Ineligible Man Downfield: A conversation about Odell Beckham Jr.
Plus the various news and notes you might have missed.
So, what now for OBJ?
Chris Manning: So, Jordan, Odell Beckham Jr.’s season is done due to an ACL tear. Your reaction to that news was what? And has it changed since?
Jordan Zirm: My reaction to that news was genuine despair for Odell. He played hurt all through a dismal 2019 season, and never seemed able to get comfortable after the offseason trade from the Giants. By all accounts, he’d worked his ass off during rehab, had grown comfortable in Cleveland living his with girlfriend, and had found some semblance of peace. For him to get hurt, chasing down an interception, no less is such a huge bummer.
Injury aside, it is a fascinating offensive experiment moving forward. Baker Mayfield has played his best football without Beckham and his worst with him. If the second half of the Bengals game is any indication, there’s going to be some tough decisions to be made this offseason.
CM: So, I sort of hate that that’s where we are with this. When this news broke, I flipped on Get Up and First Take to see how they’d cover it and the discussion was about his future and Cleveland without him. It just felt kind of wrong.
But I also get it. That’s how we talk about sports, for better or for worse.
I also don’t buy that him and Baker aren’t compatible. The data suggests otherwise, as does the tape, but it doesn’t doesn’t vibe with me. To me, I just think last year obviously went so wrong and that this year was so limited coming in that it’s hurt Mayfield’s chemistry with Beckham. Mayfield has chemistry with Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins from 2018. He has a natural affinity for tight ends like Harrison Bryant dating back to Oklahoma.
So, for me, I don’t really see why you’d try and move on from Beckham unless he really, really wants out or you get a crazy offer in return. He allows for so many things schematically that you can take advantage of and do because of who he is that I can’t give up on it. Like, how many players do pull off the reverse he did against the Cowboys?
I’ll allow that this injury, though, makes it harder to develop that chemistry.
JZ: I would absolutely rather have OBJ on the Brows than not. Jarvis Landry made a great point on Tuesday when he said that Odell opens up things on offense simply just by being on the field. For whatever reason, the chemistry just hasn’t been there with him and Baker, and I do think there’s something to the idea that Mayfield will ignore where the read on a certain play takes him because he wants to force it to OBJ. Case in point: the interception that OBJ got hurt on. There was no reason to throw that ball, and Baker did it anyway.
But I think you’ve seen what having DeAndre Hopkins has done for Arizona’s offense and Kyler Murray. Having an elite wide receiver is never bad, and I wish OBJ would’ve had more time in this offense and Stefasnki had more time to scheme things up for him. But I do think there will be a real conversation at the end of the season about his future with the team.
CM: What would need to get to trade OBJ? I have such a hard time ascribing value to guys, especially ones coming off an injury.
JZ: That’s a great question. You’d obviously want a lot, and more than the Giants got from the Browns initially. But I think the injury hurts his trade value a bit. I think your still asking for a first-round pick and going from there.
CM: I think that’s right. If you’re trading someone as good as Beckham, you want something that makes it worth it. And a cost-controlled first-round pick is a good thing to have from a team-building perspective. But I wonder if you can get that as he’s coming off an ACL injury and he’s almost 30 years old.
The only thing I feel sure about here is that we are going to be talking about Beckham, his future in Cleveland and what he and Baker are as a duo for the foreseeable future, one way or the other.
ICYMI
Beckham Jr. tore his ACL on Sunday and has been placed on IR
Salute to Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff
The Cavs are going to have a private workout with Obi Toppin
Jarvis Landry doesn’t think the Browns are better without OBJ
Kevin Stefanski says KhaDarel Hodge is ready to return to practice
The Indians laid-off employees from “across the baseball operations department”
Hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo is expected back for next season
The Browns protected four members of its practice squad
They are also slight favorites over the Raiders
PFF with some Harrison Bryant love
One thing to read today
Who we are
Chris Manning: Site Manager at Fear the Sword, co-host of the Locked on Cavs podcast, words at places like Cleveland Magazine and Forbes. On Twitter @cwmwrites
Jordan Zirm: Social editor at @TheCheckdown. Formerly of ESPN Cleveland. Words at B/R, SB Nation and UPROXX. Host of The Rebuild podcast. On Twitter @clevezirm
Photo: USA Today