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Odell Beckham Jr. set to have career year playing with Baker Mayfield

Odell Beckham Jr. New York Giants NFL

The Cleveland Browns have won the offseason by landing one of the game’s brightest offensive stars, Odell Beckham Jr.

That move, however, won’t just benefit the franchise — OBJ is set up to have the best year of his career now that he’s teamed up with Baker Mayfield and his old college teammate, Jarvis Landry.

Some context: Beckham Jr. has already put up some jaw-dropping stats in his first five seasons as a pro.

  • 2014: 91 catches, 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns
  • 2015: 96 catches, 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns
  • 2016: 101 catches, 1,367 yards and 10 touchdowns
  • 2017: 25 catches, 302 yards and three touchdowns (injury-shortened season)
  • 2018: 77 catches, 1,052 yards and six touchdowns

Clearly, it would take some spectacular offensive fireworks by Mayfield in Cleveland to push Beckham Jr. to new heights.

Manning vs. Mayfield: Looking at these two quarterbacks, it’s clear that Beckham’s potential for production is much greater in Cleveland than it was in New York.

  • Mayfield is much more accurate, despite having a lower completion percentage than Manning did last year.
  • Beckham saw an accurate pass come his way just half the time playing with Mannin, per George Chahrouri of Pro Football Focus.
  • Mayfield, on the other hand, was the fourth-most accurate passer in the NFL behind Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Patrick Mahomes, in the second half of the season.
  • As noted by Evan Silva of Rotoworld, Baker Mayfield averaged more yards per pass attempt as a rookie than Eli Manning has averaged in any season over the last 7 years.
  • As a rookie, Mayfield threw 27 touchdown passes in less than 14 full games. Manning threw 21, despite starting in all 16 of New York’s games.

So many weapons: Cleveland, unlike New York, has multiple weapons that will stress opposing defenses and allow Beckham Jr. more opportunities for big plays.

  • Playing with Landry should help Beckham rack up stats, not hinder him.
  • Cleveland also has a superb running game with Nick Chubb leading the charge behind an outstanding offensive line.
  • Tight end David Njoku is coming into his own as well. He draws attention to himself, thus opening things up for other receiving threats.

The bottom line: Playing in a pick-your-poison offense like this, Beckham will thrive. He now has an accurate quarterback who isn’t afraid to take chances and thread the needle. He has another No. 1 receiver playing with him, which should open up the entire field.

In short, he’s set up for success like he’s never experienced as a pro.

Don’t be surprised if Beckham Jr. breaks out with a career year in 2019, as absurd as that sounds.

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