New York Giants

Belichick's scouting report on Beckham shows why he's one of the best

Published Nov. 12, 2015 4:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick knows talent when he sees it, and in offering an assessment of New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., he pinpointed an area of the second year wide receiver's game that not everyone talks about.

Belichick's scouting report, per NJ Advanced Media:

"Good, really quick, tough kid, goes inside for the ball, very good after the catch, makes a lot of plays with the ball in his hands. He's a hard guy to tackle, has good quickness and a good ability to separate, but I'd say the thing that's impressed me the most about him is his toughness. He's not a big guy, but he competes well, he goes inside, goes after the ball, takes a hit, hangs on to it. He's a tough competitive player and very good with the ball in his hands, not just going up and getting it, he's got obviously a bunch of highlight catches, but when he catches the ball he can run with it and make plays with his quickness and with his open-field running ability."

Beckham stands just under 6 feet tall and just 198 pounds, but he has shown a willingness to make difficult catches in traffic throughout his two-year career in the NFL.

When Beckham was told about Belichick's scouting report, he couldn't believe that the head coach could pinpoint this aspect of his game without really studying multiple games that Beckham has played in.

"It's a compliment, for sure. A Hall of Fame coach. He's a great coach so that is a big compliment from him," Beckham said to reporters Thursday, per NJ Advanced Media. "It kind of makes me wonder. How much has he really watched? For someone to pick me and pick that characteristic as the thing they noticed most it means they're probably watching a lot of film."

I wouldn't put it past Belichick. He didn't win four Super Bowls as a head coach and two as an assistant coach without studying a lot of game tape on the opposing team's best player.

A typical Belichick game plan focuses on taking away an opponent's best player, forcing the team to win in other ways. Beckham should expect to see all sorts of coverage shifted and focused on him this Sunday when the Giants host the Patriots.