Browns: 5 undeniable awful truths after the first five games
By Chad Porto
The offense needs a real game-changing receiver
The Browns’ passing offense isn’t as good as advertised. Let’s make something very clear, this isn’t the same thing as saying the Browns passing offense isn’t good; it is. They’re good because they have Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, and a killer offensive line. That’s largely it. This team has no other elite pass-catching playmakers, don’t deny it.
Odell Beckham can’t catch easy passes when the game’s on the line and can’t get open when he’s needed. This isn’t even a situation where you can just say “Well it’s only been three games and he’s coming off of an ACL injury”. No, because this isn’t new. This is the same game he’s been bringing to Cleveland for the last 26 games. He hasn’t looked like a game-breaker in each of those 26 games.
He’s had just two (JUST TWO) 100-yard outings in 26 games with Cleveland. They were both in 2019 and he had 133 targets that year. The third most of his career. Of his four seasons where he was targeted at least 130 times, he went to the Pro Bowl three times. Go figure, they were all before his injuries started mounting up.
He had 8 100-yard games in New York. In just his rookie year. In three years he’s had just two. That’s not on Baker Mayfield either, Mayfield is a more accurate quarterback than Eli Manning. Sure, you could argue it’s Kevin Stefanski’s offense, that’s a fair critique because his offense is about clock management and short routes, not deep ball offense. It’s great for a lead, but terrible from behind (more on this later).
What Beckham’s issue is has nothing to do with Mayfield or Stefanski, however. He’s still getting targets. No, he’s just not that good anymore. That’s not up for debate. Sure, he can make a wild-circus-like catch on the sideline but why doesn’t Mayfield go over the top anymore to deep threats? Because he has none. Beckham can’t get past the secondary anymore. Safeties cheat on him and cut off the route, forcing Mayfield to check down. In New York, Manning would just lob it up for Beckham, because who could hang with him?
He’s no longer elite and he hasn’t been for years. To be fair, he wasn’t really a big-time player in New York his last two seasons either; injuries sap athleticism and once it’s gone, it doesn’t come back. This is what he is now.
He can still be a good second option, but he’s not the game-changer everyone thought he would be. If he wants to restructure his deal and take a backseat as the second or third receiver, great, but he’s no longer “WR1”.