Odell Beckham

Fantasy Upside
Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t play last year after tearing his ACL in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory over the Bengals. He was coming off a pretty good half-season in Los Angeles, catching five touchdowns in eight games after struggling through the first half of the year in Cleveland. He joins a Ravens offense with a newly paid former MVP at quarterback and a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken, known for a downfield passing attack. There’s upside here for Beckham, who should win a starting job and is expected to be ready for Week 1.

Fantasy Downside
Beckham hasn’t played since that Super Bowl, and he’ll turn 31 in November. Beckham also floundered in Cleveland for two and a half years before his short stint with the Rams, so it’s fair to wonder what he has left in the tank. He’s only played a full season twice in his career (although he played 15 games in 2015) and is now seven years removed from his last double-digit touchdown campaign (2016 with the Giants).

2023 Bottom Line
Beckham doesn’t cost much in draft capital, so it doesn’t hurt to add him to the back end of your fantasy roster. The new offensive game plan could create more opportunities for this group of Baltimore receivers than we’ve seen Lamar Jackson provide in the past. That said, he’s a long time removed from his previous dominance, and fantasy managers shouldn’t go out of their way to roster the veteran.

Week 16 at Minnesota Vikings

COVID-19 protocols derailed his practice time prior to Week 15 and the game postponement allowed him to play December 21. A short week should not hurt OBJ and the Vikings’ awful defense opens a lot of opportunity for a bounceback week. Beckham and the rest of the Rams passing attack are lineup locks Week 16.

Week 14 at Arizona Cardinals

Despite being limited by a hip issue, OBJ saw five targets on 36 snaps and scored a touchdown. He is securely in Matthew Stafford’s circle of trust after only a few weeks on the team and gets the chance to contribute against a strong Cardinals secondary. Few defenses are better against the pass according to 4for4’s aFPA, but with the Rams three-deep at wideout, Beckham should be a WR3 in a must-win for the Rams if they want to compete for the NFC West title.