The Curly R did a piece on Brandon Lloyd and I felt the need to say something on him as well.
I like Brandon Lloyd. I think he's a class act guy and I enjoy having those kinds of people on this team. Despite the way the season has been going, I also think he was and still is an upgrade on last year's #2 who was --drum roll-- no one really. David Patten sort of kind of (finished with the 2nd most receptions among receivers, with 22)?
That having been said, Brandon Lloyd needs to be accountable for his performance thus far. Through 5 games he has 6 receptions for 75 yards. Prorate that over a 16 game season, and that's about 19 catches for 240 yards. In other words, that's not much of an upgrade.
Much of that blame can be placed on the offense itself. At times the line has failed to protect Brunell. Speaking of Brunell, at times he's under thrown or over thrown or checked down a little too often to safety options in or near the backfield. Brandon Lloyd has been downfield most of the time which happens to be the area Brunell is (incapable?) unwilling to throw towards. Also, as Ben pointed out in his Lloyd story, this is a rush first offense that doesn't aim to throw the ball:
But Lloyd has been getting some looks but has not capitalized on them. He's been thrown to 17 times this season yet only managed 6 receptions. That's a 41% catch percentage. I can't tell you offhand how much of that is Brunell's fault, but I'm certain some of those passes were drops or simply Lloyd's inability to get decent separation from a defensive back.
Nobody wants to see those numbers improve more than yours truly. I wrote back in August about Lloyd's character, which is still a strong point. Take for instance this snippit from an Associated Press article about Lloyd and RB TJ Duckett's failure to produce thus far:
This is a stand up guy. He's not trying to cause problems or make the offense about him and him only. He comes from a San Fransisco system where he was the featured offensive weapon to a Redskins system where he knows he's the 2nd or 3rd look on any given down. And he's taking it all in stride. 2-3 is a long ways from disaster, but a locker room breakdown, especially with a team populated heavily with newcomers, certainly wouldn't help. For his composure if nothing else, I'm thankful that Brandon Lloyd is a part of this team.
Now go out and catch some damn touchdowns.