LaFell vs. Sanders: Rekindling the Free Agent Receiver Debate

The debate raged throughout the first couple months of the 2014 NFL season in these parts.

Brandon LaFell or Emmanuel Sanders?

On one hand, you had Sanders, once given an offer sheet by the Patriots that was ultimately matched by his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. On the other, you had LaFell, the big, rangy, former Carolina Panther who had been recruited to join Peyton Manning and the Denver express.

When the Broncos changed course and moved on to Sanders. signing him to a three-year, $18 million deal with $6 million guaranteed despite his having reportedly come to a verbal agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pats pounced on LaFell. They brought him in for the same amount of years as Sanders but for less money, paying out $9 million with $3 million guaranteed.

LaFell had other options beyond just the Pats and Broncos but for him, it was a pretty simple choice.

Why did Brandon LaFell sign with the Patriots over other teams? “Playing with Tom and winning.”

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) January 15, 2015

While Sanders and the Denver Broncos came out playing a live video game and ripping off fantasy-type numbers to start the season, the evolution of the Patriots’ offense and LaFell’s role within it was more of a gradual process.

Sanders caught 30 passes in the Broncos’ first four games and finished the year with a whopping 101 grabs for 1,404 yards and nine TDs, all career-highs by a mile. When the Broncos visited Foxborough in early November, he rolled up 10 catches for 151 yards.

Meanwhile, LaFell registered more false start and offensive pass interference penalties than catches in his first two games, not a terribly difficult feat considering the catch total was zero.

With some fans and corners of sports radio loudly complaining as the Pats struggled to find both a spot for him and an overall identity while Sanders fit the Broncos’ offense seamlessly, LaFell started to get a handle of things. In the midst of that nightmare Monday night in Kansas City, he broke out with six catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. He followed that up with a two-TD performance in Buffalo two weeks later, then blew up in the Pats’ rout of the Bears to the tune of 11 catches (on 11 targets) for 124 yards and another score.

LaFell finished the season well behind Sanders numbers wise but like Sanders, he set career marks across the board with 74 catches for 953 yards and seven TDs. Yet listening to both Tom Brady and Bill Belichick talk about him, it’s easy to notice that LaFell’s impact goes far beyond the statistics.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever played with,” Brady told WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show.

“I love coaching him,” Belichick said to Pats radio analyst Scott Zolak while breaking down plays from last week’s win over the Ravens — including LaFell’s big blocks that sprung Danny Amendola for the first of his two TDs — in a video on Patriots.com. “[He makes] a head’s up play, a smart play, a play that, honestly, most receivers aren’t looking to make.”

Toughness and a sky high football IQ are nice. And so is the ability to make plays like this at the most critical time in a hotly contested playoff game.

LaFell just keeps getting better. He’ll play an integral role in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. Sanders, through no fault of his own, will not. The Patriots are one win away from their sixth Super Bowl appearance in 15 years. The Broncos are rudderless, without a head coach and unsure whether their quarterback will ever play another down.

In the end, the way LaFell vs. Sanders played out wound up working for both teams. Denver got a player on the verge of stardom and he busted out just at the right time. Had Manning not broken down and their star-laden defense held up its end of the bargain, it almost certainly would be the Broncos battling the Pats on Sunday for the right to play for a title.

And while the Pats may not have gotten as flashy or prolific a pass catcher, they got a player who fits what they do and how they want to play to perfection. His teammates swear by him. His coach loves him. And his team is 120 minutes away from a championship.

That’s what gives the check mark in this matchup to the Patriots.