Mid-week thoughts

A couple of items today . . . 

Life after OBJ . . . 

There is no question whatsoever that losing Odell Beckham Jr. for the season cannot be overstated. It will definitely have an effect on how head coach/playcaller/pseudo offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski gameplans the offense the rest of the 2020 season.

But let's not treat this like an all-is-lost situation just because the club's best wide receiver will be a spectator the rest of the season. The Browns are 5-2 and Beckham has not been a major contributor to the cause.

Or has he?

A case can be made that while he still is highly regarded around the National Football League, other factors have played major roles in that 5-2 record. Beckham has played a relatively minor role from a statistical standpoint.

There are times it appears as though quarterback Baker Mayfield is trying to force the ball to Beckham just to keep him from complaining about not being a vital part of the offense. Kind of a throw-me-the-damn-ball mind-set.

It can be argued Mayfield is a different quarterback when targeting other members of the offense. When attempting to connect with Beckham, he is a 53% thrower. On non-Beckham throws, he connects nearly 80% of the time. A remarkable, head-scratching difference.

In theory, Beckham's absence the rest of the season consequently should not have a negative effect on the Cleveland offense. Not so, say Mayfield and Beckham's best friend and fellow wideout Jarvis Landry. Landry first.

"That's not true at all," he said. "A lot of our offense has been solely based on having Odell on the field. A lot of the things that have opened up for us as an offense has been because of the threat he is. We've just got to find a way to adapt and adjust and make plays."

Asked if he is a better quarterback without OBJ, Mayfield took umbrage. "I think it's completely insensitive to a guy who just tore his ACL," he initially replied. "I'm not even going to comment on it." He later added, "Without him, there may not be as many one-on-one opportunities. . . . Teams are going to play us differently."

Will Beckham be missed? Of course he will. It's nonsense to think otherwise. But it is not as catastrophic a loss as some would have you believe. If anything, and this is stretching the point a bit, it might turn out to be a blessing of sorts.

Now when he drops back to pass, Mayfield's eyes will take him to Landry, tight ends Austin Hooper, Harrison Bryant and David Njoku, running back Kareem Hunt and wide receivers Rashard Higgins and rookie Donovan People-Jones.

With regard to the latter two, bench-warmers until now, think of it this sway: If Beckham does not go down on the first possession of the afternoon against Cincinnati Sunday, do Higgins and Peoples-Jones play major roles in the big comeback? I don't think so. His presence would have taken a major portion of their targets away, including during the game-winning drive.

Statistically, Beckham seems to be the least reliable of all Mayfield receivers. How that plays out in the remaining nine games this season will go a long way in determining whether he is, indeed, an invaluable  player in the Cleveland offense.

***

What were they thinking? . . .

It sure looks as though the Browns were asleep at the switch last week. And it cost them a player who could have come in and fit right away with what passes as their pass rush. Besides, it strengthens a division opponent.

The Baltimore Ravens have one of the smartest front offices in the NFL and proved it by prying loose Yannick Ngakoue from the Minnesota Vikings for what amounts to chump change. All it cost the Ravens to acquire one of the NFL's premier edge rushers was a third-round selection in next year's college draft and a conditional fifth-rounder in 2022.

That's it. A three and a five for Ngakoue is almost, but not quite, highway robbery. The Vikings, who had acquired Ngakoue from Jacksonville, are currently in a selling mood after starting the season 1-5. 

Surely the Browns could easily have afforded that. They have 10 picks in next year's lottery, including a pair of threes and a pair of fives. That's dirt cheap to put Ngakouke in Seal Brown and Orange opposite Myles Garrett. Can you imagine those two barreling in concert toward opposing quarterbacks on a weekly basis? You won't now. 

Where were the Browns in this little scenario? Stefanski knows the entire Vikings family, having spent the last decade there. And General Manager Andrew Berry had to know the Vikes were in a dumping mood. That's his job to know stuff like that.

Instead, you'll see Ngakoue with Baltimore's Calais Campbell, Matthew Judon and Pernell McPhee harassing the likes of Mayfield twice a year. His first stop is Dec. 14 in Cleveland, a Monday Night Football date on ESPN.

The Browns also did not appear to be players when Ngakoue this past summer literally talked his way out of Jacksonville, where he had spent his first four NFL seasons, because he wanted to escape the losing atmosphere. 

Ngakoue is a special player. He has a nose for the football, especially when it is in the hands of opposing quarterbacks. In 69 NFL games, he has 42.5 sacks, including five in six games this season with the Vikings, and 47 tackles for loss. And he is only 25 years old.

A possible reason for the Browns' apparent disinterest in Ngakoue is his desire to be paid quite handsomely for his services in the future and he might ask for too much. The Browns still have fifth-year option decisions to make with regard to Mayfield, cornerback Denzel Ward and running back Nick Chubb.

But if you have the opportunity to get an honest-to-goodness quality defensive player, especially with the awful defense they have now, you jump at it. The Browns, it seems, chose to jump in another direction.