What to Make of Brandon LaFell's Early-Season Struggles

When the New England Patriots signed Brandon LaFell as a free agent this offseason, the hope was that the 6'3", 210-pound wide receiver would provide a big-bodied presence that has been sorely missing from the Patriots offense. LaFell has the biggest frame of any receiver on the roster.

Why, then, with such a unique skill set, has LaFell been a complete non-factor through two games?

The veteran wideout has been targeted six times and has come down with exactly zero receptions to show for it.

All six of his targets came against the Miami Dolphins in the opening game of the season. He was not targeted at all in New England's 30-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2.

There are multiple factors behind his absence from the stat sheet. At times, he isn't getting open. Other times, he's open but the ball is thrown to another receiver. Other times, he's a decoy. He's also spent nearly as much time on the field as a blocker than as a route-runner.

Opponent	Total	Pass route	Run block	Pass block
Miami Dolphins	39	27	11	1
Minnesota Vikings	38	13	25	0
Total	77	40	36	1

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), LaFell has served as a blocker on 37 of his 77 snaps (48.1 percent). He is behind only Julian Edelman and Michael Hoomanawanui for most blocks among non-offensive linemen on the team.

LaFell has yielded mixed results in that role.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Take, for example, this 3rd-and-8 run on the Patriots' first possession of the game against the Vikings. LaFell lined up in the slot, with running back Shane Vereen in the backfield to take the delayed handoff.

Vereen ran from right to left across the offense, trying to find a hole. He ended up going all the way to the sideline before running out of bounds a yard short of the first-down marker, but he may have been able to take a shorter path to a first down if LaFell had made a different choice.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

As Vereen carried the ball, LaFell got out to the second level to make a block. Instead of blocking the Vikings defensive back directly in front of him (red arrow), he opted to help center Dan Connolly with a double-team block on linebacker Chad Greenway (black arrow).

LaFell could have cleared the way for Vereen to move the chains, but instead the Patriots punted on their opening possession.

Blocking isn't necessarily a huge change for LaFell, who has served as a run-blocker on over 33 percent of his snaps in each of the past three years. One change, however, may be LaFell's use as a decoy.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

That's what he was on this pass to fullback James Develin with 2:28 remaining in the first quarter. Tom Brady faked a handoff to Stevan Ridley to the right (strong) side, behind the two tight ends, while LaFell ran a clearing route on the left (weak) side.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Once the play-action fake was executed, there was never any doubt that this pass was going to Develin. Brady never even bothered to look at LaFell, and the ball was out of his hands within one second of the faked handoff.

Maybe, if Brady had held onto the ball beyond that point, he would have seen LaFell coming open. That's not likely, however, as the safety was rolling to LaFell's side of the field. It's safe to say that in this instance, Brady made the right choice. The pass was completed for a 13-yard gain and the Patriots moved the chains.

Of course, LaFell isn't a decoy on every play.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

In fact, he was open on Edelman's touchdown catch with 9:34 remaining in the second quarter. He ran an in-cut (dig) five yards downfield, while Edelman ran a corner route from the slot.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Both Edelman and LaFell were open on the pass, but Brady threw to Edelman and the play resulted in a touchdown. One could argue that Edelman was more open than LaFell was, and while a pass to LaFell may have resulted in a touchdown, it was no sure thing with a defender nearby to potentially make a tackle.

The Patriots have only played two games, and the offense is notoriously difficult to learn for receivers.

Plenty of receivers have come to New England, only to watch their once loud and proud careers end with a whisper and a thud.

With 14 games left to go, we are a long way from that point, but LaFell isn't going to get many opportunities to catch the ball if he continues to spend nearly as much time blocking as he is running routes.

The Patriots have acknowledged that they must do a better job of distributing the ball to all of their weapons in the passing game.

LaFell should be on the list of players to get more looks in the passing game going forward.

Advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and quotes obtained firsthand.

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