Boomer Esiason comments on Brandon Lloyd

[ivanvamp]

Boomer Esiason on WEEI this morning said that one area of the Pats' offense that still concerns him is that Brady and Lloyd still have not gotten in synch yet. I'm listening to that and part of me is nodding yeah, but then I go look at the numbers so far:

25 rec, 287 yds, 1 td

That projects to 100 rec, 1148 yds, and 4 td

By any other measure, that's a tremendous season for an NFL wide receiver (maybe a *little* low on the TDs, but that's it). If this is them "out of synch", I can't imagine when they actually put it together.

Other projections through four games:

Brady: 404-616 (65.6%), 4908 yds, 28 td, 4 int
Ridley: 296 att, 1356 yds, 4.6 ypc, 12 td
Boldin: 92 att, 608 yds, 5.8 ypc, 8 td
Welker: 100 rec, 1520 yds
Gronkowski: 76 rec, 1040 yds, 12 td

Chandler Jones: 52 tackles, 12 sacks
McCourty: 8 int, 32 passes defended
Mayo: 104 tackles
Wilson: 16 takeaways (!!) - obviously won't keep that up

 

[condon84]

Lloyd looked great against the Ravens. He had some nice catches yesterday, but I thought overall he wasn't as effective. What made it worse was that some of our drives got killed when Brady targeted him on 3rd downs.

 

[Sicilian]

Mayo has almost 40 total tackles too (solo + assist), meaning he'd be somewhere around 160 if he keeps this up!

Or how about Spikes and Jones each with 8 forced fumbles.

 

[Marqui]

Lloyd looked great against the Ravens. He had some nice catches yesterday, but I thought overall he wasn't as effective. What made it worse was that some of our drives got killed when Brady targeted him on 3rd downs.

Was is Lloyd and Brady not on the same page or great coverage by Gilmore?

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Boomer Esiason on WEEI this morning said that one area of the Pats' offense that still concerns him is that Brady and Lloyd still have not gotten in synch yet. I'm listening to that and part of me is nodding yeah, but then I go look at the numbers so far:

25 rec, 287 yds, 1 td

That projects to 100 rec, 1148 yds, and 4 td

By any other measure, that's a tremendous season for an NFL wide receiver (maybe a *little* low on the TDs, but that's it). If this is them "out of synch", I can't imagine when they actually put it together.

Other projections through four games:

Brady: 404-616 (65.6%), 4908 yds, 28 td, 4 int
Ridley: 296 att, 1356 yds, 4.6 ypc, 12 td
Boldin: 92 att, 608 yds, 5.8 ypc, 8 td
Welker: 100 rec, 1520 yds
Gronkowski: 76 rec, 1040 yds, 12 td

Chandler Jones: 52 tackles, 12 sacks
McCourty: 8 int, 32 passes defended
Mayo: 104 tackles
Wilson: 16 takeaways (!!) - obviously won't keep that up

In 4 games Lloyd has already passed that P.O.S. Ocho from 2011
...Ocho 276 yards on 15 receptions ...The WHOLE season

It can't be anything but uphill from here compared to that bum who stole $6M and wasted a roster spot last year

 

[SVN]

Brady and lloyd have connected but somehow it doesn't look smooth. Maybe just my impression. Its more forced or plays called for lloyd . Compare this to what brady has with branch,welker and had with moss, it is/was like they were already expecting where the ball will be and got YAC's after the catch. Lloyd makes even the easy catches look acrobatic and I think he catches too close to his body to protect the ball.

 

[condon84]

Was is Lloyd and Brady not on the same page or great coverage by Gilmore?

Not sure who's fault it was, but Brady and Lloyd did not have the same timing like they had in Baltimore. Gilmore had good coverage, but had Brady and Lloyd had better timing, the back-shoulder catch would have been there.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Um I'll glady take Lloyd's production right now from a total newcomer. It's got room for improvement, I'd say by week 8-10 they'll be in full swing. Hard to expect huge #'s though with the plethora of weapons in the offense.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Someone tell Boomer that Lloyd is not,and will never be as talented as the 2007 version of Randy Moss.

Lloyd is going to be a 700-900 yard receiver from what I see,once Hernandez is back he will get far less catches IMO

 

[Deus Irae]

Lloyd's an unusual receiver for the Patriots offense. He's not a guy who gets separation, so Brady would usually not target him. However, he's a guy who wins the battle for the ball, so Brady is essentially having to run two different types of reads on passing plays.

I think that we see it looking forced when it's Brady to Lloyd because it is being forced. Brady's locking in for much longer periods of time on those plays, while he's scanning the field more normally on plays where Lloyd's not the primary.

I grant that this is just 'informed' speculation, but it seems to fit both what I'm seeing and what Brady said earlier in the year.

 

[Rob0729]

All Lloyd really has to do is be a threat on the outside that opposing defenses need to game plan for and make at least a few impact plays a game and he is a success. He doesn't need to be 1,400 yard, 15 TD WR. I think he opens up a lot in the center of the field by drawing the top CB by the opposing team. The one draw back is that at times, the Pats may have to go to him when they are better off going elsewhere to sell his inclusion in the game plan.

 

[Deus Irae]

All Lloyd really has to do is be a threat on the outside that opposing defenses need to game plan for and make at least a few impact plays a game and he is a success. He doesn't need to be 1,400 yard, 15 TD WR. I think he opens up a lot in the center of the field by drawing the top CB by the opposing team. The one draw back is that at times, the Pats may have to go to him when they are better off going elsewhere to sell his inclusion in the game plan.

Well said. The only thing I'd disagree with here is the claim about drawing the other team's best CB. I think that's a fluid situation. Welker had Webb on him for much of the Baltimore game, for example.

 

[everlong]

Gilmore had a very good game against Lloyd as well. A few of those back shoulder throws would have been completed against a different corner. People tend to forget the other teams have playmakers as well. I thought the Bills reached on him but given his performance yesterday if he keeps it up I was wrong.

 

[The Gr8est]

I was very impressed with Lloyd's TD yesterday.

Am I the only one who thought the ball was overthrown when Brady threw it?

I also loved that after he caught the ball, he rolled over mid-air to land on his back to ensure the ball did not touch the ground. Excellent hands and body control.

 

[RodThePat]

Lloyd had a bad drop yesterday on a deep ball that hit him squarely in the facemask. That would have been a huge play at that point of the game. For a guy with such amazing hands he seems to lose concentration often. I'm really liking what I'm seeing from him so far, but I'm also hoping he becomes a little more consistent.

 

[PatsFan2]

In 4 games Lloyd has already passed that P.O.S. Ocho from 2011
...Ocho 276 yards on 15 receptions ...The WHOLE season

It can't be anything but uphill from here compared to that bum who stole $6M and wasted a roster spot last year

Yeah is Esiason off hs rocker? Lloyd averages 6 catches a game in four games already. I am sure most of us agree that he's doing as expected.

 

[shmessy]

Was is Lloyd and Brady not on the same page or great coverage by Gilmore?

That Gilmore kid is off the charts.

I don't think I've ever seen a rookie that good in a game at CB.

He was putting on a clinic.

 

[Mack Herron]

Lloyd's TD was a great catch but after the game was out of hand. Several throws into tight coverage early in the game resulted in a low % completion that stopped drives. It is a combination of coverage and the WR's ability to gain separation. Lloyd has had difficulty getting separation in several games and I don't think he will draw much defensive attention if that continues. If the throws into coverage result in incompletions, as they did yesterday, Brady will stop throwing them. They are trying hard to help Lloyd succeed, but they don't quite have it figured out yet. On the other hand, he was infinitely more effective than Branch. This team sure seems to have difficulty finding outside guys.

 

[shmessy]

I was very impressed with Lloyd's TD yesterday.

Am I the only one who thought the ball was overthrown when Brady threw it?

I also loved that after he caught the ball, he rolled over mid-air to land on his back to ensure the ball did not touch the ground. Excellent hands and body control.

.....and he did it with a sly smile!

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/10/951285-even-time-smile.html

 

[thenepatsrule]

I would much rather see Lloyd catch the winning TD in a playoff game than see him put probowl caliber numbers