New York Giants: Odell Beckham Jr. Out Against Washington Redskins

New York Giants, Odell Beckham Jr.
Oct 11, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) dances during warmups before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants won’t have one of their top offensive players in today’s game with the Washington Redskins, as receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is out with an injury. The injury in question is bruised quadriceps, and while a decision was put off until the day before the game, Beckham was finally ruled out and will not play.

It’s a big loss in a game where some favor the Giants to win partially because of Washington’s own injury troubles, which saw quarterbacks Alex Smith and Colt McCoy go down with injuries in the weeks leading up to this matchup.

The reaction to this has been mixed, but as you can see by looking at fan replies to the team’s official announcement, there’s a couple of different camps: those that believe it will lead to a bigger day for Saquon Barkley, who is coming off of a great game, and those who think that the Giants will certainly lose and perhaps benefit by gaining a better draft position with the loss.

Beckham has just over 1,000 yards receiving this season and has played in every game so far. With four games left in the season, and six touchdowns, it’s still possible that Beckham reaches double-digit touchdowns again as he’s done in every year of his career except for 2017, when he was injured for most of the season. However, being out of the Washington game means that Beckham will only have three games to get four more touchdowns.

The Giants may lean more on their running game because of this and fortunately, Saquon Barkley is coming off of a 125 yard performance against the Chicago Bears, which included 24 rushing attempts. It seems the Giants have been learning to utilize their star running back more as the season progresses. This time, however, they may not have much of a choice.