Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins are tremendous players, however the debate of best wide receiver in football comes down to two players: Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Antonio Brown.
The popular notion around the country (and from colleague Mark Morales-Smith) is that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown is the best wide receiver in football today. I am here to prove to you with facts and reasoning why this is not true.
The city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana should be proud to know it has produced the current best wide receiver in the world, Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. My main focus will be on age, statistics and abilities.
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First and foremost, let’s not forget that Beckham is only 23 years old. Just imagine when he reaches his prime in a couple years. No wide receiver has ever done what he has in his first two seasons. That can’t be argued. According to Marty Callinan of ESPN (and courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau):
No player in NFL history has had more receptions through his first 25 career games. Beckham’s 2,459 receiving yards are the most through a player’s first 24 games. His 22 receiving touchdowns through 24 career games is already tied for fourth-most through 25 career games.
If we look at red zone production, it’s not even a contest. Beckham scored 13 touchdowns in 15 games in 2015, as opposed to Brown’s 10 touchdowns in 16 games. Perhaps the most telling statistic of all is the two players’ career touchdowns per game. Beckham’s career average is 0.9 touchdowns per game (25 in 27 games). Brown only sports a 0.44 career average (38 in 86 games).
“I played against Jerry (Rice) as well, and I see a lot of flashes in Odell’s game.” Ron Rivera
NFC Champion head coach Ron Rivera made an impressive comparison to Dan Graziano of ESPN, “Watching what (Beckham has) done in his first two seasons is tremendous. He really has an opportunity, I think, to be one of those guys you’ll talk about him and Jerry Rice. I had the great fortune of watching Jerry Rice, and man, I see a lot of flashes. I played against Jerry as well, and I see a lot of flashes in Odell’s game.”
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The Giants and Steelers both have prolific passing offenses. Brown did have more yards per game in 2015. However, he was the beneficiary of more targets with 12.18 targets per game compared to Beckham’s 10.6 targets in 2015. Brown also had much better play makers around him to keep the defense honest. Beckham was constantly double teamed with a terrible run game and Rueben Randle as his No. 2.
Brown also gets a little bit of an edge with having a better offensive system and quarterback to throw him the ball. If I was a professional wide receiver I would choose Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley over Eli Manning and Ben McAdoo any day.
I’ll spare you the clip of Beckham’s one-handed catch against the Cowboys we’ve seen a million times. Here is a less popular clip showing that his agility is second to none. Pay close attention to his leap and superb concentration while the defender is right on him. This ball is overthrown by a yard or two. His leaping agility is an important trait to help offset his average height.
I also want to shine a spotlight on Beckham’s speed. With all of the circus like catches, it is easy to forget about his pure speed. You can see Beckham here make an impressive arm extended catch without breaking stride, and seemingly effortlessly blow past his defender.
The only thing that can stop Beckham from being the best, is himself. The embarrassing meltdown and altercations with Josh Norman was a wake up call. Beckham told Graziano of ESPN, “I don’t think anything’s going to change except learning from this experience. I don’t think I’m going to play with any less intensity. I don’t think I’m going to play with any less emotion.”
It doesn’t matter if you’re talking short term or long term, the one receiver I would want to build an offense around is No. 13 of the New York Giants.
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Is it Beckham or is it Brown? Feel free to join the debate below in the comment section!