Video: Brandon Lafell's one handed catch from Tom Brady

CBS Boston

When Brandon Lafell signed with the Patriots this off-season he added the tall physical receiver that the receiving corp lacked last year. At 6-foot-2, 210-pounds, He towers over 5 foot 10 Julian Edelman and 5 foot 11 Danny Amendola.

Another thing Lafell adds to the receiving corp is another receiver that struggled with drops last year. The New England Patriots led the league last year in drops with four receivers (Edelman, Dobson, Thompkins and Vereen) with seven or more. While Lafell finished the season with six drops.

When training camp started Lafell's struggles with drops seemed to continue. Those struggles seemed to be associated with adjusting to catching passes from Tom Brady instead of Cam Newton though. Over the last few practices Lafell has settled in and has had very few drops.

While the drops stand out they can overshadow how well he can catch the ball. He was shown the ability to catch difficult passes with ease. As evidenced by this video from joint practices with the Redskins:

Video: Brandon LaFell with one-handed grab from Tom Brady #Patriots


Lafell gets a step on his defender and Tom Brady laid the ball in perfectly with Lafell being able to secure the ball before going out of the back of the end zone.

This is where his size will really help the Patriots offense. Last year when Gronk was out they had trouble scoring touchdowns when in the redzone. With Lafell, they have another big target to help convert more of the fade routes and jump balls into touchdowns. Something this offense failed to do last year.

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