OBJ’s integration into Rams O is still a ‘work in progress’…

Odell Beckham Jr.'s integration into Rams offense is still 'a work in progress'

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t arrive in Los Angeles until two days before the Rams took on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10. It was unfair to think he would have much of an impact in that game, given his lack of time to prepare and learn the Rams’ playbook.

But with the Rams being on their bye in Week 11, Beckham was able to dive into the playbook and get acclimated to his new team without feeling pressed to play in a game again so quickly. That should have a positive effect ahead of this weekend’s matchup with the Packers, certainly giving Beckham a larger opportunity on offense after playing only 15 snaps against the 49ers.

Sean McVay provided an update on Beckham’s progress Monday and while he complimented the wide receiver’s intelligence, he did admit it’s still a process that he and the team are working through.

“I think that’s a work in progress. I think it was important for everybody to be able to get away. Odell was doing a great job of kind of working on his own, getting himself physically ready to go because there was still some stuff that he was working through just physically to get his body feeling overall the way that he wants to play at the level that we all know he’s capable of,” McVay said. “And so, there’s some moving parts to that. What I didn’t want to do is immerse him in some information and then you end up adjusting and changing. So, I think you want to be able to foundationally build it the right way, formations, all those kinds of things, and then you do need to be specific with the way that we implement the game plan. What does that look like? What positions will he play in? Who does that also effect as a result of just some of the moving pieces, different personnel groupings? And things of that nature. So, that’s something that we started to really dive into today. I know he was doing some stuff behind the scenes. But he’s a smart, conscientious guy. I think the goal for us is making sure that we get a plan in alignment that provides clarity for all of our players, in particular Odell, just because he is new to the system. But, there’s a lot of similarities in terms of the verbiage and the vernacular that they were utilizing in Cleveland. And so that will help and it’ll force us to be even that much more air tight with our game plan, which I think is a good, positive thing for us as coaches as well.”

When Beckham was originally brought in, he was expected to be the No. 3 receiver in a rotation with Van Jefferson. But with Robert Woods suffering a torn ACL shortly after Beckham arrived, his role grew significantly.

Even after the bye, Beckham will still need time to get up to speed in Los Angeles. A receiver joining a new team isn’t as easy as a pass rusher like Von Miller because there’s a chemistry that must develop between the receiver and his quarterback. For Miller, he can just go rush the quarterback without needing to worry much about what his teammates are doing on a given play.

Beckham is a talented and explosive player, but expecting him to play every snap and rack up big numbers each week is unfair.