Odell Beckham Jr.’s return to the Giants has been one of the more surprising storylines of the season, but through two games, the football part of it has barely existed.
Beckham made the 53-man roster after earning his way onto it, with the Giants cutting Darius Slayton, previously the highest-paid receiver on the team, to keep him. That move brought a wave of positive attention and gave the building a jolt of excitement around John Harbaugh’s first season. But the on-field role has not matched the buzz.
Through two games, Beckham has played only 14 offensive snaps and still has not been targeted once this season. On Thursday, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy didn’t do much to suggest that bigger usage is coming soon.
Asked whether the Giants plan to build Beckham into the offense or are simply keeping him around as insurance if someone gets hurt, Nagy’s answer leaned toward the second idea.
“Odell, he can [run] routes, everything, he does a lot of good things well,” Nagy said. “We’re trying to probably slowly package him in some things offensively.
So it’s not that he’s just a backup. There are some times when, whatever it is personnel-wise, that we have it on the game plan.
We just didn’t get to it.”
“Or,” Nagy said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to be ready.’ One injury away from being in all the time.
And he knows that. He understands that.”
So Nagy framed Beckham’s role as something more like a waiting game than a featured part of the offense. He added that it is helpful “probably just for us to be able to just [have] him know that and just keep staying in your book and in the packages we have for you, get in there and go do your thing.”
The decision looks even stranger because Beckham and Jameis Winston seemed to have a natural fit. Beckham and Jaxson Dart never showed much obvious chemistry in camp, but Winston and Beckham did.
They’re both veterans, Winston likes to plant and throw, and Beckham has long been a precise route runner who thrives on timing. Beckham also logged more snaps with the backups than the starters, which gave him more work with Winston.
Even with that, Beckham was stuck on the bench Monday night in Los Angeles after Winston replaced Dart in the first quarter and the Giants’ offense stalled while the game slipped away.
The snap counts have only sharpened the oddity. Beckham has been on the field for fewer offensive snaps in both games than practice squad receiver Braxton Berrios. Berrios outsnapped him 12 to 11 in Week 1 and five to three in Week 2.
The Giants have chosen to lean on Malik Nabers, Malachi Fields and Darnell Mooney. That part is understandable. But Beckham still looks like a player who should be worked in, especially now that Winston is at quarterback.
He doesn’t play special teams. He had a strong camp. And if he’s not going to be part of the offense, the roster spot becomes harder to explain.
For now, the questions around Beckham’s place on the team remain unanswered. Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans will offer another chance for Harbaugh and Nagy to show whether this is the start of something bigger or just a return that has more ceremony than substance.
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