For a second consecutive season, a freshman receiver will enter fall camp with lofty expectations from the Notre Dame faithful. However, considering all of the promise Duval Kamara brought with him to Notre Dame’s campus last summer, it might be dwarfed in comparison by the potential 2008 freshman Michael Floyd possesses.
Floyd is as polished as any freshman receiver to ever matriculate to Notre Dame with 122 receptions, 2,487 yards and 32 touchdowns over his final two seasons in high school. And that doesn't include the production he presumably left on the field.
“His numbers really aren’t what they could be if he were playing a 60-snap game,” said Andy Bischoff, Floyd’s former offensive coordinator at Cretin-Derham Hall. “Three or four of the games we’ve shut him down at half because we’ve been up 45-0 or something like that.”
Floyd rounded out his tremendous prep career with four catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns in a dominant performance against some of the finest high school seniors in the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio last January.
“Obviously if you watched the All-American game, all those quarterbacks were looking to throw it to him as much as they possibly could,” Charlie Weis said of Floyd on National Signing Day. “He's a complete player that loves to compete.”
At 6-foot-3 and more than 200 pounds – some reports list Floyd closer to 220 pounds currently – he should be physically ready to handle the rigors of competing for immediate playing time. Floyd was a man among boys in high school and rarely shied away from contact when necessary.
“He just does it all. He caught a five-yard hitch and turned it into a 53-yard score. He caught a 45-yard pass and turned it into a 50-yard score,” said Bischoff. “He can run by you, he can run over you, he can catch it and sneak around you, and he runs so violently that some guys have no interest in tackling him.”
Floyd also has demonstrated great hands and 4.5 speed, which has brought comparisons to some of the more talented receivers in recent Minnesota and NFL history.
“The only guy I can compare him to coming out of the state of Minnesota is Larry Fitzgerald,” his head coach at Cretin-Derham Hall, Mike Scanlan, told BGI in February of 2007. “Michael also reminds me of Michael Irvin in that he’s a big, physical guy with good speed and catches everything.
“He’s in a handful of the best athletes to ever come out of this school,” Scanlan continued. “We’ve had guys like Paul Molitor and Joe Maurer that have proven themselves at another level. But just in terms of athletic ability, Michael’s got to be among the best.”
What’s A Good Season?
It’s tough to project a good season for a freshman, especially since there are obviously some experienced players ahead of Floyd on the depth chart. So, an appropriate projection might be two-fold.
On one hand, Floyd already has all of the tools to make an immediate impact for the Irish next season. It’s not unrealistic to think he could reach some, or all, of the Notre Dame freshman receiving records.
Kamara set two freshman records a season ago with 32 receptions and four touchdowns, and he also totaled 357 receiving yards with an average of 11.2 yards per catch. Most believe Floyd will be ahead of the curve set by Kamara as a freshman last season.
And while the receiver position is deeper than it has been in recent seasons, it’s tough to suggest that any position, starting or otherwise, is predetermined heading into fall camp. Even through the spring season and Blue-Gold Game, consistency and dropped passes plagued most of Notre Dame’s existing receiving corps.
The Irish staff has hardly been shy about playing freshmen, so if Floyd can make the coaches comfortable with his consistency, then plenty of playing time should be there.
On the other hand, there is talent already on the receiving corps, and if a younger player like Floyd can push those ahead of him to be better, that would be considered a good season as well.
It’s tough to fathom that Floyd won’t see the field. And assuming he reaches even a fraction of his potential this fall, then Floyd should be capable of contributing at least one or two catches per game for 30-40 yards on average with a touchdown every 3-4 games in 2008.
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“His numbers really aren’t what they could be if he were playing a 60-snap game,” said Andy Bischoff, Floyd’s former offensive coordinator at Cretin-Derham Hall. “Three or four of the games we’ve shut him down at half because we’ve been up 45-0 or something like that.”
