Dr. Morse discusses new New York Giants' Odell Beckham Jr.'s ankle/lower leg injury that caused him to miss most of 2017 NFL season. He reviews the injury in detail, providing professional insight, answers some questions, provides a 'Health Outlook' for 2018, assess OBJ's risk of reinjury and offers up his recommendations for drafting OBJ.
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Injury Review Article: https://www.thefantasydoctors.com/fantasy/2018-nfl-injury-guide-odell-beckham-jr/
Video: https://youtu.be/Qc-QisU-k3g
Podcast Notes:
2015 Stats: 15 games, 96 rec for 1,450 yds, 13 TD.
2016 Stats: 16 games, 101 rec for 1,367 yds, 10 TD.
2017 Stats: 4 games, 25 rec for 302 yds, 3 TD.
2018 Projections: 16 games, 96 rec for 1,257 yds, 8 TD.
Projected 2018 Fantasy Rank (FantasyPros): WR3
Injury:
- Beckham injured his ankle during the Giants’ 2nd preseason game mid-August last season.
- He suffered an MRI-confirmed high-ankle sprain, which has a normal RTP of 6-8 weeks.
- Beckham only rested for 4 weeks and returned slowly in Week 2 and then showed up in a big way scoring 2 TDs in Week 3.
- [BUT THEN] Beckham reportedly reinjured his ankle in Week 4 but still managed to suit up in Week 5.
- [Typical young athlete] he likely pushed it instead of resting, Beckham rolled his left ankle and ended up fracturing his fibula, the outer lower leg bone that attaches to the outside of your ankle.
(decreased proprioception, likely on pain killers, not as flexible, much easier to land awkwardly)
- [BOOM, just like that] Beckham underwent season-ending surgery in early October, with a full recovery expected.
- Beckham was on video working out at UCLA but was not able to make strong cuts off the surgically repaired left ankle.
- The surgery that Beckham had usually carries a 6 to 9 month RTP, which means he should be near the end of his regular rehab by now
- but mind you the rehab is truly never done.
- Beckham’s offseason has been filled with new contract talk, trade rumors, as well as a concerning video that surfaced in March regarding some hotel room in I think Paris. Any fines coming??
- The good news is that Beckham reported to the Giants’ voluntary minicamp in late-April, but he was not fully cleared yet.
- In early June, Beckham was cleared to practice but he did not participate in team drills, likely as part of a contract holdout.
- This holdout may continue throughout training camp, which will cost Beckham $40k per day if he does.
Questions
Will Beckham’s ankle ever be at the same strength and flexibility as before his surgery? No.
2018 Health Outlook:
- Coming of a pretty serious left ankle injury that required surgery, Beckham should be close to about 80% by now.
- Personally believe that it will take a couple practices, scrimmages, and games before he feels comfortable jumping, pushing off and cutting on his surgically repaired ankle.
- It’s unclear how many of the ankle ligaments were damaged, to what severity, as unfortunately these never truly heal, instead there is scar tissue that develops around the ligament.
- Beckham’s going to have decrease flexibility naturally, decreases sense of touch and then there’s always the risk of re-rolling his ankle on any hard cut, jump or if someone lands on him.
Risk of Re-Injury: Difficult to determine, as it is definitely not 0%, likely somewhere around 30%.
Recommendations:
- All the discussion at Giants camp is not about Beckham’s on-the-field performance, but instead regarding his contract and extension talk. So I guess that’s good news.
- Amid the contract issues, remember that Beckham suffered a pretty significant ankle injury that ended his season prematurely.
- The good news is that it was not his knee, or even BOTH
- Beckham will take some time to get his legs back underneath him, and he will have some soreness in his ankle. Maybe this means the Giants hold him out of practices, and if he’s really banged up, he misses a game or two.
- While I don’t think Beckham will be completely comfortable on his ankle for a while (say 3 games), he should still resemble his dominant-self in 2018.
- Feel free to draft him as a top 15 WR, but personally I’m concerned enough about his reinjury risk to not draft him as a top 5 WR, but he could very well end up as the #1 WR. But if he falls, DRAFT HIM, I GIVE YOU MY STAMP OF APPROVAL!
