Who Should Replace Michael Floyd For Notre Dame?

On Saturday, the Fighting Irish got a big victory over Michigan State. The win was huge in a lot of ways. It is a rival who has won six straight in South Bend. That was the first of the many monkeys Charlie Weis had to get off his back in 2009. Finally, the defense finally found a way to hold a lead and come through with the game on the line.

As great as the victory was, it was a nice bonus to see Washington defeat USC. For an Irish fan, that does give a glimmer of hope of Notre Dame beating USC. It also reminds us of just how bad of a coach Tyrone Willingham was.

That just tickles me to death. The only bad part is that the Washington game in a couple of weeks doesn't look so easy now.

This big day for Notre Dame did come with a price. Unfortunately, Michael Floyd is probably out for the rest of the season. He broke his collarbone when he went up for a ball that should have been ruled a touchdown, but apparently the referee and replay official should both be declared legally blind.

There are no words to describe how big of loss this is. Floyd and Golden Tate are one of the most dangerous duos in the country. Now Tate has to take his game to another level and stop impersonating Braylon Edwards with his dropped passes. I also expect more balls to be thrown to Kyle Rudolph.

That does leave the question of: who do the Irish start in place of Michael Floyd? The choices are Duvall Kamara, Robby Parris, George West, Shaquelle Evans, John Goodman, or Deion Walker. Some may think that it would be either Kamara or Parris since they have more game experience.

I wouldn't go that direction if I were Weis. The reason is that both of those guys are in good positions where they are. That is that they are back ups and do catch passes sometimes. They are good in contributing in spots but have not been in the past when the team depends on them.

My choice to replace Floyd would be Evans. I say give the freshman a chance to grow. We saw a glimpse of him in the Michigan game and I liked what I saw. He definitely has speed and ran a couple good patterns to catch a couple of balls.

The good thing is that he should be open a lot right away because the defenses will focus on Tate and Rudolph.

If Evans develops like we hope, the Floyd injury could become a positive. I am not totally sure but since the injury happened so early in the year, Floyd may be eligible for a fifth year. That would mean potentially three more years with Floyd. If Evans can come around, this already explosive receiving corps will be even more dangerous.