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 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Rec | Yds | TD | TD/G |
Cooper Kupp | 17 | 145 | 1947 | 16 | .94 |
Mike Evans | 16 | 74 | 1035 | 14 | .88 |
DeAndre Hopkins | 10 | 42 | 572 | 8 | .80 |
Adam Thielen | 13 | 67 | 726 | 10 | .77 |
Ja'Marr Chase | 17 | 81 | 1455 | 13 | .76 |
Odell Beckham Jr. | 7 | 27 | 305 | 5 | .71 |
D.K. Metcalf | 17 | 75 | 967 | 12 | .71 |
Davante Adams | 16 | 123 | 1553 | 11 | .69 |
Stefon Diggs | 17 | 103 | 1225 | 10 | .59 |
Justin Jefferson | 17 | 108 | 1616 | 10 | .59 |
Antonio Brown | 7 | 42 | 545 | 4 | .57 |
Mike Williams | 16 | 76 | 1146 | 9 | .56 |
Amari Cooper | 15 | 68 | 865 | 8 | .53 |
Allen Lazard | 15 | 40 | 513 | 8 | .53 |
Tyreek Hill | 17 | 111 | 1239 | 9 | .53 |
Hunter Renfrow | 17 | 103 | 1038 | 9 | .53 |
Diontae Johnson | 16 | 107 | 1161 | 8 | .50 |
Tyler Lockett | 16 | 73 | 1175 | 8 | .50 |
Elijah Moore | 11 | 43 | 538 | 5 | .45 |
Corey Davis | 9 | 34 | 492 | 4 | .44 |
Robert Woods | 9 | 45 | 556 | 4 | .44 |
Tee Higgins | 14 | 74 | 1091 | 6 | .43 |
Randall Cobb | 12 | 28 | 375 | 5 | .42 |
K.J. Osborn | 17 | 50 | 655 | 7 | .41 |
A.J. Brown | 13 | 63 | 869 | 5 | .38 |
Keenan Allen | 16 | 106 | 1138 | 6 | .38 |
Marquise Brown | 16 | 91 | 1008 | 6 | .38 |
Brandin Cooks | 16 | 90 | 1037 | 6 | .38 |
Gabriel Davis | 16 | 35 | 549 | 6 | .38 |
CeeDee Lamb | 16 | 79 | 1102 | 6 | .38 |
Deebo Samuel | 16 | 77 | 1405 | 6 | .38 |
Jaylen Waddle | 16 | 104 | 1015 | 6 | .38 |
Cedrick Wilson Jr. | 16 | 45 | 602 | 6 | .38 |
Chris Godwin | 14 | 98 | 1103 | 5 | .36 |
Marquez Callaway | 17 | 46 | 698 | 6 | .35 |
Van Jefferson | 17 | 50 | 802 | 6 | .35 |
Michael Pittman Jr. | 17 | 88 | 1082 | 6 | .35 |
Tyler Boyd | 16 | 67 | 828 | 5 | .31 |
Jauan Jennings | 16 | 24 | 282 | 5 | .31 |
Tim Patrick | 16 | 53 | 734 | 5 | .31 |
Brandon Aiyuk | 17 | 56 | 826 | 5 | .29 |
Robbie Anderson | 17 | 53 | 519 | 5 | .29 |
Kendrick Bourne | 17 | 55 | 800 | 5 | .29 |
Christian Kirk | 17 | 77 | 982 | 5 | .29 |
Terry McLaurin | 17 | 77 | 1053 | 5 | .29 |
Byron Pringle | 17 | 42 | 568 | 5 | .29 |
DeVonta Smith | 17 | 64 | 916 | 5 | .29 |
Amon-Ra St. Brown | 17 | 90 | 912 | 5 | .29 |
Russell Gage | 14 | 66 | 770 | 4 | .29 |
Juwan Johnson | 14 | 13 | 159 | 4 | .29 |
Emmanuel Sanders | 14 | 42 | 626 | 4 | .29 |
Kalif Raymond | 16 | 48 | 576 | 4 | .25 |
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | 16 | 38 | 476 | 4 | .25 |
Mack Hollins | 17 | 14 | 223 | 4 | .24 |
Marvin Jones | 17 | 73 | 832 | 4 | .24 |
Darnell Mooney | 17 | 81 | 1055 | 4 | .24 |
D.J. Moore | 17 | 93 | 1157 | 4 | .24 |
Josh Palmer | 17 | 33 | 353 | 4 | .24 |
Freddie Swain | 17 | 25 | 343 | 4 | .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