STAT CHECK: Brandon LaFell Exceeded Expectations in 2014

STAT CHECK: Brandon LaFell Exceeded Expectations in 2014

Ian Logue

With the regular season now in the rear view, Brandon LaFell has this Patriots offense looking pretty formidable heading into the playoffs.

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Good piece, after our poor history of bringing in mediocre receivers who were not able to grasp our offense my expectations for LaFell were not all that high.. he did much better than expected, his size, blocking and YAC were impressive..

He delivered more than I expected

What a welcome addition

big time IMO.

I was excited when they signed Lafell and thought he had great potential. Definitely a great signing and he was even better than I thought. Imagine how much better he will be next year now that he and Brady have established a rapport.

Going to need him to make defenses respect the area outside of the numbers in the playoffs so that we can avoid defenses just flooding the middle of the field between the numbers to limit Gronk and Edelman. But, I agree, he has been a very pleasant surprise. I didn't really have vast expectations of him when the team signed him. I admitted as much in the "call yourself out" thread.

LaFell has hands like glue.

He's another in a fairly long line of good to great additions to the team this year.

KontradictioN said:

Going to need him to make defenses respect the area outside of the numbers in the playoffs so that we can avoid defenses just flooding the middle of the field between the numbers to limit Gronk and Edelman. But, I agree, he has been a very pleasant surprise. I didn't really have vast expectations of him when the team signed him. I admitted as much in the "call yourself out" thread.

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I said the same thing in the call yourself out thread.

I know folks are down on the lack of receiving depth (I think Amendola is fine) but with LaFell and Edelman, those are two pretty darn good receivers that have the moves, speed, strength and size to make catches both inside & outside the numbers. They both run routes very well and get YAC.

You could not make that claim last year or through 2012-2010. Branch was not the same player as he was in the first 1/2 of the decade, LLoyd was not in alignment w/ Brady and stunk on YAC and Ocho-Stinko was just plain bad.

I think LaFell is as complete a receiver as we could have hoped for (when we signed him). He seems to understand his role in the offense, can understand how to run routes, can attack multiple zones in the defense (in and outside the numbers) and most importantly, has the trust of Brady.

I believe he also understands the timing of the offense better (I don't think we've seen many OPIs as result of him engaging in blocks too early -- as that seemed to be an issue early in the season).

RelocatedPatFan said:

I think LaFell is as complete a receiver as we could have hoped for (when we signed him). He seems to understand his role in the offense, can understand how to run routes, can attack multiple zones in the defense (in and outside the numbers) and most importantly, has the trust of Brady.

I believe he also understands the timing of the offense better (I don't think we've seen many OPIs as result of him engaging in blocks too early -- as that seemed to be an issue early in the season).

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That was only the case because they were doing that to try to help Amendola create separation.

1960Pats said:

LaFell has hands like glue.

He's another in a fairly long line of good to great additions to the team this year.

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Which is ironic, as he was known to be a "dropsy" with Panthers.. Maybe having a better coach & QB makes a difference...

I pray that he will be healthy for the playoffs. Hate that he didn't practice yesterday.

Edit - And today. Crap.

I hear the flu is going around....better that than an injury.....time to get over it...

Patjew said:

I pray that he will be healthy for the playoffs. Hate that he didn't practice yesterday.

Edit - And today. Crap.

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It's not like they are playing this weekend. He is a vet who has earned Brady's trust. The biggest knock on him was his hands coming in here. I don't worry about him losing his sense of place/timing within the offense like you would with a younger player.

He has also suffered many dings lately. A shoulder/collar bone a few weeks ago and an ankle(?) last week. Both can be temperamental, nagging injuries. Give the guy a week off from the physical stuff, and ramp him back up next week. I'd put decent coin on "limited/questionable" the Thursday (no Friday practice with Sat game right?) before the game, with a seemingly healthy player taking the field on Saturday. Look for the pats to try to jump start him with some simpler/shorter routes early.