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With the depth the Cleveland Browns have at receiver, combined with the no nonsense attitude of Head Coach Kevin Stefanski, the writing may be on the wall for Odell Beckham Jr. His days wearing the Orange & Brown appear to be coming to a close. A mixture of off the field attitude issues combined with lack of production on it, may spell the end for the high profile receivers time at wide receiver here in Cleveland.
The whole notion of, “Baker Mayfield is better without him”, may seem like hyperbole, but the numbers don’t lie and it is actually quite true. In the 14 games the Browns played with Baker in the lineup in his rookie season, they went 7-7. Mayfield thew for 3725 yards and 27 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.
The following season they regressed with OBJ on the team for all 16 games with Baker, going 6-10. Mayfield threw for 3827 yards, 22 touchdowns and a whopping 21 interceptions. Many fans believed the issue was his constant pressure to feed OBJ the ball, and the lack of chemistry between them.
Last year, in 6 complete games with OBJ in the lineup, the Browns went 4-2, which is clearly good. However, with the exception of the Dallas game, how much did OBJ have to do with any of the other 3 wins? After leaving the Cincinnati game with a season ending injury, the Browns went 8-4 if you count the playoff games. Mayfield went on to play the best football of his career without OBJ in the lineup.
With Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, KhaDarel Hodge and Donovan Peoples-Jones all coming back, along with the draft picks of Anthony Schwartz and Demetric Felton they have depth at the position. Adding to the depth is the fact that tight ends Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant have proven they can be counted on to catch balls as well. Bryant and Hooper combined for 70 catches and 7 touchdowns last year.
So, if the Browns don’t want the headaches and distraction, while realizing the depth they have, then it is time for OBJ to go. But where will he go?
Find out our top 5 landing spots tomorrow in Part Two.
Odell is gonna stick around one more year with Jarvis. After this year the Browns will re-evaluate the situation, as they ain’t paying two receivers 30 million a year much longer. DPJ and Schwartz are developmental guys and Felton is more of third down back than receiver. Hodge is a special teams guy and Higgins is decent. I wouldn’t count on this group staying intact past this year.
I’m with you that I don’t think he’s here for long, but I will push back on Baker bring better without Odell. Their First season together, they were winning games in spite of Freddy Kitchens. The only reason we even won those 6 games is because we had a 10 win roster, Freddy was a disaster from a game planning stand point.
Now this year, I think Odell got hurt at the right time. It took half a season to really get Stefanski’s system integrated, and I firmly believe the point that to Odell got hurt was coincidental. Now since he was out, I think Baker GOT better and learned to trust the rest of the receiving core. He may be limited physically, but he’s always been a player that won’t make the same mistake twice. Now with Odell coming back, I think it’s going to unlock a scary layer of the passing attack that we haven’t gotten to see yet.