Shula aims to make it ‘O’ about Odell
The topic was Odell B eckham Jr. , and new Giants offensive coordinator Mike Shula could not help himself, offering his unsolicited view of the mega-star wide receiver.
“You know, God, he’s such an explosive player,’’ Shula said Wednesday. “We’ ve watched what everyone else has seen, what he can do on the field, and I’m really looking forward to being able to work with a guy like that. Again, what you see on the field and talking to the guys that have had to defend him at Carolina and just how explosive he is and how he can get the ball in the end zone. So, we’re going to try to continue to build on that.’’
This certainly does not sound like a coach worried about the next destination for Beckham—who, despite the noise, will not be traded unless a team blows away the Giants with an outrageous offer, which is highly unlikely to hap- pen, especially after the Rams acquired receiver Brandin Cooks from the Patriots.
There was no hemming and hawing, no hesitation at all when Shula responded to an inquiry about building the offense around Beckham.
“He’s obviously a vital part of our offense, and when you have guys that can make plays and put points on the board, you want to try to feature them as much as you can,’’ Shula said. “But, you also have to realize that you’ve got other compo- nents and hopefully some more as we move forward into the offseason and the draft, where we can put players on the field and we’re not going to be predictable. And if teams want to try to take Odell away, then we’ ve got other answers, and good answers.’’
As for the swirl of trade rumors circling around Beck ham, Shu las aid, “Yeah, I kind of learned over the years to try to avoid the swirls and just kind of focus in on the things that I’m responsible for and at the time.’’