Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham get some one-on-one time

Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham, Jr. know their rapport on the field can be better and are putting in the work to get where they need to be in 2021

When Odell Beckham, Jr. was added to the Cleveland Browns roster in 2019, fans were ecstatic. His arrival gave quarterback Baker Mayfield a legit deep-threat, and we all saw while he was at Oklahoma that Mayfield can deliver the deep ball like no one else.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone the way we all hoped with OBJ in the orange and brown. He has had his moments for sure — including the 89-yard touchdown catch against the Jets in 2019 and the 50-yard touchdown run in Dallas last season that sealed their Week 4 win. But overall, Beckham hasn’t looked the same as he did while playing for the Giants.

A huge part of that has been a lack of rapport with Mayfield. The two have simply been on different pages at times which has kept them from putting up consistent highlight-reel plays.

The good news is, these two know they can be better and on Friday, they were getting some time in together as the duo worked some one-on-one drills. Not only were they out there getting their reps in but according to Ellis L. Williams, they were putting on a show. He compared their session to duet singers and said they were “dialed in.”

"“They connected on every pass. There wasn’t a single ball put too far in front or behind OBJ. Both quarterback and receiver were dialed in and it showed. Like duet singers holding down a studio until the hit record is complete, Beckham-Mayfield found its practice tune.” ‚— Williams, Cleveland.com"

Not to harp too much on the duet singer comment but these words from Williams have to be music to the ears of Cleveland Browns fans. OBJ is an elite presence and to date, the Browns have not seen him reach his full potential.

It’s also led to some rough plays such as the ugly interception Mayfield threw in Week 7 when trying to force the ball to OBJ — which was also the same play where Beckham tore his ACL trying to chase down the defensive back.

Some have even suggested that Mayfield would be better off without Beckham, which is a short-sighted narrative. Beckham is a player who can take the top off a defense and change the course of a game in the blink of an eye. He also commands the attention of the opposing No. 1 cornerback and usually a deep safety as well.

Rather than consider moving on from him, the Browns would be better off trying to get No. 6 and No. 13 working better together.

Apparently, the two players agree and are doing their part to make that happen.