While Odell Beckham Jr. was this year’s crown jewel acquisition for the Cleveland Browns this offseason, it wasn’t the first time the team and general manager John Dorsey had made a splash via a trade to bring a big-name wide receiver to town.
Last offseason, the Browns made a move to bring over Jarvis Landry was the team’s big pick-up last season.
Landry had spent his first four season in Miami before being traded to the Browns for a pair of draft picks — a 2018 fourth-rounder and seventh-round pick this year. That was a bargain bin price for a wide receiver with elite talent and unlike anyone Cleveland currently had on its roster. Landry’s ridiculous stats were evidence of that.
In 2017, Landry had more receiving touchdowns (9) than the entire Browns roster had (7) — albeit the Browns were coming off a ill-fated winless season. He also was also just behind on receptions, tallying 112 during his final Pro Bowl year as a Dolphin, compared to 134 for the Browns pass-catchers, according to NFL Research.
In his first year with the Browns, Landry led the team with in every major receiving category but touchdowns. He collected 976 yards and 81 catches, which were 25 more than the next closest (Antonio Callaway at 56). He also led the team with a whopping 149 targets.
In all, Landry has racked up 5,014 yards and 26 touchdowns in his career, while recording 481 receptions — a number that puts him in a league of his own.
No other wide receiver in NFL history has more receptions through their first five seasons in the league.
Jarvis Landry has 481 receptions through five seasons.
No other player in NFL history has had more than 426. @God_Son80 🔥
Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry Set To Be Lethal Tandem
Now working with Beckham, his college teammate at LSU, Landry will have more opportunities against single coverage to rack up those catches.
Both are excited about the opportunity to work together again.
“I’m excited to be back with my brother (Jarvis Landry) first and foremost,” Beckham told reporters at minicamp. “I know I’ve talked about it before but it’s still surreal. Like I sit next to him in a meeting and I just look over and like I just pat him, you know what I mean, tell him I love him. It’s just crazy. I don’t even know how to describe it. The chances of you making the NFL are already so slim. And then the chances of you being on the same team, like I said this before, we talked about having a house next to each other, being neighbors, all that and now it’s finally here.”
Pro Football Focus recently ranked the duo as the second best pass-catching tandems in the league behind only Minnesota’s Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
“Odell Beckham Jr. has to be ecstatic about his future following his trade from the Giants earlier this offseason,” PFF wrote. “He gets to pair up with a gunslinger at quarterback in Baker Mayfield and join forces with his good friend Jarvis Landry to form one of the NFL’s premier receiving duos.
Beckham — a three-time Pro Bowl talent — has averaged just under 150 receptions in seasons where he has played in at least 12 games. So while Landry will likely not replicate his target total of a year ago, there’s plenty of production to go around, especially considering OBJ’s mindset.
“This game is about winning,” Beckham said. “I’d much rather be in the playoffs than go for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns, because I’m supposed to do that anyway. I’m ready to get back to the playoffs and show what I can do.”
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Cleveland Browns’ WR Jarvis Landry Is in a League of His Own