Even a marginalized version of Odell Beckham Jr. should be an upgrade for the Baltimore Ravens’ wide receiving corps.
I feel like that’s the best way to frame the conversation regarding the team’s most recent acquisition. No matter what else I say in this column, I feel like the decision to sign Beckham was the right one. I think it was necessary … at least at this point.
The victory lap the Ravens and some fans were doing on social media regarding the news was … a bit over the top. They were the only team willing to pay a certain price for a 30-year-old receiver who missed all of last season and hasn’t had 1,000 yards since 2019. Make that “hasn’t had 550 yards since 2019,” actually.
Which doesn’t make this a BAD signing, either! That last 1,000 yard season (2019) just so happened to come during the one year in Beckham’s career that he had Todd Monken as his offensive coordinator. Between that reunion and whatever they saw from him during his workouts, the Ravens have decided that they’re comfortable with where the three-time Pro Bowler is health-wise and believe he could return to a high level this season.
Are they right? That’s of course impossible for us to know. I’m not sure how many receivers in NFL history have found their highest level beyond the age of 30 after three years of injury and/or less than total effectiveness. But the Ravens don’t necessarily need 2014-2016 level OBJ, either. They need a solid complement to Rashod Bateman with the ability to make explosive plays and keep defenses honest … and perhaps not even that much. We’ll get back to that.
I don’t think Beckham represents some sort of perfect acquisition. But I recognize that this was not the most consequential offseason for wide receiver availability. The Ravens needed, desperately, to do SOMETHING to upgrade their nondescript unit. When the Ravens acquired Nelson Agholor there was an argument that it was an upgrade over their current (non-potentially healthy Bateman) options. A healthy Beckham was good for 288 yards and two touchdowns in the 2021 postseason — and he didn’t even get to finish the Super Bowl.
Hence my original statement. I’m more positive than negative about the acquisition. I think it was the right move to make. If the Ravens could have added a significantly more bankable player, I would have preferred they do that. But this is what was out there and this is what it cost. And of course there’s a possibility that it impacts the Lamar Jackson situation in some sort of way — but I’m trying to leave that particular hypothetical out of my consideration for this signing.
There was one other suggestion made to me in the aftermath of the Ravens signing Beckham that could be a potential positive. It was the suggestion that the Ravens adding Beckham can now allow them to alter their plans for the NFL Draft because receiver is no longer a pressing need.
And that theory is one I would like to push back on … significantly.
I am on board with the Ravens’ addition of Odell Beckham Jr., just as long as it does not remotely impact their NFL Draft strategy.
This doesn’t mean that the Ravens necessarily HAVE to select a receiver — or had to even before they signed Beckham. I have long assumed that either receiver or cornerback would be the most likely scenario for their first pick, whether that’s at No. 22 or later because they traded back to acquire more picks. But if Georgia edge rusher Nolan Smith were to slip to No. 22, I’d be totally understanding of why he might instead be their pick.
It’s not that the Ravens have to select a receiver in the first round of the draft. It’s that they can’t possibly convince themselves that the addition of Beckham is justification for why they shouldn’t.
The last three years are enough of a reason for the team to not be completely certain that Beckham can re-establish himself as a top-notch offensive playmaker. But even if he does, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay in Baltimore beyond this season (although the void years the Ravens have reportedly put in his contract would make it advantageous for them to try).
The Ravens need young, game-changing players at wide receiver. If the Beckham news is indeed a positive sign for their chances of signing Jackson long term, it will be even more important for them to find those players via the draft because they won’t have as much money to use on future Beckham-type signings.
So if they think Zay Flowers or Quentin Johnston or whoever else could be that young game-changer and that player is available at No. 22, they cannot say, “Well, sure, but we added Beckham so let’s go ahead and move back outside of the top 40 and take whoever is available so that we can add a couple more picks.”
The Beckham signing is good. It could potentially be very good. But it cannot be considered a definitive solution either.
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