WR Brandon Lloyd, Free agent

HT: 6-0, WT: 184, Born: 7-5-1981, College: Illinois, Drafted: Round 4

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full ADP list]

Overall: Brandon Lloyd (192), M Tolbert (193),
Position: K Allen (183-WR61), B LaFell (189-WR62), Brandon Lloyd (192 - WR63), G Tate (195-WR64), M Sanu (196-WR65)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 21st. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: J Cameron (186), M Sanu (187), Brandon Lloyd (188), R Woods (189),
Position: A Roberts (185-WR64), M Sanu (187-WR65), Brandon Lloyd (188 - WR66), R Woods (189-WR67), B LaFell (191-WR68)
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Brady went for Lloyd deep early on, and Lloyd completely misplayed the ball. If Lloyd catches that ball, the hype this week would be out of control. But he still got past the defenders and 9 times out of 10 will come up with that ball. Brady later hit Lloyd multiple times on deep outs. It’s been awhile since Brady had a player at the WR position that could consistently make plays deep down the field. On one play, Lloyd made a spectacular grab on a play heading out of bounds. The officials claimed he made the catch, and replays were iffy. Then late in the game, Brady threw a nice back shoulder throw that Lloyd secured for 16 yards against McCourty. If Lloyd and Brady get on the same page, the Patriots will be very tough to beat. Although the two didn’t connect on a deep ball in this one, with the amount of attention these tight ends are going to command, it’s going to be very hard to find enough defenders to cover the weapons the Patriots put out there.Lloyd is going to catch a lot of deep balls as a result.

Week 2 - Lloyd was all over the field, and when targeted was always in position to make a play on the ball. However, Patrick Peterson was often covering him, and he is proving to be an elite cover cornerback – and so Lloyd mainly caught short passes. He made a highlight reel catch in the final frame, dragging his toes at the sideline and just barely bringing the ball in. Early in the game, he was thrown a perfect deep pass that could have gone for a score but looked over the wrong shoulder for the ball.

Week 3 - This is what Lloyd owners were waiting for. He caught balls on the right side, the left side, over the middle, on slants and on screens. He was Brady’s first look and he caught 75% of the balls thrown to him. For the second week in a row Brady dedicated 30% of his throws to the Illinois product. The 12 target day comes on the heels of an eight catch, 14 target day last week against Arizona.

Presumed as a deep threat by some, LLoyd showed his possession receiver skills by averaging 12 yards per catch against the Ravens. For reference, he has averaged 14+ YPC 7 times in his career including a high of 18.8 YPC during his 1,400 yard season in Denver. Compare that to Brady’s proven possession receiver, Wes Welker, who has never averaged 14 YPC. LLoyd was all over the field on Sunday night, drawing a holding penalty and tapping both toes in bounds on a perfectly thrown 22-yard back shoulder pass. He was in synch with Brady from down one.

Week 4 - Brandon Lloyd had a tough day. Tom Brady looked his way early in the first quarter, but Stephon Gilmore was playing very aggressive coverage and repeatedly beat him to the football. Lloyd's first target was a sideline route when Gilmore prevented Lloyd from making a play on the ball. His second target was a deeper version of the first. When Gilmore went out of the game with an injury, he did return, Brady threw a back-shoulder throw to Lloyd, but Lloyd dropped it. Lloyd's first reception came later in the game on a deep crossing route when Gilmore was caught in trailing position. Brady threw a perfect pass and Lloyd caught it before falling to the ground instantly. Lloyd wasn't targeted again until the fourth quarter when Gilmore knocked the pass away in single coverage. Lloyd was shut down on the play. His late touchdown came against Aaron Williams on the other side of the field deep down the sideline. Lloyd easily beat the defender to give Brady a huge pocket of space to throw the pass into. He fell on a screen pass on the Patriots final drive to cost him another potential touchdown.

Week 5 - Lloyd saw few opportunities in this game, but did beat Champ Bailey multiple times in man coverage situations. His fantasy day would have improved significantly with a touchdown, which presented itself on two different missed opportunities. Lloyd made a great catch in tight coverage, getting down to the 1-yard line. It could have been a touchdown, but there was no challenge on the play and Shane Vereen plunged in for the score on the following play. Lloyd’s other chance for a score came on an uncatchable target in the red zone. Lloyd had man coverage, but Brady’s pass was out of bounds on the play.

Week 6 - Brandon Lloyd, the Patriots’ tallest receiver – at just 6’ – was matched up against two of the bigger, more physical CB duo in the NFL in Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman. The physicality of the CBs was evident throughout the game, however Lloyd managed to come away with 6 receptions for 80 yards – a product of the high volume in which New England threw the ball. Lloyd is a spectacular pass catcher and made a few early highlight grabs on back shoulder throws to the sideline via Brady. He will however, continue to play 4th fiddle in the passing game to Welker, Gronkowski and now Aaron Hernandez who is recovered from his ankle ailment.

Week 7 - Brandon Lloyd had his worst performance as a Patriot. During his team’s first drive, Lloyd was wide open down the middle of the field, but dropped the pass, negating a 40-yard gain. Brady came back to Lloyd on the next play, but Lloyd ran the wrong route and Brady threw the ball away. During his team’s third drive, Brady went back to Lloyd on a deep post-route, but Lloyd once again dropped the ball. After this drop, Brady was visibly upset and even started yelling at Lloyd on the sideline. Had Lloyd made these catches, he would have easily secured 80 yards and even a possible touchdown.

After halftime, Lloyd made his only reception on a quick wide screen for a six-yard gain. During the Patriots’ final drive during regulation, Brady once again threw a deep post route to Lloyd, but the ball once against bounced off of Lloyd’s chest. Lloyd was closely defended by Antonio Cromartie, but could have made the catch.

It’s worth noting that Lloyd squared off with Kyle Wilson, not Cromartie, for most of the afternoon, but had trouble securing catches. Lloyd must demonstrate better focus. His routes are crisp and Brady’s passes are on target, but his focus was lacking.

Week 8 - - Lloyd only caught two passes all day, but both of them went for scores and both came on excellent routes. His post corner in the first quarter completely baffled Rams defenders and he ended up five yards behind them with an easy touchdown catch. In the third quarter he simply dominated the corner off the line, getting inside position and giving Tom Brady a huge target on the slant. Lloyd’s day could have been even bigger if he’d hauled in his other target, which was also in the end zone, but the ball was just a little too high.

Week 10 - Lloyd was second on the team in catches with five picking up 45 yards, but only could muster a long of 12 yards. Lloyd’s biggest play came not on a catch, but drawing a questionable pass interference call in the end zone that went for 37 yards. Lloyd had drawn single coverage, but Brady’s throw was eight yards out of the back of the end zone (completely uncatchable). Lloyd went down in the end zone after contact with the DB and drew the penalty. Like Welker, Lloyd spent the majority of Sunday working short routes, quick slants and hooks with the only shot downfield on the interference call. It wasn’t Lloyd’s only penalty drawn either, as he drew another call in the end zone on Gilmore on a quick slant giving the Patriots another first and goal from the one.

Week 11 - Lloyd's first target came on the second drive, when Brady missed him deep, before he caught a quick slant pattern for eight yards. Lloyd's second reception came on a deep out route against Josh Gordy. He ran out of bounds after 10 yards. Lloyd caught a deep in route in front of Antoine Bethea after catching the deep out against Josh Gordy. Lloyd beat Josh Gordy deep to begin the third quarter, but Brady missed him with an overthrow. Gordy was struggling in his matchup with Lloyd, who caught an 11 yard slant route from close to the Patriots endzone against him.

Week 12 - It was a quiet game for Lloyd. Matched up against Antonio Cromartie, Lloyd served more as a decoy for the rest of the Patriot offense. Lloyd secured just one first half catch on a 12-yard post-route. During the second quarter, Brady had Lloyd open on two deep drag routes, but barely overthrew him.

During the second half, Lloyd secured two additional catches for 14 yards. On a 2nd-and-11 play from New York’s 46 yard line, Brady hit Lloyd on an out-route. Lloyd broke off the route, made a nice move back to the inside of the field to pick up a nine-yard gain. Later on in the drive, Brady made an athletic spin move to evade David Harris and found Lloyd along the left sideline for a five-yard gain. The Patriot game plan was based around attacking the middle of the field, which hurt Lloyd’s production.

Week 13 - Lloyd was absolutely invisible until four minutes to play in the game. He made a tremendous diving catch while going out-of-bounds in field goal range. It sustained the game-clinching drive for New England. In Miami’s last-ditch effort to tie the game, Lloyd recovered the onside kick with 30 seconds to play. Lloyd has not surpassed 50 yards receiving since Week 6. He continues to be one of the bigger disappointments in fantasy this season.

Week 15 - In what has been a vastly inconsistent season for Lloyd, the wide receiver recorded a season high in catches, targets, and yardage. Brady threw to Lloyd from the beginning of the game to the end, never wavering. His first catch of the game was a quick slant for 7 yards. Then Brady threw a medium pass to Lloyd’s back shoulder, and even with tight coverage Lloyd was able to turn and catch and the exact right moment. On a short throw to the left, Lloyd was able to catch the ball and keep his feet as the corner undercut him, stumbling forward for the 1st. Lloyd made another great timing catch with Brady on a deep route down the right sideline. Brady had enough time to throw a perfect ball to Lloyd’s stomach as the corner lost position. Lloyd turned and caught the ball 29 yards down the field. With the Patriots in a frantic catch up mode, Brady routinely threw to Lloyd on quick slants and hooks, with hit or miss consequences. On some plays, Lloyd made the catch in stride and held on, but there were a number of plays where the ball was located a little off and Lloyd was wholly unable to adjust. Lloyd seemed to have more success catching long balls then short, such as when Lloyd beat his man in a sprint down the sideline and Brady threw an accurate ball to lead his wide receiver. Lloyd was able to catch the ball in stride and run for 53 yards. But there were also plays where Brady hit Lloyd right on the hands, and a lack of concentration lead to inexcusable drops. The same lack of concentration seemed to lead Lloyd to commit an illegal shifty penalty on a play that would have resulted in a touchdown reception for the wide receiver, nullifying a great catch in the corner of the end zone. Lloyd was able to pick up a 38 yard pass interference call in the 4th quarter to set up Hernandez’s touchdown. But all in all, Lloyd could have had a much bigger game had he held on to more of the passes that hit his hands, as well as eliminating some of the more inexcusable mental errors.

Week 16 - Lloyd had is third straight solid game after a rather disappointing first three months of the season. Lloyd and Brady appear to have improved chemistry over games as recent as Thanksgiving. Despite the adequate stat line in PPR scoring, Lloyd did have his share of missed opportunities. He allowed a defensive back to outmuscle him for the deep pass, which resulted in an interception. In addition, he stiffed armed a defender on a red zone smoke route, but was tackled out of bounds just before reaching the end zone. Lloyd had two misplayed targets, which could be considered drops depending on the official scoring. Lloyd is the primary deep threat and his improved chemistry with Brady bodes well for the rest of the season when the Patriots need him the most.

Week 17 - After three strong games, Lloyd lost his chemistry with Brady in the windy conditions of New England to close the regular season. While Miami had adequate coverage on most of Lloyd’s targets, there were certainly plays to be made for the deep threat. Lloyd outright dropped a pass, but Brady and Lloyd just mistimed passes down the field on three other occasions. With Gronkowski returning this week and ideally being a big factor in the playoffs, Lloyd may not have to be a significant factor for New England’s offense to be a force. While expectations for Lloyd were understandably high paired with the best quarterback of his career, he had a very up-and-down season, finishing with just 911 yards on 130 targets.

Week 19 - No one envisioned Lloyd would play the role he has for New England when he was signed in the offseason, but if that role continues to result in victories it is hard to imagine either side complaining about the role. Receiving nine targets, Lloyd only caught five for 32 yards with a long of eight yards. Four of Lloyd’s catches came in the 2nd half, including his TD catch. With the Pats playing quickly and the Texans struggling to keep up, Lloyd took advantage of an unprepared Jonathan Joseph. Brady immediately hit Lloyd on the snap and he was able to quickly move to the end zone. Lloyd did pick up an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Patriots’ 1st FG drive as he (I guess?) threw the ball back to the official too hard. The penalty put the offense in 2nd and very long, killing what looked like another TD drive. Lloyd’s final catch carried some importance too, as his catch on 3rd down on the Pats’ final drive allowed the Pats to take the clock inside the two-minute warning.

Week 20 - Lloyd beat single coverage on an in route for his first reception. He dived for the ball in the air after an eight yard gain. Lloyd absorbed a big hit after running a deep crossing route for his second reception. The play gained 15+ yards and Lloyd made another difficult reception. Lloyd added another 16 yards on a deep comeback route against single coverage. He came free with relative ease as a result of his crisp route running. Lloyd had made multiple difficult receptions, but after stumbling out of his break on third and eight, Lloyd couldn't coral a difficult diving reception. Most receivers probably wouldn't have even got their hands to the ball in that scenario. On second and three, Lloyd caught a quick pass in the flat against off-coverage. Two defenders arrived as soon as he had the ball, but he sidestepped safety Bernard Pollard well before diving forward for a first down. Lloyd caught a seven yard curl route against off coverage to start the third quarter on offense. To begin the fourth quarter, Lloyd caught a short curl route against off coverage before spinning away from a defender for a big gain and a first down. Lloyd caught a comeback route for 13 yards on the sideline on first and 10.