49ers roster, 90-in-90 breakdowns: Brandon Lloyd

Each year, we like to run a series of posts called "90-in-90." The idea is that we'll take a look at every player on the roster, from the very bottom to the top and break them down a few ways. This roster will certainly change, and some days we'll have more than one so it's not exactly 90 players in 90 days. At this point, it's a name we're keeping around for street cred.

Brandon Lloyd has had ... quite the career, hasn't he? Never afraid to speak his mind, Lloyd has been, at one time or another, thoroughly impressive or incredibly disappointing. Now at this stage of his career, I think the only thing he can truly qualify for is the former. That's because there should be next to no expectations for Lloyd.

Lloyd, who will turn 33 in July, did not play a snap last season. Usually we spend this space talking about what the player did in 2013, but Lloyd last recorded actual stats in 2012. He actually looked pretty solid that year, playing in all 16 games with the New England Patriots, catching 74 passes for 911 yards and four touchdowns.

It was actually one of his better years. The positives to Lloyd's reputation mostly stem from a stellar 2010 campaign with the Denver Broncos, in which he had 1,448 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. He didn't break 1,000 yards more than that one time nor did he make it to double digit touchdowns again.

So truthfully, what do we go on? We have a receiver who was out of work last season, a receiver who is a year removed from a pretty decent season, admittedly. At this point, he comes with very little fan confidence in his abilities. He doesn't have special teams value and it's unclear what kind of shape he's in.

I personally believe he was brought in as insurance and can be easily released at this point, but we'll still visit the normal sections in this post below:

Why he might improve:

Improve on nothing? Sure, he can manage that. I think Lloyd is probably good enough to play in the NFL at this point, but the 49ers are likely set with the their group of receivers. If we're talking about 2012, I don't see any way Lloyd can put up those numbers. Whatever the case, it's certainly possible that Lloyd works out well in San Francisco's offense and is up against opposing defenses' worst corner.

Why he might regress:

Again, if we're talking about nothing, there's not much chance of that unless he comes in and has a negative impact on the team. Lloyd is aging and is a year out of football -- the reasons for his potential regression are obvious.

Odds of making the roster:

I don't think Lloyd has a whole lot of chance to make the roster. The 49ers have the established veterans in Michael Crabtree, Anquan Boldin and Stevie Johnson, and the younger guys they'd like to develop in Quinton Patton and Bruce Ellington. Lloyd's signing, as discussed, was probably insurance more than anything. He'll be the first guy the 49ers call if someone gets injured during the season. Given that he offers no special teams value, it's hard to imagine him making the roster. But nothing is impossible, so I'll suggest Lloyd's chances are "very low."