Odell Beckham Jr. has chance to win rookie receiver triple crown
Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants warming up before an NFL game Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. Credit: Getty Images / Wesley Hitt
As Odell Beckham Jr.'s rookie season winds down, there isn't much more for him to accomplish. He's set just about every rookie receiving record for the Giants (and a few for the NFL as a whole), has become a mega-celebrity with a contacts list that now includes LeBron James and Michael Jordan, and most likely will represent the Giants in the Pro Bowl in late January after being voted a first alternate.
But there is something he'd like to take care of in his final game of the season Sunday. Beckham leads NFL rookies in receiving yards (1,120), is tied with Miami's Jarvis Landry for the lead in receptions (79) and is tied with Tampa Bay's Mike Evans for touchdowns (11). To win that rookie triple crown would be, he said, "nice."
"That's always in the back of your mind," he said Friday after the final full practice of the season. "Jarvis called me the other day and we were talking about that. He was saying 'You gotta go hard Sunday!' I know how he's coming, I know how he is. It's a loving competition, so I'm looking forward to it."
No one who has seen Beckham play these last few months should be surprised if he is able to top all NFL rookies in those stats. In fact, Beckham said he hasn't been surprised by any of the success he's had.
"It's everything I could have imagined, everything I could have asked for," he said. "I do like to set the goals and expectations very high for myself, so it would take a lot to surprise me."
After Sunday, Beckham will go into his first offseason as a pro. He'll be afforded plenty of opportunities as he tries to balance his newfound celebrity with training for the 2015 season.
He'll be living and working in Arizona with two of his former LSU teammates, Landry and Jeremy Hill of the Bengals. He'll also be at Eli Manning's camps and other football workouts "to get work in wherever you can."
His focus will not be on doing commercials or getting involved in business ventures -- although he almost certainly will make time for that! -- but on the Giants' offense in 2015.
"The sky's the limit," he said of what can be accomplished next year. "You can't put a limitation or expectation on it, you can see it. I said it earlier in the year with Vic [Cruz], Rueben [Randle], Larry Donnell, Rashad [Jennings] and myself involved, and Eli, I think, why would you not want to have one of the best offenses in the league? Obviously as a competitor, your goal is to be the best, so I would expect everyone else on the offense to feel that we should be the best."
Can it be?
"It has potential to be one of the best in the league," Beckham said. "That should be the mind-set of everybody. You never know what the future holds, so I guess we'll have to wait and see next year."
A fine mess
Nine players were fined a total of nearly $108,000 for infractions in last week's Giants-Rams game. Five players were fined for actions before and during the sideline brawl between the teams: Giants defensive end Damontre Moore and receiver Preston Parker were fined $15,000 each and Beckham was fined $10,000. Rams defensive end William Hayes was fined $10,000 and linebacker Alec Ogletree, whose late hit out of bounds against Beckham sparked the second-quarter scuffle, was fined $8,268.
Beyond the fight, Giants defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins ($16,537), kicker Josh Brown ($8,268) and long snapper Zak DeOssie ($8,268) were fined, as was Rams defensive end Eugene Simms ($16,537).
Giant steps
Offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo on Eli Manning being split wide in a Wildcat set last week: "He said he was open. Odell wasn't allowed to look over there, though." . . . Fewell said the Giants will keep about 40 percent of their game plan from the 27-0 loss to the Eagles in Week 6 and that the other 60 percent will be "new thoughts and ideas." . . . Linebacker Devon Kennard (toe) was ruled out. Running back Rashad Jennings (knee) is questionable.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
