Why Odell Beckham Jr. is going to play himself onto the Giants' final roster

If you didn't watch Saturday's preseason contest between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants, looking at the box score for wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s stats won't give you the full story. He caught just two balls for six yards but his actions on the tape are a whole other tale.

Beckham was wide open on multiple routes, looking like his old self during his first stint with the Giants from 2014-18. The quarterbacks he was on the field with -- Jameis Winston and Brandon Allen -- simply missed him entirely and a chance get him his first touchdown back at MetLife Stadium wearing Giants blue. In fact, Allen looked OBJ off entirely in the fourth quarter and threw the ball right to a purple-clad defender on the opposite sideline -- the second pick of Allen's day.

Giants fans should be excited to see Beckham still has the ability to get behind defenders and display quickness on offense. Given the sheer number of mid receivers on the roster, New York is going to need his veteran presence and sticky hands this year.

Giants' WR3 race is clearly being led by Odell Beckham Jr.

Malik Nabers will be back at full strength after recovering from a torn ACL last year. The 2024 first-round pick will be New York's WR1 guaranteed but the battle to follow him up on the depth chart will be interesting (and nerve wracking). The Giants don't have a whole lot of names that jump out at fans unless they remember them as fantasy football fliers from many moons ago.

Darius Slayton began the preseason as the team's WR2 but posting 500-yard campaigns isn't going to be enough to keep that role this year. Don't be surprised if his targets dwindle and start going to someone else. No, that's not actually a reference to OBJ.

Instead, rookie Malachi Fields looks poised to challenge for quarterback Jaxson Dart's favor behind Nabers. The Notre Dame product snagged a touchdown grab on Saturday over top a Vikings defender. His size and athleticism are promising, so look for Fields to earn more targets in the preseason.

Slayton would then fall to WR3 naturally, right? It won't be that simple. On the depth chart, he may earn that title but Beckham should be the guy Dart looks to in his progressions more often. Saturday's performance was proof of concept of what general manager Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh saw during his April workout.

The team's next preseason matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 22 will likely feature more snaps for guys like Slayton, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin III and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The culling process will have to begin after that but fans shouldn't worry about OBJ's chances of making the cut. The reunion PR is just too good for New York to resist and should insulate him enough to not get passed by a guy like Dalen Cambre or Xavier Gipson.

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