Cleveland Browns: There’s a lot of truth in the criticism of Odell Beckham

An anonymous player levied some scathing criticisms against Odell Beckham and the Cleveland Browns should be listening.

The Cleveland Browns need to understand who Odell Beckham is because it seems like the team and the fanbase is getting lost in the hype. Beckham isn’t a game-changer. He may have had elite athleticism once, whether he has it still is anyone’s guess, but that hasn’t proven to do anything in the way of wins. Beckham has been in the league for six seasons In all that time, he’s been on one winning team.

The 2016 New York football Giants.

So when an anonymous veteran player went on to say that Beckham’s ability to win you games is in serious doubt; believe it.

"The whole game seems like a lot for him. At some point, you have to say none of your teams have been successful. At some point you have to wonder about that,” said the anonymous veteran player."

Defenders of Beckham will say “But look at 2016! They won with him then!”

No, they won in spite of him, actually. The Giants that year were 24th in total offensive yards, 13th in passing touchdowns, last in rushing touchdowns, but 10th in yards against. Yup, the 2016 New York Giants were led by a stellar defense. Landon Collins rose to superstardom with his play that year, and current Browns player Olivier Vernon and Jason Pierre-Paul put together two respectable seasons on the defensive line as both ends had over 50 total tackles, with Vernon having 17 tackles for a loss. They also had key players like Eli Apple and Jonathan Casillas step up in huge ways.

The defense was stellar all year long.

Yet in 2017, injuries and regression issues with key defensive players Keenan Robinson, Devon Kennard, Apple, and most notably linebacker Casillas destroyed the defense abilities to repeat the 2016 campaign. Offensively speaking they were much higher rated than their 2016 counterparts. Going from the 26th ranked offense in 2016 to the 21st in 2017.

That’s with Beckham being injured for most of the season. You could argue that a healthy Beckham would’ve changed the team’s record and to that I’d say, no, probably not. In 2014 and 2015, the Giants offense was one of the best in the league, ranking in the top 10 both seasons. Yet in both seasons they only mustered six wins.

Clearly the defense was the key to that team’s turnaround in 2016. The injuries on defense were key to its demise. Beckham, frankly, didn’t impact the game as much as people like to assume. Sure, he had some highlight-reel catches, and he was Manning’s number one target but when your offense is built around Beckham you aren’t going to win because of your offense.

The Browns don’t have to build their offense around Beckham and aren’t going to in 2020. Yet, with Beckham’s obvious erratic and unpredictable behavior, his me-first demeanor, and the fact that he’s constantly finding himself in trouble within and out of the league, Beckham has proven that he can’t be relied upon to step up.

Factor that onto his declining play, his inability to stay or be healthy for an entire season, and the fact that he’s now been accused of giving up in games and you can see why this anonymous player is right about Beckham.

Fans keep making excuses for him. They keep saying that “Oh he had a down year because he was hurt”, “Oh didn’t play well because he was learning a new playbook”, “Oh it was Baker/Eli’s fault!”

It’s been three seasons since he last put up great numbers.

In those same three seasons, his good buddy Jarvis Landry has wrecked the league. That’s with Mayfield and Jay Cutler throwing him the ball. Landry played the 2019 season with hip issues. Landry still caught 60% of his passes, while Beckham only 55%. Landry had just five more targets in 2019 than Beckham did, yet put up great numbers while also playing hurt.

While also learning a new playbook. While also playing with Mayfield.

The facts and stats don’t lie; there’s truth in this criticism of Beckham.