The Baltimore Ravens signed wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year contract worth up to $18 million, with $15 million guaranteed. The move is one that is sure to bolster Baltimore’s offensive unit, and his veteran leadership will be able to help players such as Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay.
During Beckham’s introductory press conference, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta discussed what the team wanted to see from Beckham’s private workout that he held in Arizona. DeCosta mentioned that they sent assistant wide receivers coach Keith Williams to evaluate Beckham, and they were looking for how he moved, his body control, and more.
“I was not there. We sent a coach, [assistant wide receivers coach] Keith Williams, who [is] a great evaluator. He was excited to go out there for a couple days. We got the video; we have the video; we watched the video probably four times with some of the pro scouting staff, some of the coaches. We just wanted to see – number one – how does he move, body control, all the things we look for in any player, really. How’s he catching the ball, how’s he adjusting to the ball, just mechanically is he able to drop his weight? [Does he have] burst, quickness, speed, agility, [and] conditioning, as well. Obviously, [it was] a controlled environment, but we saw everything we needed to see, knowing that it’s going to just improve. That’s the thing – when a guy has a serious injury in general, it only gets better. It may take time; sometimes it takes longer, but it only gets better. What we saw was extremely encouraging, and I can’t wait to see the progression from March to April to May to September. That’s probably the thing that we’re most excited about. We’re getting somebody who’s ready to explode again, and he’s in the right environment with the right quarterback, with the right team, in the right city. It’s the perfect player at the perfect time.”