Let's be real, Brandon Lloyd may be at the top of the NFL as a receiver this season, but no one here looks at him as "The One That Got Away." As a matter of fact, I remember the absolute euphoria amongst the fans when the 49er received a 3rd (in 2006) AND a 4th round pick (in 2007) for the notoriously ball-shy rapping wonder called B.Lloyd.
To be fair - anyone who saw Lloyd play saw the potential. In fact, he made one of the most amazing catches I've ever seen in a game against Seattle. (Just watch the first 38 seconds of the clip below to see the catch.)
But, at the end of the day his rap "career", locker room demeanor, and harrowing ability to duck away from footballs thrown at him sealed his doom.
I thought it might be interesting to see what the draft picks that the 49ers received for Lloyd turned out to be. Now, 3 to 4 years later, were those picks worth more than a petulant and inconsistent wide receiver?
The 49ers traded Lloyd to Redskins and in return drafted Brandon Williams (3rd round in 2006) and Jay Moore (4th round in 2007). Brandon Williams was drafted as a receiver/returner and fizzled out quickly in San Francisco. He was picked up by St. Louis in 2007 and was part of their final round of cuts. He played in the pre-season for the Steelers in 2009 and didn't make it past the final round of cuts.
A 3rd pick not even making the roster after year one - Verdict? BIG BUST.
Jay Moore was drafted as one of those tweeners that thrive in a 3-4 defense. In 2007, Mike Nolan was still trying to assemble the components of his 3-4/4-3 defense and Moore was supposed to have a rotational role in that scheme. He was placed on injured reserve after the final pre-season game in 2007 and in 2008 and it was viewed as kind of a good thing. Moore was going to need to learn how to play linebacker and a season on IR would help that come along.
The injury bug struck again in 2008 and Moore tore one of his triceps. He was signed to the Rams practice squad in 2009 and then kind-of signed with the Cowboys before backing out of the deal at the last second. He now plays for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.
No regular season games played and 2 trips to IR - Verdict? BUST.
Interestingly enough, the extra picks from the Lloyd trade allowed us to trade up in 2006 (due to an extra third round pick) and get Manny Lawson. And in 2007 the extra 4th was part of the package that helped us land Joe Staley.
In the end, it looks like the players we got for Lloyd were absolute busts. But the extra picks gave us some flexibility in the draft, allowing us to draft Lawson and Staley.
Waiting on a player to finally get his head on straight after 7 years in the NFL or getting draft picks that indirectly resulted in two-starters? It wasn't the fleecing we thought, but even in retrospect it was a move the 49ers would (and should) make again.
Especially after hearing this...
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Brandon Lloyd is finally having a super great season and we need to give him credit and admit we made wrong moves when we got a 3rd and 4th round pick for the top receiver in the NFL today, with 878 yds at mid season!
I remember everyone calling him a bum for ducking balls and shying away from contact. Everyone was so ecstatic that we got a 3rd AND 4th round picks for the guy. He didn't do squat in Washington, same in Denver last year, and the guy blows up this year. And now all these "fans" are second-guessing a trade that happened several years ago just because of his season thus far. He has no break-away speed, won't out-jump anyone, or out-muscle anyone. He does have sticky hands and great body control, but I guarantee he'll start to disappear as the season progresses. Oscar, how do you deal with some of these so-called "Niner fans"?
Response: I try to have a reasoned conversation with them and if that fails, I just ignore them :)
AJ Dembroski
Brandon Lloyd is finally having a decent season and we're lamenting his departure? Look, sometimes the right moves don't end up working out. There is no sense looking back at what, at the time, was the right move for the organization. This is no different than Twins fans lamenting the loss of David Ortiz. The guy had done nothing in Minnesota and had been given ample time to do something. So he goes to Boston and becomes an All-Star. You can't blame the Twins. On the other hand, playing my own Devil's Advocate a moment, the Twins have a proven front office with the best organization in baseball, a claim the 49ers can't make, and Justin Morneau isn't exactly a bad consolation prize.
Well in my opinion getting rid of him wasn't the answer....look what he did to us today. If you want to get his attention then take away playing time or something. I don't understand why teams get rid of their best player at a certain position especially if they're producing. Look at his stats when he was with us, now tell me what they'd look like if we had a more decent QB at the time. Seriously it's not like Lloyd was breaking the bank with us so why not discipline him by making him 3rd string for some games or something? The bottom line is he produced on the field even though San Fran's coaching and development departments have been awful
Oscar , I didn't know you worked for the 49ers. You have inside information about trades , and the development of players! Dude, this team is bad enough, we do not need to hear from people who are blowing smoke!!!
Response: All you had to do was watch a game where lloyd made one play, the disappeared for the rest of the game.
Chris C.
Crabtree is more talented than Loyd? HA HA HA! That was good. Keep them coming. I don't know who the "no one here" is that you are referring to at the beginning of this article, but me and every other niner fan that I know was pissed when we got rid of him. After you get done watching the first 38 seconds of that clip, go ahead and watch the rest of it to see reminders of a once great team.
Response: Yes, Crabtree is more talented than Lloyd. He is a more complete receiver. Where Lloyd wins is in body control and acrobatic catches.
And the 2003 to 2005 49ers (when Lloyd was on the team) was NOT a great franchise. Tim Rattay and Kevan Barlow? Stop the presses, the Hall of Fame is calling.
David
I will be fine with this terrible season if the Yorks get their head out of their butts and get a proven coach.John Gruden would be good.
You wrote: "Keeping him would have resulted in his release and we would have gotten nothing." Why would keeping him have resulted in his release? He was our leading receiver and we had just signed him to a $1.6 million offer sheet with a first round tender. Washington made the trade because it lacked the first round pick necessary to match San Francisco's offer. Do you mean to say that his release was inevitable because we can't develop talent? He had progressed in each of this three seasons with the team. As for his interest in being a rapper, was his attitude any worse than Michael Crabtree's? Our supposed master motivator of a head coach can't seem to get Crabtree to care about practice. The slings at Lloyd would go down easier if Crabtree wasn't currently acting like an even bigger diva.
Response: Yes, Terry, I mean that after his one year tender that one year he would have been released. Us developing talent is, I think, another discussion.
And yes, his attitude was worse than Crabtree's. Fred Beasley openly called him out and said he was more interested in "bling bling." Crabtree's rep came from before the season (and, admittedly, this offseason) but Crabtree has put in work and is way more talented than Lloyd.
Terry B.
So let's see, Brandon Lloyd is the NFL's second leading receiver, is having an amazing season, and is catching everything thrown within 20 feet of him. Meanwhile, we've struggled mightily at wide receiver since trading him. Yet, if we could do it all over again, we would still trade him for two colossal busts. That my friend is merely one of the many reasons we are currently the laughing stocks of the NFL.
Response: He's having a breakout season seven years into his career. Washington and Chicago both disagree him as well. There is no guarantee that he would be flourishing under our system this season. His team (and specifically his QB) is a big reason for that. Keeping him would have resulted in his release an we would have gotten nothing. At least with a 3rd and 4th we had the flexibility to move up and get two starters.
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