Monday leftovers, Part Deux

In the wake of Odell Beckham Jr.’s non-denial that he did not want to be anywhere than Cleveland comes this little thought: Is the superstar wide receiver on the downside of his career?

Not suggesting he is, but the notion he is not nearly the player he used to be and has hurt the offense for the Browns this season is a distinct possibility given his numbers.

Yes, he is on pace for a 1,000-yard season – 1,038 to be exact – and 73 receptions, but somehow those figures do not translate into winning football. He is no longer the 288-catch, 4,122-yard, 42-touchdown super duper wideout he was in his first three seasons with the New York Giants.

He took the National Football League world by storm in those spectacular seasons, but has not come close to duplicating them in the last three seasons, including this one.

There is an old expression in sports that more often than not turns out to be true. ‘Tis better to trade a player (no matter the sport) a year too early than a year too late.

The Browns gave up guard Kevin Zeitler, not even arguably their best offensive lineman last season, in the deal that brought Beckham to Cleveland. Zeitler has held up his end of the bargain, albeit for a bad Giants team. Beckham has not.

He has not been a difference maker on a team that badly needs one. With precious few exceptions, he has not been a playmaker. Good friend Jarvis Landry has been outstanding in that department.

Maybe it’s the season-long sports hernia, which was revealed just recently, that separates him from returning to his superstar status with regard to Beckham’s contributions to the offense.

But as Baker Mayfield, his quarterback and big booster, said Sunday, “His ‘not 100%’ is still good enough for us.” But it has not translated to the point where he would be a major factor if the Browns were much closer to the postseason than they are now.

Mayfield and Beckham have not clicked the way General Manager John Dorsey most likely envisioned when he made the swap with the Giants. The duo has connected on only 55% of 108 targeted passes.

He has had much more success with Jarvis Landry, who has caught 60% of 115 targets, five of which wound up in the end zone. (Beckham has just two touchdowns.) He is on pace for a 1,225-yard season.

Now it’s also entirely possible the offense of head coach Freddie Kitchens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken does not fit Beckham’s unique skills. Sort of a square peg-round hole situation.

Most successful coaches take the talents of their players and construct schemes that maximize those talents, thus putting them in the best position to win. There seems to be a disconnect in that regard between Kitchens/Monken and Beckham.

The burning question is how Dorsey will handle the situation in the offseason. Rumors Beckham wants out of Cleveland have gained traction lately via the reporting of two well-connected insiders.

If he decides Beckham is one and done in town, it will be interesting to see what he can fetch in return, especially after the (for him) disappointing numbers he has put up this season. If the GM wants to see #13 in Seal Brown and Orange a second season, at least this time he’ll be healthy.

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Is Kitchens the head coach Dorsey envisioned when he anointed the raw neophyte last January to the shock of more than a few? Has he done enough to warrant a second season?

The best he can finish realistically is 8-8. The Browns should – not necessarily will – win Sunday in Arizona and the season ender at Cincinnati, but there is absolutely no way they win the home finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

The former Browns, unbeaten since losing humiliatingly to the current Browns, 40-25, in week four in Baltimore, are certain to arrive in Cleveland with only one thing on their minds – revenge. It wasn’t so much they lost at home. It was the margin by which they fell.

It is also conceivable the Browns, winners of four of their last five games, have won their last game of the season and wind up 6-10. The Cardinals are only 3-10-1 and won only one home game this season, but have stayed with the likes of Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Baltimore in close losses.

They are coming off a six-point loss to the Steelers, which gives you some idea of what they are capable of, especially in their final home game of the season. And the Bengals came awfully close to knocking off the Browns in Cleveland.

Kitchens’ fate, if it already hasn’t been determined, very well could depend on the outcomes of three next three games.

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Last season, Mayfield completed nearly 64% of his passes. In college at Texas Tech and Oklahoma, he completed passes at a .685 clip and averaged 9.8 yards a throw. This season, he is slogging along just above 59%, averaging 7.2 yards a pass.

Why the difference? He ostensibly has better receivers. He has thrown fewer passes, probably because the Browns have one of the best ground games in the NFL with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

Have you noticed that many of Mayfield’s passes are high, forcing intended targets to reach or jump to make spectacular plays on the football? Many of his incompletions to wide open targets sail above their heads.

When was the last time you saw him hit a receiver in stride on a deep throw? He has no problem with short slants or dig routes. But his ability to connect on the deep pass has disappeared. He can no longer stretch the field with accurate throws.

Perhaps his lack of height causes him to over adjust to the point where his release point is often too high. And rather than throwing through the ball, he gets under it. It has been that way a good part of the season and might be the main reason he is completing fewer passes.