The Cleveland Browns acquired wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. last week in exchange for a first round pick in this year’s draft (17th overall), a 3rd round pick in this year’s draft and safety Jabril Peppers.
The Browns paid a fairly steep price for one of the game’s best receivers in the NFL. If Beckham stays healthy however, he is an elite level talent that should thrive playing in head coach Freddie Kitchens offense.
Cleveland is loaded offensively at the skill positions with Beckham, quarterback Baker Mayfield, wide receiver Jarvis Landry, running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (suspended first 8 games) and tight end David Njoku.
In New York, Beckham played on some talented teams but none of those teams had this much talent. There are a lot of mouths to feed in Cleveland. That will impact Beckham’s production.
Beckham has averaged 78 catches, 1,095 yards and 9 receiving touchdowns per season in his five year career. Those are elite numbers. Beckham has also battled a lot of various injuries and has missed time as well.
Beckham’s ADP last season was 12. He was the third receiver drafted in most leagues last season behind Antonio Brown and DeAndre Hopkins.
I would expect Beckham’s ADP to remain steady because he is playing with Mayfield but I would not draft him until the second half of the second round at the earliest. I really believe he will see a dip in production. There is just too much talent around him and that talent needs touches too.
In the end, Beckham will struggle to put up the big numbers we are accustomed to in Cleveland.