Brandon LaFell
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LaFell playing for the Carolina Panthers in 2011 | |||||||||
| No. 11 Cincinnati Bengals | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | November 4, 1986 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Houston, Texas | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Houston (TX) Lamar | ||||||||
| College: | LSU | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2010 / Round: 3 / Pick: 78 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2016 | |||||||||
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Brandon Josiah LaFell[1] (born November 4, 1986) is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, and has also played for the New England Patriots where he was a member of the Super Bowl XLIX team. He played college football at LSU.
High school career
LaFell attended Lamar High School in Houston, where he played football, basketball and ran track. He was coached by Tom Nolen. In football, LaFell caught 46 passes for 1,116 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior. Also starring on special teams, he returned punts of 65 and 58 yards for touchdowns. LaFell was a member of the Houston Chronicle Top 100 and named first-team All-Greater Houston Area in 2004. In basketball, LaFell was a standout point guard. In track & field, LaFell competed in the high jump event.
College career
After redshirting his initial year at LSU, LaFell saw action in 11 of the Tigers’ 13 games in 2006. His first career play was a 58-yard touchdown reception against Louisiana-Lafayette in week one. On the year, LaFell caught five passes that went for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He received Freshman All-SEC honors by the coaches.
In 2007, LaFell played in all 14 games with nine starts. He ranked first on team in receiving yards (656) and second in receptions (50), while catching four touchdown passes and averaging 13.1 yards a reception. LaFell helped LSU to win the BCS National Championship that year.
As a junior, LaFell emerged as one of the top receivers in the country, as he caught 63 passes for 929 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranked No. 2 in the SEC in yards per game with 71.5 per contest and was No. 3 in the league with 4.8 receptions per contest. LaFell subsequently earned First-Team All-SEC honors by the Associated Press.
Professional career
| Ht | Wt | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 1/2 in | 211 lb | 32 3/4" in | 8 3/4" in | 4.54 s | 1.58 s | 2.60 s | 4.23 s | 6.81 s | 36 in | 9 ft 7 in | 11 reps | ||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine | |||||||||||||||||||
LaFell was considered one of the best wide receivers in his class, and drew comparisons to Dwayne Bowe, another wide receiver out of LSU.[2][3][4]
Carolina Panthers
On April 23, 2010, LaFell was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round, 78th overall. Despite not starting over Steve Smith and David Gettis, he gradually gained playing time, eventually taking the #3 slot at receiver. He recorded his first NFL touchdown in Week 8 against the St. Louis Rams, a 17-yard pass from Matt Moore.
He finished the season with 38 catches for 468 yards; his longest catch was of 44 yards. He also gained 60 additional yards on the ground, all of which came on a single end-around play in week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons, his longest gain of the season.
LaFell set a Carolina Panthers franchise record on Christmas Eve in 2011 with a 91-yard touchdown catch from rookie QB Cam Newton. It was the longest pass play in Panther history.
New England Patriots
On March 15, 2014, LaFell signed a three-year, $9 million contract with the New England Patriots. He chose to wear #19 because friend and former teammate Ted Ginn, Jr. wears the same number.[5] Against the Chicago Bears in week eight, LaFell recorded a career-high eleven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.[6] In 2014, LaFell had his most prolific season to date, recording 74 catches for 953 yards and 7 touchdowns. LaFell would help the Patriots finish 12-4. In the Divisional round against the Baltimore Ravens with the Patriots down 31-28, Lafell caught the game winning touchdown to help the Patriots defeat the Ravens 35-31. In Super Bowl XLIX, LaFell had 4 catches for 29 yards and the first touchdown of the game as the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.
LaFell started the 2015 season on PUP with a foot injury and missed the first five games of the season before returning in New England's 30-23 win over the New York Jets.[7][8] LaFell struggled throughout the 2015 season with multiple drops and could never live up to his career performance the previous year.
On March 2, 2016, LaFell was released by the Patriots.[9][10]
Cincinnati Bengals
On March 30, 2016, LaFell signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.[11]
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Targets | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lost | ||||
| 2010 | CAR | 14 | 2 | 38 | 75 | 468 | 12.3 | 44 | 1 | 1 | 60 | 60.0 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | CAR | 16 | 6 | 36 | 56 | 613 | 17.0 | 91 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | CAR | 14 | 12 | 44 | 76 | 677 | 15.4 | 62 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2013 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 49 | 88 | 627 | 12.8 | 79 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | NE | 16 | 13 | 74 | 119 | 953 | 12.9 | 56 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | NE | 11 | 7 | 37 | 74 | 515 | 13.9 | 54 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 87 | 56 | 278 | 488 | 3,853 | 13.9 | 91 | 20 | 10 | 132 | 13.2 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
References
- ↑ "ESPN Profile". ESPN.com.
- ↑ Rang, Rob (July 10, 2009), "Top 32 seniors: Top heavy with the heftier prospects", NFLDraftScout.com
- ↑ "2010 NFL Draft WR ranking", CBS Sports, retrieved February 8, 2010
- ↑ Brandt, Gil (July 23, 2009), Next year's top receiver prospects feature a variety of skills, NFL.com
- ↑ Rosenthal, Gregg (March 15, 2014). "Brandon LaFell to sign with New England Patriots". NFL.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (October 28, 2014). "Lunch with Larry 10.28.14". Chicago Bears. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ↑ Orr, Conor (September 5, 2015). "Patriots wideout Brandon LaFell headed to PUP list". NFL.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ↑ Patra, Kevin (October 24, 2015). "Patriots activate WR Brandon LaFell from PUP". NFL.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ↑ Sessler, Marc (March 2, 2016). "Patriots release Brandon LaFell, Scott Chandler". NFL.com. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ↑ "Patriots release TE Scott Chandler and WR Brandon LaFell". Patriots.com. March 2, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ↑ Patra, Kevin (March 30, 2016). "Cincinnati Bengals agree to deal with Brandon LaFell". NFL.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.