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Odell Beckham Jr. will not suit up again this year. Ben McAdoo confirmed the New York Giants’ star wide receiver is out for the season after suffering a fractured ankle injury in Week 5. Beckham is set to have surgery this week.
The Beckham injury is a major blow to a Giants team that was already among the league’s worst teams. New York is 0-5 through their first five games of the 2017 NFL season. It’ll be hard to win many more games this year without the team’s best player.
There’s a long-term angle to the Beckham injury as well. This situation complicates his future with the team regarding his contract desires. For a more detailed breakdown, check out this post from SB Nation.
Making matters tougher on the Giants this season is that a number of their other receivers got hurt during their loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Dwayne Harris, like Beckham, suffered a season-ending injury. Sterling Shepard is expected to miss a few weeks with an ankle injury and Brandon Marshall could miss some time with an ankle sprain.
The Giants are serious contenders for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The only other two winless teams are the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. The 49ers have played some close games, though, so it might just come down to the Browns and the G-Men.
New York desperately needs, well, a lot of things, but an heir to long-time franchise quarterback Eli Manning, who turns 37 in January, is certainly near the top of the list. The 2018 draft class is expected to potentially feature some intriguing quarterback prospects, such as Sam Darnold (if he leaves school).
At this point, the Philadelphia Eagles should be hoping the Giants win some meaningless games in order to hurt their draft position. But if the worst case scenario involves getting to see the Giants lose a lot more games, that’s not so awful in the short-term.
The Eagles defeated the Giants in Week 3 this season; shoutout to Jake Elliott for his 61-yard game-winning field goal. The two teams will meet again in Week 15 on Dec. 17 at MetLife Stadium.