Is Odell Beckham Jr. A Good Fit With Ravens? Analysts Chime In On The Signing

The Baltimore Ravens recently signed two-time All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year deal worth up to $18 million.

This will be the fourth team that Beckham has played for in the past decade after suiting up for the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams. As of now, Beckham is expected to be a primary receiving target for the Ravens despite coming off an injury and not getting the lion’s share of targets in recent years.

Former Ravens Super Bowl champion receiver Qadry Ismail said Beckham is a good fit with new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who worked with Beckham in Cleveland in 2019.

“I think it was a shrewd decision,” Ismail said on Glenn Clark Radio April 11. “An interesting one from [Ravens owner] Steve Bisciotti’s standpoint with the price point but hey, you know what? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think this is a sign that they feel we want to get something done.”

Beckham, 30, last played an NFL game for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI in February 2022. He recorded two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown before going down with a torn ACL in the second quarter. A free agent throughout the 2022 season, Beckham did not sign with any team after being medically cleared to play following his knee injury.

Former NFL defensive tackle and current Rams analyst D’Marco Farr is among those who have recently seen Beckham in a professional football setting. Farr still believes that Beckham can be an effective weapon even after his injury, assuming the Ravens’ quarterback situation gets handled.

Farr added that he does question Beckham’s decision to sign with Baltimore without having a sure answer at quarterback at the moment. Beckham and Lamar Jackson appear to be friends, with the quarterback sharing on Instagram a screenshot of the two on FaceTime together the day the signing was announced.

“I’m sure if you use him properly and you have the right sort of offense and the right guy to get him the football then he can be very effective. He’s a dangerous weapon,” Farr said on GCR April 10.

Prior to Beckham’s arrival in Los Angeles, Farr was no more acquainted with the receiver than any fan would have been. Farr said that he “expected to hate the guy” because of the way Beckham had been portrayed in some media circles.

Farr’s assumptions were proven to be inaccurate.

“He loves the game of football,” Farr said. “The off-the-field stuff comes with it. He likes to go out, he likes to be known, he likes to be seen. But when he’s on the field, working with his teammates, or in a gametime situation, he is all about ball. He is all about winning. So, like I said, I went in wanting to hate the guy. But by the time the Super Bowl rolled around, I wound up loving the dude. And if he doesn’t get hurt in that game, he’s probably going to be the MVP.”

Marc Ross, a former front office member for the Giants and current NFL Network analyst, confirmed that Beckham is not what he is necessarily portrayed as in the media. Ross was the vice president of player evaluation for the Giants when the team drafted Beckham in 2014.

“Well, the teammates are going to love him, first of all,” Ross said on GCR April 12. “That’s the perception from the outside and what the reality of the inside is, is the guy always was a great teammate and always was sort of beloved in that respect. He is going to work. The guy is maniacal about working out and perfecting his craft. So those are definitely the things you’re going to get. The outside perceptions of him and being in the media and stuff he does, you’re going to have to live with that.”

Beckham has not had a 600-yard receiving season since 2019 (1,035 yards), when he was a first-year member of the Browns. Injuries have played a role in his declining production, but there are still questions about his ability to be a primary option at this stage in his career.

Beckham had three consecutive seasons with more than 1,300 receiving yards, 90 catches and 10 touchdowns with the Giants from 2014-2016. He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons. In 2018, his last season with the Giants, he compiled 77 receptions for 1,052 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 12 games.

“With Odell, I think 100 percent he thinks, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be that guy again,'” Ross said. “And you want that. You don’t want a guy coming in here saying, ‘Hey man, I’m just going to be a bum up in here and just come help out.’ I think he really thinks he’s going to be that guy. But I think it’s more of an expectation now to where he knows he can play a role and he’s done that. That, ‘Hey, I can go play a role if I’m not that guy.'”

Beckham’s ability to lead the Ravens’ receiving corps won’t necessarily factor into the team’s draft plans later this month. The Ravens hold the 22nd overall pick in the draft, and there are talented receivers expected to be available when Baltimore is on the clock.

“You can’t think just in the moment, you have to think long term also,” Ismail said. “There has to be that next guy that is going to be drafted, that is going to be developed. You have to continue to take shots.”