49ers will keep eyes on Giants receiver Beckham

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Richard Sherman typically doesn’t shower wide receivers with postgame praise — see Crabtree, Michael — but Sherman clearly doesn’t consider New York Giants rookie Odell Beckham Jr. a typical wide receiver.

Beckham caught seven passes for 108 yards Sunday against Seattle. Four of those catches came while he went one-on-one against Sherman, widely considered the best coverage cornerback in the NFL.

Then, after the game, Beckham sought out Sherman for a handshake and brief chat. Sherman told him, “You’re the real deal, keep working,” and gave his jersey to Beckham as a souvenir.

“He’s a great player,” Sherman told the New York Daily News.

This is relevant for the 49ers, because they face the Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. It would be natural for San Francisco’s players to peer past Eli Manning and Co., given their sorry record (3-6), middling offense (ranked 18th in the league) and dreadful defense (32nd, dead last).

But to hear Sherman and others, few wide receivers catch it like Beckham.

Receiver Odell Beckham (13) is playing well for the Giants. Receiver Odell Beckham (13) is playing well for the Giants. Photo: Elaine Thompson / Associated Press Photo: Elaine Thompson / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 49ers will keep eyes on Giants receiver Beckham 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

He turned 22 last week and he’s played in only five NFL games, after missing the season’s first month because of a hamstring injury. Beckham still showed signs of stardom the past two weeks, with eight catches for 156 yards against the Colts and his dynamic, seven-catch outing against the Seahawks.

Vic Fangio, who in his role as 49ers defensive coordinator will try to corral Beckham, was sufficiently impressed.

“He’s a great receiver,” Fangio said, sounding positively Sherman-like. “Very talented, runs really good routes, really good quickness, good speed. This guy’s the real deal as a receiver.”

Fangio’s secondary must confront the Giants without some central characters. Safety Jimmie Ward (foot injury) will not play Sunday, and cornerback Tramaine Brock (hamstring) also is expected to sit out after missing practice all week.

The 49ers were linked to Beckham, who played at LSU, in several predraft projections in May. General manager Trent Baalke acknowledged he really liked Beckham, and suggested he toyed with the idea of trading up to pick him, but the Giants snagged him with the 12th pick of the first round.

Beckham is not especially big (5-foot-11, 198 pounds), though he seems to possess an uncommon blend of quickness, strength and instincts.

“Odell’s done a good job, especially for a guy who missed all of training camp, all of (organized team activities) and the first four or five weeks of the season,” Manning said. “I’ve been impressed with his work ethic and how much he was able to pick on everything even though he didn’t practice for so long.”

Beckham’s emergence hasn’t prevented the Giants from skidding toward oblivion. They lost their first two games of the season, won their next three and now have lost four in a row. New York has been outscored 136-62 during this losing streak.

So Sherman’s rare praise for Beckham — beyond serving as a warning for the 49ers — offered a slice of solace for the Giants.

“It does mean a lot coming from a guy like that,” Beckham said. “Just being on the field battling and competing with one of the best in the league, what more could you ask for?”

Briefly: Jim Harbaugh said outside linebacker Aldon Smith “looked good” this week in practice, but the Niners head coach gave no indication how much Smith, who is returning from a nine-game suspension, will play. … Friday’s injury report listed Brock, wide receiver Bruce Ellington (ankle) and linebacker Dan Skuta (ankle) as questionable. Ellington, like Brock, didn’t practice all week and appears unlikely to play.

Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick