Odell Beckham Jr. being picked over Mike Evans wouldn’t surprise anyone
Odell Beckham Jr (3). Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
LSU Tigers wide receiver product Odell Beckham Jr. is gaining plenty of pre-draft buzz, and there are teams that have shown interest in trading up from outside of the top 20 in order to land the touted wide receiver. Beckham Jr. has one of the best all-around skill-sets in the entire draft, and he isn’t far off from Sammy Watkins both in terms of ability and well-rounded play. OBJ is a versatile wide receiver who can play inside or outside, win deep or in the middle, can catch passes over the middle, generate major yards after the catch with his agility, make big plays on returns, and contest for jump balls. He plays bigger than his height runs sharp routes, and he has better hands than most wide receivers known for their playmaking ability. Beckham Jr. can do it all, and I think he is very much worth a top ten pick based on talent alone.
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According to ESPN’s Ed Werder, “nobody in the NFL would be surprised” if Beckham Jr. ends up getting picked before Texas A&M Aggies wide receiver Mike Evans, who is generating some top five buzz at this moment in time. Evans is an excellent wide receiver in his own right and is near OBJ and Watkins in overall talent, and the OBJ vs. Evans debate will likely come down to team fit. For example, Beckham Jr. definitely fits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers better, but Evans would make more sense for a team like the St. Louis Rams if they trade down from No. 2.
Werder’s report doesn’t surprise me at all, and I actually ranked Beckham Jr. over Evans due to his all-around skill-set, which I became enamored with after an in-depth study of his college film. Plenty of teams are high on both players, so it could ultimately come down to arguments like Evans’s size and long speed (physicality as well), OBJ’s short-area quickness and versatility, and individual team fits and preferences. That said, nobody outside of the NFL should be surprised if Beckham Jr. is taken over Evans either.