OTL: First Look at OBJ the Raven

Tuesday brought the long-awaited arrival of Baltimore’s newest WR Odell Beckham Jr. to The Castle in Owings Mills, as Minicamp kicked off.

Naturally, that was the talk of the town for the Ravens to start the week:

My SportsCenter segment on Odell Beckham Jr.’s first practice with the Ravens pic.twitter.com/5mv62sLcx9

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) June 13, 2023

The start of something special❗️@obj pic.twitter.com/B1coW0PtDg

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 13, 2023

It’s not difficult to build the excitement for OBJ, a former superstar player who’s had his last few seasons marred a bit by injury. The former Giants, Browns, and Rams stud has been a big name since he made what may still be the best catch in NFL history. If you needed any reminder, here it is:

On this day in 2014, rookie WR Odell Beckham Jr made The Catch 🔥🤯

pic.twitter.com/N1cr5Hhryj

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) November 23, 2022

There’s certainly a risk factor with Beckham, who can absolutely be a diva, but the reward was felt by Los Angeles. Beckham was a major playoff contributor in their 2022 Super Bowl run, and was on-track for a potential Super Bowl MVP bid before he suffered a torn ACL.

According to Beckham, though, he’s back up to speed (pun intended):

"Speed wise how do you feel, @obj?" pic.twitter.com/krXKLijZnF

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 13, 2023

What’s struck me even before he took the field for Tuesday’s practice, however, is that Beckham seems happy in Charm City. We’ve seen him at The Preakness and around the city, and Tuesday, as he spoke about embracing Baltimore, he was wearing the new “City Connect” Orioles hat.

.@obj's fully embracing Baltimore: pic.twitter.com/ya1rzHnu7c

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 13, 2023

If you’re reading this, Odell, my friends and I would love to get you out to Camden Yards soon.

In all seriousness, it does feel like Beckham’s the kind of player you have to keep happy. Starting him off on the right foot in Baltimore includes him enjoying the location he’s in, as well. So far, so good, it seems and there’s little reason to doubt that his presence boosts the Ravens’ NFL odds for a Super Bowl berth.

Meanwhile, Beckham’s newest quarterback will be even more important in keeping the receiver happy. According to the wideout, though, that won’t be a problem. In fact, he was a major factor in Beckham’s decision:

Ravens WR OBJ tells reporters that Lamar Jackson is one of the reasons he chose to sign with Baltimore.

— Ravens Nation LIVE (@LIVERavenNation) June 13, 2023

In addition to Beckham, the Ravens have a few receivers making waves early in the summer. One that’s particularly stood out is another free agent signing in Nelson Agholor. He made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on Tuesday, which you can see here:

Dialed in. @Lj_Era8 to Nelson Agholor for the long TD❗️ pic.twitter.com/VuI4kBiGDV

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) June 14, 2023

While John Harbaugh did note that Rashod Bateman – who’s had injury struggles in the past – has gotten a cortisone shot for a minor issue, Jonas Shaffer reports that Devin Duvernay stood out alongside Agholor:

Harbaugh said Rashod Bateman recently got a cortisone shot and will be sidelined for few days.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) June 13, 2023

Day 1 of Ravens minicamp just wrapped. Unofficially, Lamar Jackson was 26-for-35 in team drills, with a few drops and a dropped INT.

Nelson Agholor, Devin Duvernay and Isaiah Likely flashed on offense; David Ojabo, Odafe Oweh, Rock Ya-Sin and Ar'Darius Washington on defense.

— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) June 13, 2023

As you can also see, Jackson had about a 74% completion percentage in practice. Not too shabby!

QB 1 AT WORK. pic.twitter.com/jj6wlRwtrV

— Ravens Nation LIVE (@LIVERavenNation) June 13, 2023

With an offense (and roster, as you can see below) full of talent, a clip like that should be more than good enough for Jackson to have a successful year. As Yuri says below, the Ravens are stacked.

Ravens have arguably 11 Top 5 players at their positions

Lamar Jackson(Qb)
Ronnie Stanley(Lt)
Tyler Linderbaum(C)
Kevin Zeitler(Rg)
Mark Andrews(Te)
Patrick Ricard(Fb)
Roquan Smith(Lb)
Marlon Humphrey(Cb)
Marcus Williams(Fs)
Kyle Hamilton(Ss)
Justin Tucker(K)

Roster loaded imo pic.twitter.com/YRWyr4minJ

— Yuri (@MR___Yuri) June 13, 2023

That is, if they stay healthy. Up in New Jersey, a former Raven received some bad news:

It’s believed that Chuck Clark suffered a serious knee injury, per sources.

That helps explain why the #Jets signed Adrian Amos.

They weren’t in on Amos until recently (he visited Ravens on Mon, his 2nd visit) but the opportunity to now start for the Jets sold him.

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) June 14, 2023

Clark’s had some interesting publicity since leaving the Ravens this offseason, but I’m wishing him a speedy recovery. I was always a fan of his, and you never want to see these kinds of injuries. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it originally looked.