New York Giants: Can Odell Beckham Jr. save 2014 draft class?

The New York Giants had an abysmal draft class back in 2014 outside of superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who may end up being a wasted pick.

Smart football people know one cannot thoroughly and adequately evaluate a draft class until three, four and, in some instances, five years after the fact. Players develop differently depending on age, coaching and other factors. Injuries affect rosters every spring, summer and fall. Losing franchises (i.e. the Cleveland Browns) change front offices and coaching staffs before rookie contracts expire.

The 2014 NFL Draft class turns four-years old during the second week of May, and nobody has to wait to determine the New York Giants, particularly then-general manager Jerry Reese, blew it big time. In hindsight, Reese would have been better off closing his eyes and throwing darts at a list of players. Analysts don’t verbally annihilate Reese for those picks because he landed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. twelfth overall.

Say whatever you will about Beckham’s personality, the touchdown celebrations, his desired future payday and the infamous Miami boat party gone wrong. Nobody can deny his ceiling remains as high as that belonging to any playmaker in the league. The numerous highlight-reel moments, from the one-handed catches to him leaving defensive backs in his dust, speak for themselves. He has Hall of Fame talent when healthy.

“When healthy” lingers over that description, and with good reason. Beckham missed most of training camp, the entire preseason and the first four contests of his rookie year because of lingering hamstring issues. An ankle injury he suffered in an August preseason game against the Cleveland Browns slowed him at the start of the 2017 campaign, and he suffered a fractured ankle in his fourth appearance of the season on Oct. 8.

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In all, Beckham has played in 47 of a possible 64 regular season contests. Life happens, of course, and using a couple of unfortunate moments to say he is injury prone is harsh, if not unfair. When, though, do we get to that point? How many more times must Beckham be a spectator before the Giants start to wonder if he is more Sammy Watkins than Jerry Rice? The Houston Texans may have to make a difficult decision regarding J.J. Watt, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, if he suffers another setback after missing 24 games the past two seasons. No ability is more important than availability.

The best grade anybody, even Beckham’s ardent defenders, can give the draft selection is a “B” because of the unknowns. Will Beckham be the same player and same dynamic athlete he was in 2016? Can he survive a full NFL season, something he’s only done half of his brief career? Is he going to cause problems in contract negotiations? All things considered, Beckham remains an incomplete as a player and a draft pick.

Giants fans with buyer’s remorse can easily find replacements for Beckham in an imaginary re-draft. Aaron Donald, Ryan Shazier, Zack Martin and, for those who want to replace 37-year old two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning immediately, Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr were all available.

What of the rest of New York’s 2014 draft class? Big Blue supporters may want to take deep breaths or grab a stiff drink before continuing. In fairness to offensive lineman Weston Richburg, he looked like the real deal once the Giants moved him center, his natural position, in 2015. He suffered what became a season-ending concussion in Week 4 of the 2017 season, and he signed with the San Francisco 49ers in free agency this past March. Two noteworthy seasons and a handful of starts from a second-round pick generates a “D” grade, and that’s being nice.

The rest is bowling-shoe ugly. Third-round pick defensive tackle Jay Bromley is a free agent. Running back Andre Williams, selected in the fourth round, spent only two seasons with the Giants. Safety Nat Berhe is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Detroit Lions signed defensive tackle Devon Kennard in March. Cornerback Bennett Jackson enjoyed a cup of coffee with the Giants.

Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, Jarvis Landry, Trai Turner, Devonta Freeman, Telvin Smith, Roosevelt Nix, Chris Boswell, Cody Parkey and, last but not least, Malcolm Butler are among the players the Giants could have drafted instead of those no longer with the team.

Beckham is the last man standing from a draft class that, as a whole, experienced a single winning season and lost its only playoff game. That pitiful reality explains why the Giants fired Reese before last Christmas. If Super Bowl titles are truly won on the second and third days of drafts, Reese may have set the Giants back at least two years with this class.

Next: NFL Draft 2018: Grades for each first-round pick

Beckham can save the team’s 2014 draft. He’s that special, a once-in-a-generation player worth six non-first-round picks if he reaches or exceeds his full potential, and if he stays with the Giants beyond 2018. Those are massive asks for player and club heading into what will be a make-or-break season in several ways.

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