How Former Tiger Odell Beckham, Jr. Won NFL OROY
By Scotty Nola
If you asked an average fan what they thought of Giants rookie Odell Beckham, Jr. two months into the season they would have rolled their eyes and called him the top prospect for biggest bust of the draft. He was a controversial selection all through the draft process, with none of the pundits rating him as one of the top 2 wideouts in the class and no one expecting him to go in the top 10. The NFL.com website even rated him a borderline first rounder, 31st highest prospect.
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Draft pundits all liked his speed and playmaking ability, but considered him undersized and likely to have trouble facing press coverage and fighting for tough balls in close quarters.
LSU fans hearing this just rolled their eyes. Even the draft pundits who liked him considered him just another guy in a deep class of wideouts. Getting hurt in training camp and missing the first month of the season didn’t help his cause. Being broken in slow when he finally did show up to the tune of 10 total receptions in his first 3 pro games didn’t help him out much either.
By this time when people were wondering out loud if this pick was a bust. Giants players were joining LSU fans in rolling their eyes at that statement. They had been practicing with Beckham and knew what he was capable of pulling off when someone threw a football his way:
November was a different story. OBJ started his turkey month by breaking out with 8 catches for 156 yards against a playoff bound Indy team. That sparked a stretch of 9 games where he broke 100 yards 7 times and caught 9 touchdowns. Of course the fourth game in this stretch was the one that introduced the rest of the world to the athletic marvel that is OBJ.
According to his stat sheet he racked 10 catches for 146 yards and 2 TDs against the Dallas Cowboys under the prime time lights. A great game by any standard, but no one really remembers the stats he put up. They remember the catch.
An impossible looking play that had people wondering if it was the greatest catch in NFL history. Maybe, but those of us who have followed his career know that we should expect more of the same from the best player to come out of LSU in recent years. After all, he has been doing this in practices, warmups and games for years now, first as a Tiger, then a Giant, even pulling some of it out as the NFL’s Pro Bowl game.
By the time all was said and done Odell Beckham, Jr. went from the 12th overall selection in the rookie draft to the 4th overall selection in the pro bowl draft. He was the most recognizable star of this years rookie class, and probably the most famous LSU player since Dennis Quaid and John Goodman, who weren’t even real LSU players in real life OR the movie they made based on Billy Cannon’s career. I’m already looking forward to seeing what Eli throws his way next year, after all, he’s just getting started.