Odell Beckham Jr. and Michael Thomas are two of the top wide receivers in the game, and no one is going to argue that. However, they are both in entirely different situations which obviously has an effect on their Fantasy Football status heading into 2019.
Beckham was traded to the Cleveland Browns after spending the first five years of his career with the New York Giants, and Thomas is entering his fourth NFL season, all of which have come with the New Orleans Saints.
While both wideouts are top Fantasy options no matter how you slice it, who is the better choice this coming season?
The answer is Thomas.
Beckham is the more gifted talent and is probably the more dominant player overall thanks to his ridiculous speed, insane hands, and fantastic route-running ability. He really doesn't have much of a weakness in his game aside from his penchant for having emotional outbursts.
Thomas is more of a possession receiver, using his 6-foot-3 frame to snare passes out of the reach of defensive backs and that many other wideouts in the league simply can't grab. He is not a burner, but he is remarkably consistent.
But the key here is opportunity, and Thomas should absolutely end up with more targets than Beckham in 2019.
Beckham may be the best player on the Browns offense, but he also has Jarvis Landry lining up on the other side of the field, not to mention a potentially elite tight end in David Njoku. Throw in the fact that Duke Johnson is a great pass-catcher and that Kareem Hunt will also be snatching passes out of the backfield once he returns, and you'll realize that Cleveland's offense is pretty crowded.
The Saints are a bit of a different story.
Outside of Thomas, New Orleans doesn't have any really good receivers. There is 34-year-old Ted Ginn Jr., who played in just five games this past year due to injury, and you also have Cameron Meredith, who has yet to show he can stay healthy at all.
Really, the only other significant receiving threats for the Saints are tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara. That's really it.
Thomas hauled in a league-leading 125 receptions in 2018, and while he may not rack up that many catches in 2019, he will almost certainly log more receptions than Beckham, who snared 77 balls this past year.
Not only that, but because Thomas is such a big receiver, he will be Drew Brees' top target in the end zone, and while Beckham has absolutely shown his capacity to score touchdowns in the past, it's more because of his blazing speed and ability to make defenders miss in the open field.
Beckham is unquestionably more explosive, but again, Thomas is the more consistent threat, and when you take into account that Beckham will be fighting for targets with another Pro Bowl wideout in Landry plus a plethora of other players in the Browns' offense, it's hard not to like Thomas over Beckham in Fantasy heading into this season.
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