- 3 hours ago
Category
đ„
SportsTranscript
00:06This is the catch that put Odell Beckham Jr. on the map his rookie year.
00:12This is sick. Put this to music. I don't think he stepped out either.
00:16That may be the greatest catch I've ever seen.
00:24You have to be kidding me. That is impossible.
00:30And this is the catch that put him back on the map and sparked all types of talks of him
00:35reuniting with John Harbaugh,
00:37the franchise that drafted him, and a fan base that absolutely adores him.
00:46Nah! Hey!
00:49Hoo-hoo-hoo!
00:53Hoo, boy still got it.
00:54But unfortunately, this ain't flag football, y'all.
00:57And this ain't 20-something-year-old OBJ.
01:00The reality is he's 33, and he hasn't put the pads on since December of 2024.
01:06But Jackson Dart wants him.
01:08Malik Neighbors wants him.
01:10And there's a lot of grown men within the fan base that need an excuse to dye their hair blonde
01:16again.
01:16But what version of OBJ would the Giants be getting if they sign him?
01:22Let's break down some of his plays from 2024 and 2023 to see if he still's got the juice in
01:28this Blue Rush free agent spotlight.
01:33Odell Beckham Jr., what's going on, my friend?
01:36Did not think that I would be doing a breakdown on you, 3 or 13.
01:41Did not think that in 2026 I would be doing a breakdown on you.
01:46But it is my honor because I personally think that you may not have the speed and quickness that you
01:54once had,
01:54but, boy, you still got the mitts.
01:56Those hands are still there.
01:58They're still 92 overall on Madden.
02:01Let's watch it.
02:02This was 2023.
02:04Again, I know this was, what, three years ago.
02:06But let's watch this play and go back to it because he can add hands, reliable hands, to the Giants
02:15receiver room.
02:16Let's go back.
02:18We won't really break down the route.
02:20We don't need to break down the route too much.
02:22Like it, hard step to the outside.
02:24Gets the corner to get high and open up.
02:27So he takes it.
02:30Lamar knows he's going to Odell with the football.
02:34So you got to win.
02:35And that's exactly what he did.
02:37Great catch.
02:44Let's break this down from the top of it because, again, late 2010s, like 2016, 2017, Odell would have probably
02:56ran right by this guy.
02:58Still fighting to get the separation.
03:00Again, he's still a vet.
03:01He's vet savvy.
03:02He knows how to run routes.
03:04Knows how to get himself open or to be able to be a reliable target.
03:10Goes high with the, goes high.
03:11It was the inside go route.
03:13I thought it was the corner route.
03:13Inside go route.
03:14And look at the separation here.
03:16That's enough for any quarterback that's worth his salt to throw that football in there.
03:22He's got enough separation.
03:24It may not be Odell or OBJ, New York Giants, 13 Odell type separation.
03:33But this is enough to win in the NFL.
03:36Quarterback can throw that in the bucket.
03:38But here's where, here's what hasn't left him.
03:42Didn't, has never left him.
03:44He's always going to come down with this football.
03:47I don't want to say always.
03:48But 99, 93 to 95% of the time, he is going to hands catch the football.
03:56And that's what the Giants need.
03:58The Giants receiver room in this past game needs another guy that can be reliable to catch a football, a
04:05contested football, a 50-50 football in moments where a play needs to be made.
04:12And he still has that.
04:14Wins right there on the inside go route.
04:17Look at the ball being thrown in the air.
04:19And again, great ball by Lamar Jackson.
04:23You telling me, you telling me Jackson Dart can't throw those though?
04:26You saw the separation.
04:29Corner did a great job closing that gap and trying to make a play on the football.
04:36A lot of receivers, they would lose their concentration on the football with this contact.
04:44You've seen a lot of receivers drop this ball just off of some of the most minimum contact from that
04:52DB because your brain, your hand-eye gets thrown off.
04:56When there's contact, but not when there's an Odell Beckham Jr.
05:00He's coming down with that.
05:03We got another one.
05:04This is vintage Odell.
05:07Will we see that in 2026?
05:09I don't know.
05:10I honestly don't know, y'all.
05:12I don't know where he is athletically or explosively.
05:16I don't even know that's a word.
05:17I don't know where his explosion is, but we still saw it in 2023.
05:22We still saw signs and glimpses.
05:25And every Giants fan out there remembers this type of Odell.
05:32Slant, and I will see you at the crib.
05:37And I can't wait to break this one down because, again, we saw that.
05:42If you're a Giants fan, we saw that year in, year out, especially the 2016 season.
05:48Slant route puts his right attacks.
05:51DB gets this DB to get ready to open up to the go route like he's running outside.
05:56Puts that right foot into the ground.
05:58Get hands on the inside, gets hands on the inside armbar, which as receivers, that's
06:05what we're taught.
06:05You don't got to worry about this outside hand of this DB since we're coming back to
06:11the inside.
06:11We got to beat this hand, and he does.
06:14And, again, contested catch.
06:16Great throw by Lamar Jackson.
06:18You would want it, you know, out there a little bit more.
06:21But, again, his hand-eye coordination is elite.
06:26Probably doesn't look as fast as what it's used to back in the day.
06:30But, again, father time waits for no one.
06:33Odell was still able to make a big play and a big moment in this football game.
06:38It's third and six.
06:40How many times in, you know, recent years in Giants football as a third down, there
06:46been a drop or a contested catch doesn't come down with the Giants receiver.
06:52I'm not knocking these guys.
06:53But, again, I think some elite hands would definitely add a different type of upgrade
06:59to the unit that's got a lot of speed guys in it right now.
07:02You lost Wondell Robinson, and you're getting Malik Nabors back from the ACL injury.
07:09And then there's this part.
07:11Hey, hey.
07:12Again, look at the crowd.
07:14Look at all of Baltimore.
07:15And MetLife Stadium is basically Baltimore North now with all the guys that John Harbaugh
07:21has brought up from the coaching staff to, you know, the players.
07:24I can see what was M&T Bank Stadium.
07:28I can see MetLife Stadium looking exactly like this.
07:31And there would be me on the jumbotron getting the crowd hype.
07:37All right.
07:38Now we got the close-up of the route.
07:42Again, I'm beating a dead horse.
07:44Whether the speed explosion's there, who knows?
07:47The boy still knows how to run routes.
07:49Still knows how to get open.
07:51Still knows how to attack a DB's leverage.
07:53You see him set him up here.
07:55You see him with the hesitation step on that second or third step on this slant.
07:59He's gauging this DB.
08:01He's attacking.
08:02You see him on the outside right here.
08:04This DB actually has inside leverage.
08:06We know as receivers we've got to win.
08:09We can't get stuck out here.
08:11The worst thing you want to do is to take too many steps upfield
08:14and then have to come across or come through this DB's body.
08:18That's where you see guys get jammed up and then to be like a hard contested catch.
08:23What he does, he attacks, gauges him.
08:26But watch this right foot.
08:27Watch the stick.
08:29And again, when I'd say when he attacked this inside hand, this inside armbar.
08:34A lot of rookie receivers, they don't know that yet.
08:37Well, depending on what school you came from.
08:38A lot of them don't feel comfortable doing that yet.
08:42But, I mean, this is a vet.
08:44This is vet savvy right here.
08:45Puts that right foot into the ground, right?
08:48Now you've got this DB leaning.
08:50He's leaning and reaching.
08:52When we get them back on their heels, we know we can win this route.
08:57The last thing that we have to do is to beat his last line of defense or his help,
09:06and that's that inside hand.
09:08Watch Odell's hand attack the elbow or attack the wrist to knock that down and win inside.
09:19But, club, wipe.
09:22Club it with the, grab the elbow, and you wipe over the tight, over the top to pin that hand.
09:30Now he pins.
09:31This DB, you're beat.
09:32You're beat.
09:33You're, it's, it's, it's, you're, it's cooked.
09:35You're cookies.
09:36We know we're winning on this route as wide receivers.
09:39Doesn't even really get hands on the chest.
09:41We never want these DBs to get hands on our chest because that slows us down, and that helps them.
09:46But this is teach tape.
09:48This is something you, I would teach my young receivers that I work with and I coach.
09:53Left hand on the elbow, right hand to wipe it down, and, and wins, wins inside.
10:00But, elite catch right here, elite hand die right here, and one thing about Odell, he catches these things, he's,
10:09he'll stay up.
10:10He'll stay up, and then peace.
10:14That was fun watching in 2023.
10:17All right.
10:19Odell again in the slot, going down the field.
10:22It's got the slot fade here.
10:23We call it a box, we called it a box route when I was in the NFL.
10:27Got the slot fade here.
10:29You got the hitch.
10:29It's kind of like a smash combination, but we'll watch it, and I'll break it down.
10:33Again, we're looking at the elite hands.
10:37Still coming down with the 50-50 balls.
10:40He can still do it, and if he can do it in 2026, in, in, in OTA, or if he,
10:46if he gets signed, and he can do it in OTAs and minicamp, and then do it in training camp,
10:51joint practices, and preseason games, he would find a way on this roster.
10:55There's a place for a guy that can catch the football or on rosters.
11:05You don't know if he caught it or not, but boom.
11:07All right.
11:07Here we go.
11:08Ball in the air.
11:10Leaning backwards.
11:11DB.
11:12Great position by the DB.
11:14Hey, they get paid, too.
11:15That's why you call these 50-50 balls.
11:18That's why you call these contested balls.
11:20That's why a lot of these speed receivers that are out there in the NFL, they're not worth their salt
11:27because they can't come down with these 50-50 balls.
11:31Odell has an elite skill set, one of the best ball trackers in NFL history.
11:37Look at the eyes the entire time.
11:40Dudes, do y'all know how hard it is to be falling backwards?
11:43You got a DB's hand in your face, but your eyes are still locked on that football.
11:50You are tracking this football, and it is a hands catch.
11:53If you allow one, I can't stand body catchers, and for this reason, if you don't extend with your arms
12:01here, he doesn't catch it because if you allow this ball to continue to drop down and, let's say, get
12:08into the body here.
12:09Don't look at the ball here.
12:10Think of the ball kind of dropping down here.
12:13That's going to allow this DB to get his hands in there and to make a play on this football
12:18because you still got point whatever of a second for him to get his hands in there and to make
12:26a play.
12:26But the fact that he attacks the football, catches it away from his body, and now watch him kind of
12:32turn it away from that last swipe and gets two feet inbound, he can come down with these catches.
12:41He still can catch the football at a high level and gets two feet inbound, holds on to it, survives
12:52the fall, survives the contact.
12:55Again, let's go back to the if this was a body catch.
12:59This DB's hand's getting in there, and he's knocking that ball down.
13:03That ball doesn't make it to the body.
13:05That's a great hands catch there.
13:10All right, now this is 2024, and when, you know, people say, like, oh, he lost a step, oh, you
13:17know, he wasn't that guy.
13:19I don't know if it was system or did he lose a step and the game kind of caught up
13:27with him.
13:28I don't know.
13:28We're going to have to see if he gets signed and how he looks through the spring and the summer
13:34or when or if they bring him in or if any NFL team brings him in.
13:39But, I mean, I got to play devil's advocate here.
13:42I can't just be an Odell Glazer on this.
13:45That slant that we talked about earlier, remember there was no one on him.
13:50I mean, remember he won to the inside with ease.
13:54Now, in 2024, some of these 50-50 balls in these routes, he really had to work for it.
14:01He really had to earn his money and work for some of these catches.
14:04So, while we watch the route, let's break it down a little bit.
14:07Kind of like that same release.
14:09Comes, hesitates off the line a little bit.
14:12I don't think he attacked his DB as much as he attacked the DB on the slant where we watched,
14:18where he beat the Browns corner and scored.
14:20Puts that left foot into the ground again.
14:24This DB doesn't go for it.
14:26He doesn't go for that outside stick.
14:29Doesn't honor that outside release.
14:32He sits right there to that inside and he's daring him, waiting for him to cross face so he can
14:40get hands on and be all over it.
14:43This is a hard, contested catch, but he still comes down with it.
14:49Still comes down with the football.
14:55Alright, he goes a better view.
14:57Alright, so, the difference between, watching it now, how he's coming off the line.
15:02The difference between this slant route or his stem on the release and the release versus when he won with
15:11ease against the guy with the Browns is you see him kind of, when you see him come off the
15:18line here, he tries to head up this corner.
15:22And a lot of the times when we do that, if we take a step or two to the inside,
15:27they're just going to take a read step or reaction step and they're going to take a step or two
15:33to the inside or outside or wherever we go to stay head up.
15:37He wants, this DB right here wants to stay head up with his leverage.
15:41So, Odell puts that foot into the ground, he doesn't bite, and because of that, he doesn't get him on
15:48his heels like he had the Browns corner on his heels.
15:52He's actually in a better position here.
15:55He's on his toes in a power position, ready to shoot and to get hands on.
16:01So, we got that old shoot feeling as wide receivers because we know we got to cross face, we know
16:08we got to win to this inside,
16:09and we know this is going to be a contested catch here.
16:13He's going to be all over us.
16:15Didn't reset the stem, this may have been like a quick now route.
16:18We don't call it a quick slant or like a now route, it was one two step and go, win
16:23to the inside.
16:24DB's all over him, contested catch, going to take the hit, comes down with it.
16:31He still comes down with it.
16:34We could talk about the release, we could talk about him maybe not resetting,
16:39setting his stem on the slant, but at the end of the day, when you're watching film or you're in
16:45a game,
16:46you're looking at it, he still came down and caught the football.
16:50You're going to throw the ball on first down, you need to get at least four yards.
16:54So, they threw it on first down, this is about a five, six yard slant.
16:59This sets up a second and four, a second and five.
17:02You're still ahead of the chains.
17:04So, it wasn't the most prettiest or prettiest route out there, but he still won his rep.
17:13And he takes the hit here.
17:15Look at it, look at the catch, hands catch.
17:17Yaga.
17:19Holds on to the football.
17:23All right, lastly, I don't know why I threw this one out there.
17:26I guess it's just to show, I do know why I threw this one out here.
17:30Three, two, one.
17:32All right, lastly, I think there had to be something with the system.
17:35Because again, he didn't run that many vertical routes when he was in Miami.
17:40And it was all quick slants, quick outs, sit routes over the football, zigzag motion him,
17:49run him to the flats, running whip routes, return routes.
17:54It was all short and just short routes, all within eight yards, it felt like, when you
18:00watch the tape.
18:01So, you wonder, why?
18:03Why did they have him as the third, fourth option on these pass concepts?
18:08So, this is just to show, again, on a third and five, on a third down, he still has reliable
18:15hands and can still win on whichever route that you have him run.
18:20All right, we got the stick route.
18:22He's got the speed out here.
18:24It looks like it's locked.
18:26And then you've got the stick route here from the outside.
18:29I think they mirror it up to the top, but don't worry about that.
18:33He's just got this five, six yard speed out with the press corner right here.
18:38Single high.
18:39You've got to win here.
18:40Ball's coming here.
18:42Wins to the outside.
18:43Captures this outside.
18:45Stick.
18:45Ball in the air.
18:46Still comes down with it.
18:48I know, again, it wasn't the greatest.
18:50You know, it's not like a highlight.
18:51It's not going to make SportsCenter or anything.
18:54But third and five in that red zone, you need to get a first down to reset the chains.
18:59A lot of the times, the Giants suffered drops.
19:02They had drops in the red zone, and they weren't able to get six points as opposed to three points
19:08in the red zone.
19:10So I just threw that on here.
19:11Again, he ran a bunch of short routes.
19:14I don't know if that's his fault or Mike McDaniel.
19:16I don't know where you point the blame at for that.
19:19But this just goes to show, he can still run a route to get open and attack this football.
19:24Another hands catch and a big moment to move the chains for this Dolphins offense.
19:31You know, breaking down all of the tape, I don't think that you can make an honest decision
19:36or evaluation about what Odell you're going to get in 2026 off of his 2024 tape with the Dolphins.
19:44I love Mike McDaniel as a play caller.
19:47But for whatever reason, he used this dude to run flat routes and speed outs and sit routes.
19:53Nothing deep.
19:54Nine catches off of 35 targets in nine games.
19:57But the stat no one is talking about when they talk if he's washed up or not is according
20:03to PFF, he had an average depth of target or ADOT of 8.1 yards.
20:09So I'm wondering, after coming off a season in 2023 where he had 35 catches and three touchdowns
20:16off of 64 targets, and he even had a 116-yard game, how or why was he not used as
20:24part of
20:25the game plan?
20:25Is there something Mike McDaniel knows or even saw in practice that our nostalgia is looking
20:33past?
20:33Or was he in the wrong system that didn't allow him to shine and show that he still
20:38had some juice left?
20:40All I know is this.
20:41After watching his 2023 and 2024 tape, he still has the skill set that the Giants receiver
20:48room and Jackson Dart needs in 2026.
20:52And that's elite and reliable hands.
20:54One drop in 2023 and 2024.
20:57He may not be the fastest he used to be.
21:00He may not be as explosive as he used to be.
21:03And he even cut his hair and got rid of the blonde mohawk.
21:06But one thing has remained the same with Odell Beckham Jr. over the years, and that's that
21:12he is going to come down with the rock and catch the football.
21:16And there's value in that.
21:17He's not going to be your number one or your number two option, but I'd let him compete.
21:22Let him come in on a team-friendly, debt minimum deal and compete.
21:27Because that's what the NFL is all about.
21:30Right?
Comments