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Release of Brandon Lloyd concludes year of unfulfilled hopes with Patriots 03.16.13 at 4:38 pm ET
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Brandon Lloyd

Brandon Lloyd

With Brandon Lloyd, there’s no easy answer. You look at his numbers — 74 catches, 911 yards, four touchdowns — and when you consider he was the third (or even the fourth) option in the New England passing game over the course of the 2012 season, it’s hard to say he failed in the Patriots’ system.

But the receiver, who followed Josh McDaniels to New England prior to the start of 2012 out of a sense of loyalty to his former head coach in Denver and offensive coordinator in St. Louis, simply may not have been the receiver the Patriots thought they were getting. In the spring and summer, players and coaches raved about his abilities. He showed an extraordinary connection and grasp of the offense early on. But when the games began, it seemed like he struggled to fit into New England passing game.

It wasn’t as much of a struggle as it was for Chad Ochocinco, who approached the entire 2011 season like he was playing Jenga, afraid of making everything collapse. Instead, Lloyd just appeared to be an odd fit at times.

While New England was looking for a deep threat, Lloyd either didn’t get much of an opportunity to show what he could do when it came to getting behind a defense, or the Patriots didn’t use him properly — his 12.3 yards per catch was the lowest for a full season for the course of his career. And there clearly were times where he was underwhelming, including seven games where he finished with three catches or fewer. Part of that is on the offensive game plan, but it’s hardly the sort of thing you’re looking for from someone who was targeted 130 times over the course of the year.

(That’s not even taking into account his YAC numbers. It one of the strangest statistical anomalies in recent Patriots history, Lloyd’s yards after catch numbers were shockingly low. He finished the season with 180 yards after catch, the second-lowest total of any pass catcher with at least 900 total receiving yards this year. In a passing game where receivers usually post tremendous YAC numbers — by way of comparison, Wes Welker had 619 YAC, best in the league, and Rob Gronkowski had 305 YAC, fourth in the league among tight ends — it was weird.)

That’s not to say it was necessarily Lloyd’s fault — he is who he is, after all, and he had moments of true brilliance over the course of the season, including a nine-catch, 108 yard effort in September against the Ravens and a 10-catch, 190-yard outing in December against the Niners. He came to New England with a particular skill set, and it was a mistake for the Patriots to try and turn him into something he wasn’t.

Ultimately, it could have been a case of trying to bang a square peg into a round hole. If it was a bad fit, that’s squarely on McDaniels, who spent considerable time with Lloyd prior to this season in New England and helped him evolve from JAG status to elite-level receiver. (Lloyd never topped 30 receptions over the first seven seasons of his career — but after connecting with McDaniels, in his two years before coming to Foxboro, he averaged 74 catches a game the last two years.) If anyone knew how to properly maximize Lloyd’s abilities, it should have been him.

If Lloyd does return to New England at a reduced rate, going forward, both sides would do well to meet in the middle with a greater sense of realistic expectations. (For what it’s worth, the move simply means the two sides were unable to agree to a restructured deal before his roster bonus was due. This could be a nifty way for the Patriots to avoid paying that $3 million bonus, and get him back at a reduced rate somewhere down the road.) But if this is the end for Lloyd in Foxboro, he leaves with an appropriately mixed legacy and a sense of unfulfilled potential.

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  • http://twitter.com/Toni__F22 Last Virgo 88

    “Blame The Wide Receivers”…. I think we better stop blaming these Tall, Long Armed, Wide Receivers, and start looking at Tom Brady’s Accuracy; Glad we let go of that Midget, Welker. Now lets go after Tall W.R. NO MORE MIDGETS.

  • Anonymous

    Agreed Virgo… the Pats are missing that kind of receiver since Moss left… it’s a dimension BBs doesn’t seem to be interested in addressing… but the lack of that type of tall, fast player makes the Pats Offense one-dimensional in the playoffs… which is one big reason why they’ve been losing those games … I think they have all the pieces for a strong possession game with three TE’s; two slot guys and receivers out of the backfield. They need a change of pace with some bigger guys on the outside

  • Kenny Powers

    Wasn’t one of his touchdowns just falling on top of the ball after Woodhead fumbled?

  • rebelguy

    Wow! Never topped 30 receptions over first 7 seasons. That sux. That is shockingly low for a young wide out. I shoulda done my homework before he joined the team and i would have been alot less positive and hopeful about him. the guy is just too fragile. While 70 plus receptions is not bad at all, he found the end zone way too infrequently and as we know, either ran out of bounds or fell down. Might take him back if there’s no offers for him as a third string, near league minimum.

  • Dee-fense Dee-fense!

    There’s maybe some truth that TB doesn’t throw the long ball as well as some other guys any more. We won’t know until he gets a quality outside guy. This guy was clearly soft, but maybe also misused. Hard to say what might have been, but easy to move on.

  • Stickem43

    they still will offer him something to resign, but I can’t stand watching the guy drop to the turf as soon as he’s made a catch.

  • Eric

    totally agree

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001124794700 Evan Dean

    a reason his accuracy is doen is because he is throwing to wide receivers that are all shorter than 6 feet tall. there is no big radius like a gronk and hernandez have. moss had a huge radius and look what happened. pats need wr’s that can go up and ger it

  • Ty

    People have a short memory. It was only 2 games ago against Houston that he was nailing guys left and right in stride, including Shane Vereen and Welker, guys that don’t traditionally go deep. Brady was absolutely on fire that game. I haven’t seen anything from his long ball to show he can’t throw it as well as he used to; his mechanics are still spot-on as usual, and really he’s smart about throwing it too–if he knows that his guy isn’t in great position to catch it, he’ll usually toss it deep towards the sideline or only where his guy has a chance to get it. The only thing TB sometimes does on his deep throws is put too much air under them, but that’s more of a mechanical mistake than a decline in arm strength. He hasn’t had a deep threat since Randy Moss left, that much we know, so I’m sure if he had one, you’d see more deep throws.

    I think Price hit the nail on the head here; Lloyd wasn’t always a good fit, and his YAC stat leaves a lot to be desired. He’s way too athletic to have such poor numbers in that area. I’d like to see him be resigned because he’s still a nice complimentary piece, but they would still need to sign someone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pats are waiting until the draft to really get the WR they want.

  • ChrisinDanvers

    Interesting move, but it does seem like one of those cost cutting measures that the Patriots do when they later resign the player. They have done in to many players – and I do believe they have done it often to wide receivers (David Patten back in the day and Deion Branch).

    Undoubtedly he will be back at the reduced rate. He does have something to offer, is one of the few receivers (not TE’s) that Tom Brady has worked with on the roster, and can be a safety valve of sorts. It does look like the team is trying to rachet up the receiving corp in a bit of a different direction. He has different talents that Donald Jones and Amadola. The threesome could make for a solid receiving corp. And, if they add Sanders, they might have an outside deep threat as well.

  • Anonymous

    We need to get him(we = ravens)

  • Carl

    BL was used horribly by New England and Brady. If they wanted him to be a big run after the catch type of wr, then he should have never been signed. So, you are right, he was the wrong fit. He is one of the best route runners in the business, but many times I would see Brady throw the ball 100 mph’s or into the ground. These were uncatchable balls. Give him a chance to catch the ball. He has great body control and was a 7′ high jumper in hs.
    BTW, Brandon had 43 catches/565 yards his second year and 48 catches/733 his third year.

  • http://www.facebook.com/derek.lee.82 Derek Lee

    The pats should have traded their 4th round pick for Boldin. He’s so physical, and tough.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1111915617 Rob Liano

    The Pats have been wreaking of win now desperation the last few years, Haynesworth (seriously?!?!) Ocho Cinco, Lloyd, now Washington signed for one year only, no chemistry like they once had, no time to gel, just urgency and coincidentally they have failed. Meaning for them of course, failing is not winning the Super Bowl.

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