Why Brandon Lloyd Will Thrive for Patriots Under Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady

Brandon Lloyd signing with the New England Patriots was forecast before the 2011 season had even ended and was a formality by the time the 2012 offseason officially began. Why wouldn't he want to join Tom Brady and re-join Josh McDaniels with a team that has been to five Super Bowls in 11 years?

He shared his thoughts on those subjects in a recent interview on NFL Network's "Total Access" (via NFL.com), starting with the quarterback and how it's been catching passes from him after catching passes from five different quarterbacks last year:

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It's been good. I'm not going to sit here and bore you guys with comparisons, but we had a very successful OTA and minicamp process. We're looking forward to all of the work that we're going to have to do in training camp for us to be successful this season.

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It's not just the five quarterbacks he caught passes from last year, it's which five quarterbacks he caught passes from: Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow with the Broncos, and Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Kellen Clemens with the Rams. Statistically, not the greatest bunch, but despite enduring two midseason changes in team and three midseason changes in scheme, he still posted 70 receptions for 996 yards and five touchdowns.

He started slow, but blossomed when traded to the Rams and re-joined with McDaniels, the offensive coordinator who helped lead him to his most successful season of his career just the year before.

Re-joining McDaniels a second time, in New England, with Brady throwing him the ball, in an offense that absolutely needs a player with his skill set, was a perfect storm for all parties involved. Lloyd touched on that in the same interview.

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His coaching style definitely resonates well with me. He gets a good response out of the way he coaches and I think that a lot of players do. I'm not the only player that has played under Josh McDaniels who has had career-highs and had extremely successful seasons. He's done that for a lot of players. To get the opportunity to play with him again and to play in that environment is truly an honor and I definitely look forward to our future success.

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The Patriots have needed an outside receiver since Week 4 of the 2010 season when they suddenly traded Randy Moss to the Vikings for a third-round draft pick. Lloyd's skill set is a perfect fit for what the Patriots lack at receiver, with his ability to run the entire route tree from any spot as well as to stretch a defense vertically. 

One of the biggest issues with Patriots receivers in years' past has been their inability to learn the offense. That won't be an issue with Lloyd, as the offense is the same one that helped him jumped onto the NFL map and into fantasy lineups.

Lloyd will look to provide the kind of presence outside the numbers that Chad Ochocinco couldn't, and thus far, it looks like the odds are in his favor.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.