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Odell Beckham

Better than you think

Odell Beckham is working out for teams in Arizona today, hoping to prove he's fully recovered from tearing his ACL in the Rams-Bengals Super Bowl more than a year ago. My initial reaction was skepticism, with Beckham 30 and well removed from his last big season. But that might be unfair.

Looking at his various full seasons, his last good one was 2019, when he caught 74 passes for 1,035 yards and 4 TDs with Cleveland. He went for only 319 yards in a half season with Cleveland in 2020, then just 537, total, while splitting 2021 between the Browns and Rams. He averaged just 38 yards per game that year.

But once he got out of Cleveland and was working with Matthew Stafford on top of his game, Beckham was pretty impressive -- as a scorer, at least. In seven full games with the Rams the second half of the season -- I'm ditching his first game, where he played only 15 snaps -- Beckham caught 5 touchdowns. Only five wide receivers had better scoring rates that year. (Table shows Beckham's numbers with the Rams.)

WIDE RECEIVER TDS PER GAME, 2021
PlayerGRecYdsTDTD/G
Cooper Kupp17145194716.94
Mike Evans1674103514.88
DeAndre Hopkins10425728.80
Adam Thielen136772610.77
Ja'Marr Chase1781145513.76
Odell Beckham Jr.7273055.71
D.K. Metcalf177596712.71
Davante Adams16123155311.69
Stefon Diggs17103122510.59
Justin Jefferson17108161610.59
Antonio Brown7425454.57
Mike Williams167611469.56
Amari Cooper15688658.53
Allen Lazard15405138.53
Tyreek Hill1711112399.53
Hunter Renfrow1710310389.53
Diontae Johnson1610711618.50
Tyler Lockett167311758.50
Elijah Moore11435385.45
Corey Davis9344924.44
Robert Woods9455564.44
Tee Higgins147410916.43
Randall Cobb12283755.42
K.J. Osborn17506557.41
A.J. Brown13638695.38
Keenan Allen1610611386.38
Marquise Brown169110086.38
Brandin Cooks169010376.38
Gabriel Davis16355496.38
CeeDee Lamb167911026.38
Deebo Samuel167714056.38
Jaylen Waddle1610410156.38
Cedrick Wilson Jr.16456026.38
Chris Godwin149811035.36
Marquez Callaway17466986.35
Van Jefferson17508026.35
Michael Pittman Jr.178810826.35
Tyler Boyd16678285.31
Jauan Jennings16242825.31
Tim Patrick16537345.31
Brandon Aiyuk17568265.29
Robbie Anderson17535195.29
Kendrick Bourne17558005.29
Christian Kirk17779825.29
Terry McLaurin177710535.29
Byron Pringle17425685.29
DeVonta Smith17649165.29
Amon-Ra St. Brown17909125.29
Russell Gage14667704.29
Juwan Johnson14131594.29
Emmanuel Sanders14426264.29
Kalif Raymond16485764.25
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine16384764.25
Mack Hollins17142234.24
Marvin Jones17738324.24
Darnell Mooney178110554.24
D.J. Moore179311574.24
Josh Palmer17333534.24
Freddie Swain17253434.24

Beckham elevated his game in the postseason that year, too. In his three full games in Los Angeles' postseason run, he went 4-54-1, 6-69-0 and 9-113-0. In the Super Bowl he went for 52 yards and a touchdown -- before tearing his ACL.

If he's healthy, no reason to think he can't be that player a year later, in the right situation. I will be interested to see where he signs. (The Giants, who could use a wide receiver, will be one of the teams in attendance at his workout today.) You never know.

--Andy Richardson

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