Odell Beckham has landed in Cleveland. After skipping the Browns’ voluntary workouts, the star wideout is in attendance for mandatory mini-camp, practicing with the rest of his teammates.
After Wednesday’s practice, Beckham met with the media to discuss a variety of topics, including his early absence during the early stages of offseason workouts. He said all of the things you expected him to say — he’ll have no problem catching up (he won’t), coach Freddie Kitchens knew he what he was up to (he did) and he knows how to get his body in shape for the season (he clearly does) — but the most interesting thing Beckham said during the 20-minute media session was an off-hand comment that could, and will be, interpreted as shade toward his former quarterback, Eli Manning.
“I’ve watched Baker since Oklahoma. I think it’s the confidence he carries himself with. You can’t coach that on anybody. That’s something that comes from within you. And he really has that and it’s on display always … also, I have to get adjusted to the speed because he’s got an arm. He’s throwing that ball hard. Just catching him from the first day, it was like: ‘Wow, this is completely different.’”
We’ll just gloss over the whole thing about confidence — though Eli isn’t exactly dripping with swagger — and focus on the arm strength thing, because that is certainly relevant when we’re discussing the viability of Manning starting for the Giants at this point in his career. If the drop off in arm strength is that steep, maybe New York is more trouble than we already assumed it was.
Manning has never been overly accurate. He doesn’t make the best decisions, especially under pressure. And he’s got the athleticism of a beer league softball player. If Eli doesn’t have arm strength, WHAT does he have?
Manning’s arm strength has been in decline for a few years so it’s not surprising to hear this from the Browns receiver, who has yet to play with another NFL quarterback during his career.
Fortunately for the Giants, they now have another viable option at the quarterback position who can step in if Eli struggles early in 2019. Unfortunately for the Giants, it’s Daniel Jones, who doesn’t have the strongest arm himself. But that’s no longer Beckham’s problem.
