The long-awaited debut of rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr didn't disappoint.
After being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, Beckham suffered from a lingering hamstring issue that prevented him from playing in the preseason. Once the regular season began, the Giants decided to be patient with Beckham and not force him into the lineup before he was ready. Based on his comfort on the field during his debut in Week 5, the Giants timed their process perfectly. Against the Atlanta Faclons, Beckham drew multiple penalties and was consistently open when targeted by quarterback Eli Manning.
He finished the game with four receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown despite not featuring on every series of the game.
Beckham's impressive debut shouldn't prove to be an anomaly. Despite being the third receiver drafted in the first round, Beckham showed off a skill set at LSU that suggested he was the most pro-ready option of any player entering the NFL, save for maybe Teddy Bridgewater. In college, Beckham didn't rely on his physical ability to be productive. He still had impressive physical tools, but Beckham relied on his precise route running, exceptional ball skills and comfort against tight coverage to consistently make plays.
The contested catch aspect of Beckham's play didn't show up in Week 5, but that is largely because he was able to avoid them with his route running and ball skills.
For his first reception of the game, Beckham runs a quick curl route where he shows the physicality to break away from the defensive back's tight coverage at the top of his route. Once he turns back to the football, Beckham slips to the ground but quickly bounces back upright. The ball is still thrown in his direction and he shows the requisite body control to catch the ball comfortably away from his body. Importantly, Beckham caught the ball at the earliest possible point and that is something that was a constant throughout his play.
This play doesn't show off an exceptional route from Beckham. He primarily came free because of the type of route he ran against the type of coverage the defense was playing. However, even though he was wide open based primarily on scheme, Beckham still worked back to the football when it was thrown to him and extended his hands away from his body to snatch it out of the air. While this didn't affect the result of this play, this is the kind of habit that allows Beckham to be effective in every situation.
For his touchdown, we saw how Beckham worked back to the ball and attacked it at the highest possible point in the air. His large hands aid him in making this catch a routine one. However, the more impressive play to show off his ball skills arguably came earlier in the game on a much more low-key type of play.
On this play, Beckham is lined up to the bottom of the screen to run a crossing route against zone coverage. When he begins his route, the intial defender drops deep down the field before Beckham is met by another defender in space. The defender establishes position in front of where Beckham is headed. Instead of fighting through his body and disrupting the timing of his route, Beckham takes a quick, hard step to slide past the defender and create separation on the other side. At this point, Beckham begins to glide downfield past the first down marker.
Receivers in this scenario will too often continue to float downfield and offer the defender an opportunity to undercut the route. Instead of doing that, Beckham angles back towards the ball and catch the ball with his hands away from his body.
Those are the kinds of ball skills that allow Beckham to avoid contested catch situations. He neutralizes the impact of the defender and gives his quarterback a greater margin for error. These are the kinds of traits that allow receivers to excel against any kind of competition. Having those traits will make Beckham a consistent receiver, but it's his physical talent that should allow him to be a continuous big play threat for the Giants. Beckham proved to be very dangerous with the ball in his hands in college, but he never got the opportunity to show that off in his first NFL game.
Instead we saw Beckham's strength when defensive backs tried to get physical with him at the line of scrimmage and through his routes.
As well as his incredible footwork and acceleration to create separation down the field.
There is no real doubting that Beckham is an outstanding talent and a player who can easily become one of the best receivers in the NFL on a consistent basis. Unless you are overly infatuated by listed heights and weights, there aren't any notable negatives to hold against Beckham. As a fantasy receiver, the question remains about how productive he can be and how quickly that production can come. Beckham isn't in an ideal situation to immediately take over as the Giants number one receiver. Mental errors should be inevitable because of all of the time he has missed.
However, in the Giants offense, Beckham is clearly the most talented receiving option that Manning has. Victor Cruz is a playmaker who can take advantage of space, but he lacks the consistency at the catch point and in his routes to really have the trust of Manning. Reuben Randle is a big physically gifted player, but he has never found any kind of consistency during his NFL career. Larry Donnell has proven to be reliable but limited in his short time on the field to this point.
Branden Oliver
In San Diego, injuries to backs ahead of him on the depth chart gave Branden Oliver his first opporunity to carry the load for an NFL team. Oliver is an undrafted rookie free agent who had just 12 carries and four receptions during the first four weeks of the season, before getting 19 carries and four receptions in Week 5 alone against the New York Jets. Thsoe 19 carries and four receptions allowed him to compile 182 yards and two touchdowns against a New York Jets defense that is typically thought of as being resilient.
However, the circumstances of this particular game should overshadow the recent history of Rex Ryan's defense. This was one of the worst displays Ryan's defense has put on film in recent memory. Once the score got out of hand, there also appeared to be a lack of effort on occasion.
Oliver showed off a good skill set and he carries a frame that suggests he can consistently carry the load of an NFL running back. However, it's very unlikely that he ever matches the production that he put up in this game. At the very least, it's unlikely that he does it again this season. The biggest concern about Oliver moving forward is that a huge percentage of his production in this game came on a handful of big plays. 102 of Oliver's yards came on plays where he wasn't forced to create space behind the line of scrimmage or between the tackles.
For his 50 yard reception, Oliver is left wide open in the flat when the defense appears to be bringing Rivers to the ground within the pocket. Rivers, as he has so often done this season, is able to evade the pressure to extend the play and find Oliver in the flat. From there, Oliver has a vast amount of space to run into before he is met with any opposition. He shows good elusiveness in the open field once eventually met with defenders, but this play came very easily for the back and was primarily a result of Rivers' exceptional play in the pocket.
For his 52 yard run, the Chargers found the perfect play call to counter what the defense was doing. Because the Jets were showing A-gap pressure, both defenders in the middle of the field were never in position to close on Oliver when he crossed the line of scrimmage. Because the outside linebacker to that side of the field dropped into coverage at the snap, he immediately took himself out of the play also. Oliver had an easy route to cross the line of scrimmage, although he once again showed off good ability evading defenders, first with a stiff arm against David Harris who showed very poor technique and secondly with his quickness in the open field.
On both occasions, Oliver showed good elusiveness, but wasn't asked to create yardage like backs typically are on a snap-to-snap basis while he lacked the second-level speed to take the ball all the way to the end zone.
There were occasions when Oliver showed an ability to read the blocking in front of him and react smartly, but those occasions didn't lead to a huge amount of production for the most part. On his rushing touchdown, he made a quick, smart read, but it wasn't a notably difficult play to make and his offensive line clearly got the better of the Jets defense.
The blocking on this play is the first thing that stands out because four of the team's offensive linemen, from left guard to right tackle, double down on the Jets' two defensive tackles before separating to pick up the linebackers who react to the run call. Oliver sets up his blocking with a hard outside step before accelerationg through a wide running lane. He has enough speed to skip past some desperation tackle attempts before landing in the end zone for the touchdown.
On his receiving touchdown, Oliver again found himself wide open in space past the line of scrimmage. He ran a sharp out-and-in route from the backfield that pit him between the underneath coverage and in front of the deep coverage. The 23-year-old running back was forced to adjust slightly to a low pass, before comfortably turning upfield to attack the end zone. He was met by a safety at the goalline, but showed the strength and power to run through him. That safety is rookie Calvin Pryor, who has struggled with his technique as a tackler to this point in his short career.
In this game, Oliver did enough to suggest that he can be a reliable option for the Chargers if they need him. He might be considered an upgrade as a third down back over Donald Brown, but a healthy Ryan Mathews would likely cut down his opportunities dramatically.
Oliver simply didn't show enough of an all-around game to be relied upon as a high-quality starter in this game despite what his production suggests. For the short term, he may prove to be of value because he is playing in an offense that appears to be enjoying some of its best football right now, but for the long term he will likely revert to being an after-thought for fantasy owners sooner rather than later.
Other Thoughts from the Tape
Much has been made of Tom Brady's recent play. He struggled a lot through the first four weeks of the season and he rebounded somewhat in Week 5. Brady should have had an early interception and for the most part he was taking advantage of awful defensive play from the Bengals on Monday night. The veteran quarterback shouldn't be considered as back to his best unless you want to underrate what his best truly was.
Speaking of older quarterbacks, it's time to be concerned about Drew Brees. Brees threw two bad interceptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, but he should have had more than that. On at least five occasions he threw passes that arguably should have been intercepted with relative ease. Brees' arm strength appears to be fading as he repeatedly struggled to throw the ball down the field.
Kyle Orton showed off some rust during his first start for the Buffalo Bills. The first half was particularly poor for their offense as a whole, but Orton provided enough stability and consistency in the second half to allow the offense's receivers to be effective. Sammy Watkins should benefit massively from Orton's presence on the field as he continues to distance himself from his preseason injury issues.
Russell Wilson has been receiving a lot of acclaim this week after an impressive display against the Washington defense on Monday night. Wilson is playing slightly worse than he was last season, but his talent is such that he elevates those around him and continues to be productive in spite of minor flaws. Wilson should have had two more touchdowns than he ultimately did, but Percy Harvin had both of his touchdown receptions wiped out along with a rushing touchdown.
It doesn't take much insight to point out that the New York Jets offense has become a disaster as of late. The benching of Geno Smith was never going to improve the offense because he was the only positive piece on the field for the most part this season. Smith should be able to be somewhat productive against lesser defenses, but the San Diego Chargers defense isn't that kind of defense. In fact, it may be the complete opposite after some key offseason additions.
Arian Foster is playing outstanding football and has been whenever healthy this year. While his durability in terms of games played will be a concern, his ability to sustain performance with 20+ touches shouldn't be one. When given the bulk of the running back touches, Foster is matching the numbers that DeMarco Murray is putting up in a much better situation.
The arrival of Odell Beckham, Jr. drew most of the attention from the New York Giants game this past weekend, but Eli Manning's displays should be noted as he has excelled for the most part since Week 1. Manning's fit in the offense has been an important part of that, but mostly his supporting cast has simply continued to improve around him.
Blake Bortles' accuracy concerns and decision-making issues continued in Week 5, but a new wrinkle was added as he now appears to be throwing the ball with a hitch in his release. The bigger concern about Bortles' mechanics during draft season surrounded his footwork, but now playing at NFL speed has seemingly caused him to regress.
Don't expect Ken Whisenhunt to feature Bishop Sankey enough at any time over the coming weeks. Against the Browns, with a huge lead and a backup quarter, Whisenhunt continued to throw the ball instead of relying on the running game to build his offense and eat clock. Maybe Whisenhunt will learn after losing that game, but nothing to this point in his career suggests that he is an adaptable person.
