Why Odell Beckham, Jr. should be the first receiver taken in your fantasy league
By Mitch Zoloty
The Cleveland Browns acquired a new number one Wide Receiver this offseason when they traded for Odell Beckham Jr. This is why he should not only be the Browns WR1, but should also be your WR1 on your fantasy team.
Before I get this article started let me clarify that this article pertains to standard fantasy leagues. Cleveland Browns receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. should definitely be a first round pick in your PPR (Points Per Reception) league, but maybe not be the first Wide Receiver off of the board. However, if you’re into standard leagues like I am, then Odell is your man.
This argument boils down to basically two points: OBJ’s got a new and far better quarterback throwing to him and he should be playing a full 16 games again this year.
It should be universally accepted that at the current moment Baker Mayfield is significantly better than Eli Manning. That’s no disrespect to Eli Manning, who should find himself in the Hall of Fame someday. If Baker continues to improve on his rookie year he might be there someday too, but at the moment Baker has only one year under his belt, so predictions on him going to the Hall of Fame are unreliable. However, that’s another story for another article.
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Right now, Baker Mayfield is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and Eli is in the bottom tier in terms of starters. In terms of fantasy points Baker scored 294 fantasy points last year compared to Eli Manning’s 281. That’s with baker starting three less games than Eli Manning. To put that into averages, Baker averaged around 22.6 fantasy points his rookie year, compared to Eli’s 17.6 points. So how does that relate to Odell?
When you put Beckham and Eli’s fantasy production next to each other each season they have a positive relationship. When Manning was on top of his game, so was OBJ. Beckham’s best two fantasy seasons came when Manning had his best two seasons since the two had been together. This should make sense, seeing as one can get points without the other consistently.
Mayfield should be vastly improved next season, and is ranked QB4 (The fourth best quarterback) for next year in fantasy football according to fantasyfootballcalculator.com. Where is Manning on that list? He is currently sitting at the QB31 spot. Now that OBJ has a top tier quarterback throwing to him again, he is going to be putting up 1st round pick level fantasy points.
When it comes to the wideout’s health, he should be fully back this season. He has had a few minor injuries throughout his career and one major injury which limited his 2017 campaign to four games. It has mostly been small injuries, such as the bruised quadriceps injury last year, which kept him out of about four games. However, the Giants most likely shut him down to not lose an important asset to a long term injury and to tank.
Two years removed from surgery to fix a fractured ankle, it should be fully healed by now. To go along with this fact and the fact that OBJ shouldn’t be targeted this season by teams that play the Browns, his health should look good for the upcoming season. I’d expect him to play a full 16 games this season at a high level, considering he will be in playoff contention again.
Next. 3 intriguing small school UDFAs. dark
Taking all that has been previously mentioned, plus Odell’s Hall of Fame talent, I am taking him with my first round pick in my fantasy leagues if I can get him. I’d suggest all of my fellow Browns fans due the same.