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Odell Beckham Jr.has never played with a quarterback like Baker Mayfield.
With his vocal leadership, explosive playmaking ability and sometimes brash personality, Mayfield has earned the respect of Beckham, who made that very clear during his training camp press conference on Friday.
“When you have a guy like that, you never want to let him down,” Beckham said when asked about his quarterback. “There’s a reason he was the first pick. I just let him tell me what he thinks I should do and I’m just gonna do that. And he’s going to put it where it needs to be.”
Beckham came over to the Cleveland Browns via a blockbuster trade this offseason from the New York Giants. He goes from playing with Eli Manning — who’s approaching 40 and has been timid to go downfield in recent seasons — to Mayfield, who plays with a gunslinger mentality, something OBJ famously noted in a GQ interview earlier this year.
“I watch football. I really, really watch football,” Beckham told reporters at minicamp. “And that is a good comparison in my eyes. I loved Brett Favre growing up and Baker has a lot of similarities to him. You put the highlights together and it looks the same.”
When asked about the comparison by Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, Favre agreed with Beckham’s assessment.
“There’s no question that the sky is the limit for Baker,” Favre told the Beacon Journal/Ohio.com in a recent interview. “And, yeah, I think his style of play, and I’ve heard the same thing about [Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick] Mahomes, and I agree with both, that their styles of play — if you had to pick a former player — would certainly match up to my style.”
Odell Beckham, Baker Mayfield Building Strong Chemistry
Beckham and Baker have been trying to build their chemistry this offseason, working out on the West Cost in advance of training camp. Mayfield gave an update on the progress from training camp this week.
“It’s coming along great, as expected,” Mayfield said. “I’m able to kind of put it anywhere with him.”
That statement has rang true during a busy training camp, where Beckham has seemingly been snatching everything in sight.
Your first OBJ catch of camp… and it’s a beauty. #Browns
“He can do things I’ve never seen before,” Mayfield said in a recent Sports Illustrated interview. “The pure talent is unreal. As we grow chemistry together, it can be pretty special. He makes my job easy. I’m happy to be able to be at camp with him and get better every day.”
Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Should Both Benefit From Bond
In just 13 starts, Mayfield passed for a rookie record 27 touchdowns last season. The former Oklahoma Heisman winner also collected 3,725 passing yards and helped the Browns finish 7-8-1, winning five of their final seven games.
Beckham has been banged up the last two seasons, missing a combined 16 games. However, he’s still carries the reputation of being among the NFL’s best. During his five seasons with the Giants, Beckham hauled in 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns in 59 games. He made the Pro Bowl three-times and has designs to catch Jerry Rice on the all-time receiving yards list.
Both should see those numbers spike with their new-found connection in Cleveland.
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Odell Beckham Continues to Heap Praise on Baker Mayfield