5 Reasons to Draft Brandon Lloyd in Your Fantasy Football League

After a 2011 season that saw wide receiver Brandon Lloyd have to pack his bags midseason when he was traded from the Denver Broncos to the St. Louis Rams, Lloyd racked up even more frequent-flyer miles when he signed a free-agent contract in the offseason with the New England Patriots.

Lloyd joins one of the NFL's most formidable offenses in Beantown, which has many a fantasy football owner considering adding the 31-year-old veteran to his fantasy team in 2012.

Here are a number of reasons why you should do the same.

1. Lloyd Has Been Productive Each of the Past Two Seasons

Brandon Lloyd burst into fantasy prominence in 2009 when he came from nowhere to finish as fantasy football's top-ranked wide receiver after hauling in 77 catches for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Denver Broncos.

Lloyd's numbers came back down to earth somewhat last year, with the 10th-year veteran making 70 receptions for 966 games and five scores.

However, Lloyd still managed to finish last year among the top 25 fantasy wide receivers in leagues that award a point for receptions.

Given that he was traded partway through the year to a St. Louis Rams team that was one of the worst in the NFL offensively that's a pretty impressive accomplishment.

2. The Reunion with Josh McDaniels

Brandon Lloyd will be reunited in New England with Josh McDaniels, who was the head coach in Denver during Lloyd's breakout season with the Broncos and is now once again the offensive coordinator for the Patriots.

McDaniels may have been an abysmal failure in his first stint as an NFL head coach, but he's an excellent offensive coordinator who is intimately familiar with Lloyd. Therefore, it's a safe bet that he will design formations and routes that play to the wideout's strengths.

3. Tom Brady

I don't think it's exactly a stretch to say that Tom Brady will be the best quarterback that Brandon Lloyd has played with.

By a factor of about 137 million.

According to NFL.com, one of the big stories to come from Patriots training camp to this point is the rapidly developing chemistry between Brady and his newest vertical threat, with the duo reportedly drawing “oohs” and “ahhs” from spectators after repeatedly connecting on deep routes.

The NFL.com piece goes on to point out that in Randy Moss' three full seasons in New England he never recorded less than 1,000 yards or scored fewer than 11 touchdowns.

I'm not comparing the two players, but if Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Blogger Sigmund Bloom's prediction that Tom Brady will eclipse 6,000 passing yards this season comes anywhere close to fruition, we could be in for quite a few deep scores headed Lloyd's direction.

4. The Patriots Passing Game Is LOADED

The New England Patriots had the second-ranked passing attack in the National Football League last year, averaging almost 318 yards per game led by wide receiver Wes Welker and all-world tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Now, with that trio joined by Brandon Lloyd and Jabar Gaffney the Patriots have a group of receivers that has most likely sent half the NFL's defensive coordinators into therapy before the season even starts.

Granted, that's a lot of mouths to feed figuratively speaking. With that said, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker were all top-five fantasy performers at their respective positions last year.

Something tells me that there will be enough targets to go around to keep Lloyd from withering on the vine, especially if the Patriots just say to heck with it and come out in three-wide, two-tight end sets all day.

Imagine that for a second, and you'll see while all those DCs are lying on couches right now sobbing about how unfair life is.

5. Lloyd's Current ADP Is Very Reasonable

According to MyFantasyLeague.com, Brandon Lloyd is currently being taken as the 27th wide receiver off draft boards somewhere in the middle of the sixth round.

Granted, given the plethora of receiving options at Brady's disposal there is an element of risk involved in selecting Lloyd. It's also very possible that there will be weeks where Lloyd is the "odd man out" in New England's weekly fireworks show.

However, that risk is more than mitigated by Lloyd's considerable fantasy upside, and anytime you can draft a WR3 with a shot at finishing as a WR1 that's a risk well worth taking.