Yahoo Sports NFL player prop of the day: Does Odell Beckham Jr. have a big season left in him?
The Cleveland Browns have to be wondering what happened to Odell Beckham Jr. on his trip from New York to Ohio.
The version of Beckham that shined with the New York Giants and the Browns paid dearly for in a trade has not shown up yet. Beckham averaged 92.8 yards per game with the Giants. He scored 44 touchdowns in 59 games, with a severely declining Eli Manning throwing him the ball. When he came to Cleveland, everyone expected him to be an elite receiver.
Beckham has been average with the Browns. He has averaged 58.9 yards per game. He has seven touchdowns in 23 games. He has gone from being perhaps the NFL's biggest non-quarterback star to mostly an afterthought.
If he can recapture his Giants form, bettors could cash in.
Odell Beckham Jr. looks for a rebound
BetMGM's total for Beckham's receiving yards this season is 925.5. In his Giants days, that would have been an easy over bet. Now, it's not so certain.
Beckham is coming off an ACL tear, which complicates things. He has missed 25 games over the last four seasons. He has a durability question and also questions on if he can click with Baker Mayfield. Even before the ACL injury, Beckham had just 319 yards in seven games. That's 45.6 yards per game.
A narrative emerged that Mayfield is better off without Beckham, after he played his best in the second half with Beckham out. Perhaps that's true, but there's some nuance involved too. Cleveland opened up the offense later in the season. Mayfield played better when more was put on his plate. Presumably he'd have played even better with Beckham making plays.
The new offensive approach under Kevin Stefanski should carry over, and that could help Beckham. No matter what has happened in Cleveland, Beckham is still an elite talent and now Stefanski can have more trust in Mayfield and the passing game going forward.
Beckham has excuses for his numbers the past couple seasons. In 2019 he played all 16 games but said he had a sports hernia all season. After the season he had surgery to repair a core muscle. It's harder to give him the injury excuse for 2020, but in an odd offseason with a new coach, the Browns relied heavily on the run game early in the season. Beckham had just 43 targets in seven games before the injury, well below his career norm.
It's possible Beckham will never recapture what he had with the Giants, he'll never be healthy for a full season again and simply doesn't click with Mayfield for whatever reason. But 925.5 yards isn't too high of a bar to cross. It's just 54.4 yards per game. It's hard to depend on Beckham to stay healthy, and that's the biggest problem in taking the over. But if Beckham stays healthy, he should have a 1,000-yard season. Maybe well beyond 1,000. The talent is undeniable. Mayfield is coming off a great finish to last season. Cleveland will still lean on Beckham as its No. 1 receiver. He'll have many opportunities to make big plays downfield.
Beckham isn't the star he was a couple years ago. But he could rekindle that with a big season. Expect enough of a bounce back to cash an over ticket.
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