Odell Beckham

Week 8 vs. Steelers

Beckham had another underwhelming outing while playing through a shoulder injury last week, catching 2-of-6 targets for 23 yards. There's a chance that having the extra couple of days of rest coming off the Thursday nighter could help OBJ come out a bit more fresh this time around. He's been able to get in limited practices all week, so that's a good sign.

Beckham goes up against a Steelers defense that ranks 22nd in aFPA allowed to wideouts, so this is an exploitable matchup. Pittsburgh has given up big games to Ja'Marr Chase, Henry Ruggs, and Courtland Sutton this season. Each of these wideouts has the ability to win downfield, similar to Beckham. Perhaps OBJ can do the same in this matchup.

Week 6 vs. Cardinals

Beckham turned in another disappointing outing last week, catching 2-of-3 targets for 20 yards in a 47-42 shootout. OBJ has now combined for only four receptions and 47 yards in his last two games. While he still leads the team with a 21.35% target share and 35.33% air yard share, these totals plummeted to a 16.67% target share and 28.13% air yard share in Week 5.

It doesn't get much easier for OBJ in this spot, as he'll go up against a Cardinals defense that ranks 17th in aFPA, but has limited wideouts to only 7.4 yards per target, which is the fourth-fewest in the NFL. It's hard to trust him as anything more than a volatile WR3 in this game, especially since it's likely that the Browns continue to emphasize the run in this spot.

Week 4 at Vikings

Beckham returned last week and had some encouraging usage, playing 64.2% of the snaps while leading the team in target share (31.03%) and air yards (149). While he's limited by the Browns' run-heavy offense, that's alpha WR1 usage that we can't ignore. Beckham should continue to see a significant portion of the team's targets, especially with Landry sidelined.

OBJ goes up against a Vikings defense that ranks 9th in aFPA allowed to opposing wideouts, but this team gave up big games to D.K. Metcalf (6 REC, 107 YDS, 1 TD), Rondale Moore (7 REC, 114 YDS, 1 TD), and Ja'Marr Chase (5 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD). This isn't a matchup to fear and we could see OBJ have a spike week in this projected shootout. I'd put Beckham on the WR2 radar in this spot.