The New York Giants are trying to recapture their glory days by bringing Odell Beckham Jr. back to town. Some derided this as a ploy to generate artificial interest, but the latest reports from Giants training camp suggest that Beckham is starting to make some noise and separate himself from a fairly even group of veteran wide receivers.
According to Connor Hughes, Beckham has been working with starters like Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III while this team takes things slow with Malik Nabers. Beckham has reportedly been getting open often in camp despite a lack of targets and catches, and it appears as though the coaches have rewarded his unheralded performances with an increased workload.
This is not a Tim Tebow to the Jaguars signing. Beckham is showing that he has enough gas left in the tank to defy the odds and make some impact plays for Jaxson Dart and this Giants offense.
Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly moving up New York Giants depth chart
Beckham joined the Giants on a one-year deal, but he came in at the same time as JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios. With third-round rookie Malachi Fields also in the mix, the Giants' wide receiver room is crowded. Pessimists will say there is unnecessary padding and haphazard veteran additions; optimists will say that at least one of these players has to break out.
The last time Beckham recorded 600 yards receiving in a season, Avengers: Endgame had come out just a few months beforehand, and Beckham himself was on the Cleveland Browns. With injuries galore and a lack of interest across the NFL, you wouldn't be called a hater if you deemed Beckham's career dead and buried.
With Nabers on the mend, the Giants have the luxury of rolling into camp with a completely unsettled depth chart. This could be a pure meritocracy, and if Beckham is still using his tremendous physical gifts to get open with ease despite all of the road spikes he has run over in his career, why can't he assume a fairly meaty role on this roster?
While the naysayers will point to the fact that the Giants don't have four players better than a 33-year-old wide receiver who has been perpetually injured for the last few years as a concerning development, Beckham rewinding time to back when he was a marquee attraction is something that should put a smile on every fan's face.
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