Odell Beckham Jr.’s Dolphins debut will be way sadder than anyone expected

The Miami Dolphins had one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL in 2023, thanks in large part to their dynamic skill position players. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL. De'Von Achane is one of the fastest running backs in the NFL. Raheem Mostert led the league with 18 rushing touchdowns last season.

Despite all of the talent that they already had, the Dolphins opted to add yet another dynamic weapon in Odell Beckham Jr, giving him a one-year deal, making this skill position group that much deeper. Sure, he might not be the Beckham of old, but he's still more than capable, especially as a WR3 in a Mike McDaniel-led offense. Dolphins fans were just going to have to wait to see him play.

Beckham was placed on the PUP list before the regular season kicked off with a knee injury, forcing him to miss the first four games. In those four games, the Dolphins have gone from potentially being in the Super Bowl bubble to looking like one of the worst teams in the NFL.

He's set to return in their Week 5 matchup against the New England Patriots, but it feels as if there's no hype whatsoever for that.

The vibes shift in Miami will make Beckham's Dolphins debut sadder than anyone could've expected.

Can Odell Beckham Jr. make a legitimate impact in Dolphins debut?

Getting to face the 1-3 Patriots sounds like a gift for the Dolphins, and it might end up playing out that way, but let's be real. Even the Patriots have looked better than the Dolphins have, especially since Tua Tagovailoa went down with his injury.

The Dolphins are 1-3 in their own right, but they've looked even worse. They rank dead-last in the NFL, scoring just 11.3 points per game. They rank just 26th in the NFL with 285 yards per game. They've allowed the seventh-most points per game. Nothing about this Dolphins team looks good.

Getting Beckham back could provide a spark, but what kind of impact can he reasonably provide? Tyler Huntley, not Tagovailoa, is expected to get the start for Miami. Huntley is better than the likes of Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle, but he threw for a total of 96 yards in his Dolphins debut. Knowing that Hill and Waddle will likely be receiving a very large majority of Huntley's passing attempts, how likely is it that Beckham will make any sort of meaningful impact?

When the Dolphins have Tagovailoa, the Beckham addition might be an exciting one. With how the offense has looked without their starting quarterback, it's hard to expect Beckham's return to even be noticeable.