Mr. Do-It-All! Giants Land Triple Threat In Odell Beckham Jr.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The New York Giants had some serious issues on offense last season. Now they have new coordinator in Ben McAdoo -- and a rookie receiver with the skills to bust loose every time he touches the ball.
VIDEO: MOOSE BREAKS DOWN BECKHAM PICK
Odell Beckham Jr. is hoping for an opportunity to do it all for the Giants, who drafted the LSU wide receiver with the 12th overall pick Thursday night. And it sounds like he'll get that chance.
"He's a dynamic receiver, dynamic punt returner and a dynamic kickoff returner," New York general manager Jerry Reese said. "You are getting a guy that can score touchdowns in three different ways for you. There's no way we would pass him up."
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Beckham's stock rose during the week before the draft. The 5-foot-11, 198-pound Beckham was the Paul Hornung Award winner for being the nation's most versatile player, breaking the school record for all-purpose yards (2,315) and caught 59 passes at wide receiver.
A talented return man, Beckham returned 68 career punts for 557 yards and two touchdowns and had 42 kickoff returns for 1,044 yards.
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"I definitely think that I can come in and, if I get the opportunity to play, I could bring a lot of things – a deep threat or whatever the team needs me to do," Beckham said. "Hopefully, I get to return some punts and kicks."
But make no mistake -- Beckham was brought in to serve as a target for Eli Manning, who set a franchise record with 27 interceptions last season.
"We are talking about the quarterback needing some help, and this guy is a weapon," said Reese. "He needs a weapon on the outside, and Victor (Cruz) is more of an inside receiver. Victor can't play outside. Rueben Randle, (Jerrel) Jernigan, and we got Mario (Manningham) back, so we are trying to get the quarterback some weapons. You need weapons in this league. We think this guy is a weapon."
Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he was "excited" to be bringing in Beckham.
"He has great speed, he's polished, he's talented, he has big hands, he has played at the top of the level in college football," Coughlin said. "His head coach (Les Miles) speaks very, very highly of him as a worker in addition, as a great example to the other receivers so we felt like this is someone who would help us a great deal to put the ball in the end zone, be a guy that we can count on to help us score some points, be another weapon that we can utilize as a wide receiver but in addition we can certainly feature him in the kicking game."
Beckham called it a "perfect situation."
"It couldn't have worked out any better for me," he said. "I'm still trying to get everything in check. It's really an overwhelming experience being a member of the New York Giants."
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