a group effort to replace him. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
