Lloyd Reunited with Turner, Hugs and Tears Abound

The Bears gave Brandon Lloyd a one-year contract last week, reeling in a cast-off from the Redskins who’s been plagued by injuries and questionable locker room chemistry the past two seasons. Lloyd’s production will be a complete gamble, but there are some good reasons to like this deal. First off, he’s coming incredibly cheap, dime-store, like we just snatched him up off the shelf at that seedy bodega down the street. There’s basically nothing to lose, am I wrong? Anybody is an upgrade at this point. I remember a time when Lloyd impressed me mildly – two 40+ catch seasons in San Fran, great hands, good burst off the line, strong vertical leap, mediocre blocking, a propensity for SportsCenter Top-10 one-handed catches. When I read about him being traded to Washington, I pictured him working the middle of the field, Santana Moss putting some double-moves on the outside and burning the safety with an inside post pattern, Antwaan Randle El drawing up in a hitch – the near-mechanized cogs of Al Saunders’ vaunted offense in perfect syncronization. Well, we all know how that turned out (Did he really think every one of those players could digest a 700-page playbook? Didn’t he check their Wonderlic scores?).

Lloyd’s history with Ron Turner will also help ease his transition into the offense. Turner recruited him at Illinois and both enjoyed success in the following years. The Illini went 10-2 in Lloyd’s junior year and captured a berth in the Sugar Bowl. He finished with 2,583 yards and 21 TDs. With Marty Booker already clamoring for the #1 spot (rightly so), Turner’s depth chart will surely resemble this come September:

1) Booker: No one else is certainly gonna take this spot, not unless Lloyd shows some amazing stuff in training camp and Turner feels confident enough to put him here. Still, Lloyd will need to improve his blocking on the outside and prove to the team that he’s not afraid of laying out for the ball, something he’s been accused of in the past. Booker essentially gets this out of default (“The two sweetest words in the English language!”), playing the role of Muhammad but for much cheaper and with less animosity towards the QBs. A veteran who will certainly be at his most effective if the rest of the group plays well and opens the field up for him.

2) Lloyd: Great hands and initial burst will make him valuable for short patterns and quick routes, a solid possession type if he pans out.

3) Hester: The home-run hitter (Ideally). Needs lots of polishing – more precise route running, more physical blocking, hand-eye coordination – all the things that WRs should practice anyway. As I said earlier, I’m quite fearful that Hester may simply not have the right cerebral tools for this position, but here’s hoping he proves me wrong. A colleague of mine said that as long as Hester grabs a few of those long bombs over the course of the year (thinking like five or six), he’ll be as good as Berrian, if not better. Opposing defenses need to believe that he can run by them every down and rope that badboy in like it was a roll of toilet paper (good practice?). Legitimate the threat. That’s what we need.

4) Bradley: With the least experience, Bradley gets dropped to the bottom. He’s got to prove he can stay healthy if he wants more playing time. In 2005, he showed a good rapport with Orton for a decent stretch before getting injured. Now, he must recapture that connection with the QB.

5) Davis: Is he staying or going? No word on the street yet, but the Bears get absolutely nothing if he walks. Since he was undrafted, there’s no compensation. As a Restricted Free Agent, Davis has definitely generated some buzz, particularly with Kansas City. The Chiefs only have four wideouts in contract and could certainly use Davis as a returner. If the Bears let him go, we’re probably looking at Haas or a draft pick occupying this spot.

The Bears threw out of three- and four-receiver sets a ton last year and will look to do the same this year with all the speed out there. I’m ok with a corps of Booker, Lloyd, and Hester. Remember, the Bears have two great TEs who’ll help out tremendously in taking pressure off Grossman and the receivers. Look for Olsen to have a breakout year – no doubt Turner will give him a more predominant role.

Of course, a good ground game could greatly ameliorate this entire situation. Angelo let Julius Jones go to Seattle, so now our options are severely limited. As a matter of fact, they’re so limited, I don’t even know which other free agent running backs are out there! The Cedric Benson Trio will never work! I’m thinking there’s a chance the Bears could pick a highly-rated RB first (Mendenhall) and wait until the next round for OL. Who knows? God help us all, though, if Angelo drafts QB. There’s no way, right? RIGHT?