Should Cleveland Browns be concerned about Odell Beckham, Jr?

The Cleveland Browns are going to have Odell Beckham, Jr. on the field Sunday, but he says he may not be at 100 percent

Was anyone else concerned that new Cleveland Browns star wideout Odell Beckham, Jr. has not run full speed during summer camp for fear that he might aggravate a hip injury? The good news is that he believes he will be at full speed when the bell rings. But the bad news is that there is enough uncertainty that he literally has not run at full speed during summer camp, or so he informed the press on Thursday.

By all reports, OBJ has been happy in Cleveland and has been a positive influence on the practice field and in the locker room.

Still, the level of concern was high enough that John Dorsey felt that the Browns needed to upgrade the receivers corps, especially with Antonio Callaway on enforced vacation due to substance abuse issues.

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Plan A is still that OBJ is at full speed on Sunday and has a banner season. But there is a Plan B in place also, just in case.

Hence the Browns traded for Taywan Taylor, an accomplished wide receiver who was formerly a third-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2017. Last year he snagged 37 balls in 56 targets for 466 yards and a catch percentage of 66.1 percent. That’s not too far off from Rashard Higgins, who had 39 grabs from 53 targets for 572 yards and a catch percentage of 73.6.

But when Higgins was in his second year, it was a different story. Although he has always been good at catching the ball and runs good routes, he was not able to get open enough for DeShone Kizer to hit him. Hence he had only 312 yards as a second-year receiver.

However, when paired with Baker Mayfield, suddenly Higgins was open enough to catch passes. Mayfield has the moxie to deliver the ball into a tighter window than Kizer was able to use, and Higgins was one of the receivers who really benefited from having Mayfield deliver the ball.

Perhaps Taywan Taylor could improve in a similar way to Higgins and for the same reason. Taylor had Marcus Mariota slinging it to him last year. Mariota is tall, athletic and throws a decent ball, though he does not have the same howitzer that Mayfield has. More importantly, however, Mariota probably needs a split second more time to find the open receiver and is not able to thread the ball through as tight a window as Mayfield can.

Taylor is not just some pickup who will sit on the bench and clap for his teammates. He may become a force down the road as he picks up the Browns offense and gains experience working with Mayfield.

The Taywan Taylor trade is a bit weird because the Titans are playing the Browns in Game 1 on Sunday. Of course, Taylor will be able to act as a conduit of information for the Browns coaching staff, to reveal some of the plans that the Titans have in store for the Browns.

The Browns also added KhaDarel Hodge, a second-year wide receiver from the Rams, who contributed heavily on special teams last year. This was a surprise because Derrick Willies looked good in 2018 before getting injured and also performed well on special teams.

Few expected Willies to be cut from the 53 player roster last week, but he was indeed let go and exposed to the waiver wire. Thankfully, he was bypassed by the other 31 teams and signed with the Browns’ practice squad. The knock on Willies is that although he looked good in practice, he dropped too many passes during exhibition games.

The Browns have added depth to the wide receivers corps via trade and via the waiver wire. Hopefully, it will not be necessary to cover for missed snaps by OBJ. If he is unavailable, however, the Browns to have a Plan B and do have a path forward.

Next. Which Browns have the most to prove in opener?. dark

Should they be concerned? Sure. Is it panic time? No, because they have other players who can catch some footballs.

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