Jayden Daniels may be having the greatest rookie season ever for a QB right now, but the best rookie season ever for a wideout has to be Odell Beckham Jr.’s display as an NFL freshman for the New York Giants in 2014. He finished with 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 TDs—in 12 games. He also led the league in receiving yards per game, with 108.8. And of course, we can’t forget about his signature three-finger TD catch.
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OBJ executed an insane touchdown catch against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12 of that rookie year. Beckham speared the ball in the front corner of the end zone with three fingers as he fell backwards while his defender was committing a pass interference penalty. Needless to say, many still view it as the greatest catch of all-time, including Heisman winner Travis Hunter.
“Boog: That highlight is gonna play for the next 50 years.
Travis Hunter: Greatest catch ever, you gon’ play that. Everybody is gonna go back to OBJ one-handed catch… Three fingers. (laughs)”
On a night when he had 10 catches for 146 yards and two TDs for the Giants, this play still somehow stood out like a sore thumb. It wasn’t just that it was against the most popular team in the league in one of the biggest rivalries in the league. It was also in primetime on Sunday Night Football on NBC with Chris Collinsworth doing his trademark satisfied chuckle nonstop as he tried to make sense of the mind-bending acrobatics that allowed Beckham to make the grab.
That Offensive Rookie of the Year-winning campaign in 2014 seemed to announce a new player in the “best WR in the league” discussion. OBJ followed up his first year with two more 90+ catch, 1,300+ yard, 10+ TD seasons in a row. He was named a Second-Team All-Pro after both.
However, injuries robbed him of his 4th year in the league, during which he only managed to play four games. He had another decent 1,000-yard season in 2018, but he was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2019. He put up another decent 1,000-yard season in his first campaign in Cleveland, but an injury cost him much of the 2020 season and the wideout began to become disgruntled with the situation on the Browns.
Halfway through the 2021 season, OBJ was essentially a forgotten man—until the Los Angeles Rams came calling. They acquired OBJ mid-season, and he returned to form just in time for their run to the Super Bowl 56 title. He was second on the team in receptions (21), receiving yards (288), and receiving TDs (2) during the playoff run. That included a nine-reception, 113-yard performance in a tight NFC Championship as well as a crucial TD in the Super Bowl.
Beckham’s injury luck poked its ugly head out again during the Big Game, however. He tore his ACL during the Super Bowl and missed the entire 2022 season. Since then, he’s been signing veteran minimum deals to play for the Ravens and Dolphins, though he didn’t make much of an impact with either team. In 23 games from 2023 to 2024, OBJ has managed 44 receptions for 620 yards and three TDs.
Despite those trials and tribulations over the last few years, Travis Hunter believes you “can’t call him washed” because he won that ring back in 2021.
“Hey man, he got a Super Bowl ring man, there’s nothing you can say about him. You can’t say he’s washed.”
At 32 going on 33, Odell Beckham Jr. is on the back nine of his NFL career and hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2019. While we wouldn’t call him “washed”, that seems a little harsh for someone whose career was derailed by injuries, but he’s certainly not what he used to be. One Super Bowl ring isn’t enough to keep someone from becoming “washed” either. That was all too clear this year when the Dolphins didn’t even bother to retain him for the entire season.
Odell Beckham Jr. had one of the most iconic three-year primes any wideout has ever seen. They just so happened to be his first three in the league. The jersey he wore for that incredible catch is displayed in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but we doubt the player who actually wore it will get a bust in Canton when all is said and done.
