How New England Patriots Offense Can Survive Without Brandon LaFell

This is nothing new for quarterback Tom Brady. The triggerman of the New England Patriots offense has engineered touchdown drives, led comeback victories and put up eye-popping numbers without the presence of a deep threat in the offense. It looks like he'll have to do it again, at least for the first few weeks of the regular season.

Wide receiver Brandon LaFell is nursing a foot injury and will begin the 2015 season on the active/physically unable to perform list. That means LaFell isn't eligible to return until Week 7 of the regular season, when the Patriots host the New York Jets. 

Now, the focus turns to what the Patriots must do now that he is out of the lineup until midseason.

Reggie Wayne was thought to be a contingency plan, but that plan went out the window after he and the Patriots mutually agreed to part ways, per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss. 

Never mind the fact that LaFell played more snaps than any other Patriots wide receiver in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus. Forget, for a minute, that he posted the best numbers of his career by putting up 74 receptions for 953 yards and seven touchdowns. Overlook, if you want, the fact that he became a trusted target for Brady in his first year in the offense—a feat which has been accomplished by no one since Randy Moss in 2007.

Brady has posted incredible stats and developed enough chemistry with other receivers in the offense. 

The main things the Patriots will miss in LaFell are his physicality and his ability to win one-on-one battles on the outside. Those are traits which other receivers on the Patriots roster simply do not possess.

The only wideout who could approximate LaFell's role is Aaron Dobson, the oft-injured third-year receiver who is nearly a carbon copy of LaFell. One (LaFell) is 6'3" and 210 pounds, the other (Dobson) is 6'3" and 205 pounds. But Dobson played only 57 snaps in 2014, third-fewest among receivers and more than only Matthew Slater (a special teams ace) and Josh Boyce (on and off the practice squad). 

Dobson showed a lot of promise as a rookie, and hauled in 35 receptions for 492 yards and four touchdowns in his first nine games in a Patriots uniform in 2013, but he finished 2014 with three catches for 38 yards while battling injuries. Now, he enters a make-or-break year where expectations will be higher due to his more prominent role in LaFell's absence.

Relying on Dobson isn't the only way for the Patriots to remain successful without their top X-receiver.

Of course, there will be more targets to go around for slot receivers like Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, who could be playing upward of 80 percent of the snaps each week with LaFell out of action. But if we're looking for big-bodied players who can win physical matchups, look no further than tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The 6'6", 265-pound tight end and two-time All-Pro is no stranger to lining up on the outside, either. It's part of the wonder of his matchup prowess; he's too big for cornerbacks and too athletic for linebackers and safeties. Granted, putting Gronkowski on the boundary would take away from his abilities as an in-line blocker in the running game, but it's an option the Patriots can choose to explore in their attempt to recreate some of LaFell's effectiveness outside the numbers.

That being said, LaFell wasn't just a traditional boundary threat. He was much better than that in terms of his ability to run with the ball after making the catch. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus, LaFell picked up an extra 4.9 yards after catch per reception, which was more than any other wide receiver on the roster—including Edelman.

In that sense, the Patriots could be looking to Edelman and Amendola for more production in the screen game. 

Also, don't forget the possibilities of a two-tight end offense. With Edelman and Amendola as the top wide receivers, and with Dobson rotating in off the bench, the Patriots could field both Gronkowski and Scott Chandler with an offensive personnel grouping that hasn't been seen as much since Aaron Hernandez went to prison. 

The Patriots could choose to put stress on defenses in different ways; not by stretching them out with multiple receivers, but instead by forcing them to account for not one, but two big-bodied tight ends over the middle who can also use their size to create matchup problems in the passing game.

Filling in the blanks of LaFell's absence will not be a one-person job. It will be a team effort that will require everyone to pick up a little slack in order for the Patriots offense to remain one of the league's most potent. With Tom Brady at the trigger, and with plenty of other skill position talent at his disposal, there's a good chance the Patriots will find a way.