NFL: 25 Most Surprising Pro Bowl Picks This Century
By Nick Villano
NFL: 25 Most Surprising Pro Bowl Picks This Century: 8. 2011 Brandon Lloyd
Not only does it surprise us that Brandon Lloyd made it to the Pro Bowl, but it absolutely floored us to learn that Lloyd led the NFL in receiving yards. This was just 10 years ago. How is this completely gone from our memory banks?
Prior to breaking out for 1,448 yards in 2010, Lloyd never had more than 740 yards in a season. The season prior to his Pro Bowl year, he had 117 yards in an injury-riddled season. He was an extremely late bloomer, and as soon as he bloomed, he mostly wilted.
Lloyd was in trade rumors almost immediately after making the Pro Bowl. He was traded near the trade deadline to the St. Louis Rams. He only caught 51 of his 117 targets with them before leaving in the offseason.
He had a pretty good season with the New England Patriots, but they released him after the season despite having two years left on his deal. He took a year off from the NFL, and he tried to make a comeback with the San Francisco 49ers. It didn’t work out, and he rode off into the sunset. His career was strange, and it is even weirder to see he had this one season where he was one of the most dominant wide receivers in the NFL.