Pro Football Focus: Antonio Brown, Julio Jones better than Odell Beckham

Bashing Pro Football Focus has become an Internet art form. So, let’s toss a little more fuel on to the fire Odell Beckham Jr.-loving New York Giants fans. PFF’s Sam Monson has listed his top 101 players in the NFL, and Monson has declared that two wide receivers — Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons — are better than Beckham.

Booooooooo!

Monson ranks Beckham No. 17 overall on his list. Brown, who he says is “the best receiver in the game right now playing the best football of his career,” is No. 3 overall. Jones is No. 9 overall, and Monson says he “can physically impose himself on defensive backs like few other players in the game.”

Here is what Monson said about Beckham:

There is nobody in the game that attacks the football in the air the way Odell Beckham Jr. does. His pre-game warmup highlight reel is one of the most ludicrous things you will ever see, and he has the ability to pluck the ball out of the air when it is anywhere near him, taking the defensive back out of the picture on plays even when they are in pretty good coverage. His game against Josh Norman and the Carolina Panthers will only be remembered for the way Beckham lost control of himself entirely, though it’s worth noting that he burned Norman deep early in that game — only to drop the ball — and later scored a touchdown on the CB. This is a matchup we will now see twice a year after Norman’s move to Washington. Beckham is one of the league’s best receivers and only entering his third season.

Valentine’s View

Sure, I stoked the fire a tad up above. It's the offseason, and it’s all in good fun. Truth is, though, it is hard to argue right now that Beckham should be ahead of either Brown or Jones. Brown and Jones tied for the league lead in receptions last season with 136. Brown has had at least 110 receptions in each of the past three seasons and totaled 1,834 yards last year. Jones led the league with 1,871 yards and has had back-to-back 100-catch seasons.

As great as Beckham is, he is going to have to kick it up a notch from 2015 (96 catches, 1,450 yards, 96.7 receiving yards per game) to eclipse Brown or Jones. Both of those players are 27, however, while Beckham is just 23. Time, then, is on Beckham’s side.