Giants' Odell Beckham Jr.: Double coverage from defenses 'not going to work'

[Mr. P]

 

All eyes will be on Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from the moment he steps on the field this season. There will be no catching the league by surprise in 2015, as he did during the early parts of his rookie year.

Not that it will matter. Beckham expects the Giants to make adjustments to the extra attention he surely will attract. Opposing defenses won't be able to stop him ... and them.

"I definitely expect to receive a lot more attention," Beckham said Wednesday after looking as explosive as ever in the Giants' first organized team activities (OTA) workout of the year. "But it's just not going to work."

Beckham's reasoning is more than just his electric speed and ability. He seems to be counting on veteran wide receiver Victor Cruz to return at a high level. Cruz tore the patellar tendon in his right knee last season. He spent part of Wednesday's OTA workout running routes and catching passes with a trainer on a side field.

VIDEO: Giants Victor Cruz on his rehab progress "I am itching to get back New York Giants Victor Cruz on his rehab progress "I am itching to get back" (Video by William perlman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

With Cruz healthy and third-year wideout Rueben Randle as part of the mix, Beckham sees opposing defenses consistently grasping for answers.

"You know you have Vic and Reuben, it's going to be hard to double or have a safety over the top with the stuff that we have going on," Beckham said. "I don't think it's going to be beneficial for them."

In the second year of coordinator Ben McAdoo's offense, there is a different emphasis. Rather than simply learning the plays or concepts, the Giants seem to be building on what they did last year. They scored 175 points (29.2 ppg) over the final six weeks of the season.

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They seem to be going about this by constantly shifting their pawns.

"It feels like with the playbook, I know more now than I did last year, so it kind of helps you as far as moving around," Beckham said. "I think that is going to be a lot of the offense. Moving Vic around, myself, Reuben, Preston [Parker], whoever is in.

"It has just been a point of emphasis. We're all moving around right now. Everyone has to know every spot that way it allows you to do that with the offense."

This is always the way McAdoo envisioned the offense working. He's preached every player knowing every position since Day 1. He reiterated it earlier this month when asked about teams game-planning for Beckham after his breakout rookie season.

"Everyone learns to play everywhere on the perimeter. ... We ask that of all our guys," McAdoo said. "Whether we pull that out each week depends on who we are seeing and how we are tailoring our plan."

One thing is for certain about that plan is that no matter the opponent, Beckham will factor in largely, as long as he's healthy. He averaged over 133 receiving yards per game over the final nine weeks of the season.

And this time, he's more comfortable in the offense right from the start. Beckham suffered a hamstring injury last spring that lingered until October. He missed the first four games of his rookie season, yet still took home NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after finishing with 91 catches, 1,305 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns.

His quarterback was also dealing with an injury last spring. Eli Manning was coming off ankle surgery and several weeks in a boot.

This offseason and summer they hope being healthier can lead to even better (scary, right?) results.

"It was big. It was important having this last month ‐ watching the film, talking a lot about the mechanics, the footwork, being able to go outside with him and working on a lot of drill work. A lot of it is stuff I wasn't able to do last year," Manning said. "I was coming off the ankle surgery, I had a new offense – of lot of things going through the mind, trying to figure out concepts. This year, I understand the concepts. I'm still working on it, but I'm concentrating on the footwork and the mechanics and the timing of everything. It was great to have that this year and kind of get back to the basics of everything. I feel comfortable, I feel real good right now."

Unfortunately for the rest of the league, so does his top receiver. And if everything goes as planned, there won't be much anyone can do to stop them.

 

http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2015/05/giants_odell_beckham_jr_double_coverage_from_defen.html

[gmenroc]

Until we can run the ball more consistently, defenses could double Cruz and Beckham and single cover Randle in 3 WR sets. That leaves 7 in the box...which until proven otherwise, is good enough to stop our run game. The real wild cards here are Donnell and Vereen. They're the ones that will kill the double teams on Cruz and Beckham.

 

Let's not forget either, that Cruz can be single covered until we see him fully back from his injury.

 

These are the types of articles that need to be run through the realist checker before being written.

[CrazedDogs]

Until we can run the ball more consistently, defenses could double Cruz and Beckham and single cover Randle in 3 WR sets. That leaves 7 in the box...which until proven otherwise, is good enough to stop our run game. The real wild cards here are Donnell and Vereen. They're the ones that will kill the double teams on Cruz and Beckham.

 

Let's not forget either, that Cruz can be single covered until we see him fully back from his injury.

 

These are the types of articles that need to be run through the realist checker before being written.

 

2 + 2 + 1 = 5.... unless the defense is playing with 12 guys, that leaves 6 in the box.

[gmenroc]

 

2 + 2 + 1 = 5.... unless the defense is playing with 12 guys, that leaves 6 in the box.

 

Yeah, not so sure last year's team could run against that either...but yes, my tired mind failed me there.

[CrazedDogs]

LOL, can't argue with that. Run blocking last year was atrocious.

 

Pretty sure we saw lots of 6 in the box last season too, and yeah.... 3 yards and a cloud of ineptitude.

[Gman329]

Point is well taken, though: we have GOT to be able to run the ball! If we can't, the double teaming of Odell won't be the problem - Eli will be under siege! But if we have a running game opposing defenses have to respect, look out. We'll be a scary offense.

[gmenroc]

With the quick release offense, I'm not so worried about Eli being under seige. But if they double receivers, the quick release tends to go away and then it snowballs. If there is the slightest hint of a running game, then we're rolling.

 

I don't think there is any way to slice it though where the defense isn't the biggest concern.

[Tempest]

The running game is so critical to what the Giants do on offense. If the running game doesn't show up this season, it could be the end of an era.

[Allstarjim]

Running the ball will help, but I welcome teams to double ODB. He is good enough to break doubles on his own. Even if they double him, he's still open.

 

But I find a strong connection to Randles hot finish last year to teams paying a lot more attention to ODB.

 

We will be fine. The defense needs to be strong and we need health... and this team should be a contender.

[gmenroc]

Running the ball will help, but I welcome teams to double ODB. He is good enough to break doubles on his own. Even if they double him, he's still open.

 

But I find a strong connection to Randles hot finish last year to teams paying a lot more attention to ODB.

 

We will be fine. The defense needs to be strong and we need health... and this team should be a contender.

 

I agree with some of this, but the 'he's still open' part....not so much. Eli has never been heralded for his accuracy. I don't care who you have as a receiver, I don't want Eli throwing into double coverage...like...ever.

[Allstarjim]

 

I agree with some of this, but the 'he's still open' part....not so much. Eli has never been heralded for his accuracy. I don't care who you have as a receiver, I don't want Eli throwing into double coverage...like...ever.

 

Did you watch the games last year? ODB WAS getting the doubles, and ODB WAS getting open anyway. If fact, they'd shade a LB over their too, really dedicating 3 guys to covering ODB, and he was still getting open and putting up big numbers.

 

This isn't speculation on my part, and Eli is plenty accurate enough to find open receivers. This stuff actually happened.

[Allstarjim]

The point is the "double coverage" can't stay with ODB. He is simply too fast out of his cuts and his acceleration is too insane. His athleticism is just too much for defenses to handle, even if they devote two guys to him.

[gmenroc]

I'm not saying he can't beat the occasional double team. But, after a year of game tape, having a defense game plan for a specific player, and Eli being streaky as far as his accuracy goes (there are plenty of throws fans look at thinking WTF)...OBJ is not going to have it as easy this year.

[Mr. P]

I'm not saying he can't beat the occasional double team. But, after a year of game tape, having a defense game plan for a specific player, and Eli being streaky as far as his accuracy goes (there are plenty of throws fans look at thinking WTF)...OBJ is not going to have it as easy this year.

 

You also have to account for Eli having another year in the system, last year he was learning. and Beckham missed a ton of time, so him being more used to the system will help too.

[gmenroc]

 

You also have to account for Eli having another year in the system, last year he was learning. and Beckham missed a ton of time, so him being more used to the system will help too.

 

And the system development, adding wrinkles, Cruz being more of a running mate, etc.

 

There are lots of reasons why Beckham can match last year's production or exceed it...but it'll be more limited due to defenses focusing on him than I think a lot of people realize.

[Mr. P]

Luckily, Beckham can have a great season while not coming even close to matching last years production.

[Tempest]

Luckily, Beckham can have a great season while not coming even close to matching last years production.

 

JPP probably thought the same way after 2011 and now people consider him a lazy under-achiever looking for a big payday.

[CrazedDogs]

Luckily, Beckham can have a great season while not coming even close to matching last years production.

 

Yeah, he's not likely to ever have an 8 game stretch like that again. Probably be another 20 years before anybody does that again.

[GA4M]

Man, I really like this guy but I hope he's not going to be the next drama queen running his mouth all time and causing other teams to bring their A game to kick our ass. Just play and do the talking on the field. Cruz is a big IF and Randle isn't scaring anyone right now.