Lloyd trade helps Thomas, Decker 

October, 17, 2011
10/17/11
5:20
PM ET
I understand why the Denver Broncos would give away top wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to the St. Louis Rams for a late-round draft pick. The pending free agent wasn't coming back to Colorado anyway, and the Broncos want to take a closer look at young wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Frankly, even though the Broncos didn't get much in return in sending last season's top fantasy wide receiver packing, I like the move and the message it sends.

Some will say the Broncos are making things more difficult for new quarterback Tim Tebow, removing his best weapon and setting him up to fail. But I don't see things that way. Eric Decker has produced more than twice as many fantasy points as Lloyd (53 to 26) -- though Lloyd has missed one game -- with four touchdowns to Lloyd's zero. Decker is owned in 83.5 percent of ESPN standard leagues. It should be higher. I think Tebow will keep him relevant, but the key here really is Thomas.


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Eric Karabell | email

ESPN.com Senior Writer

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