Michael Floyd: Why Isn't Notre Dame WR Getting Any Heisman Love?

Notre Dame senior receiver Michael Floyd is widely regarded as one of the most electrifying players in college football. He has been highly productive for his entire career and is rewriting the record book at Notre Dame.

He was projected into the second round of the NFL draft last year, had he decided to come out.

Yet he has never been mentioned in the Heisman competition—not even been on a watch list.

Floyd has produced eye-popping numbers every year at Notre Dame despite season-ending injuries in his first two years on campus.

In his freshman year, Floyd hauled in 48 balls for 719 yards and seven touchdowns. Most of those numbers are career lows.

As a sophomore, Floyd played in fewer games and caught fewer balls, but racked up 795 yards and nine touchdowns.

In his junior year, and first year in a new offense with a new quarterback who was injured midseason and replaced by a true freshman, his productivity exploded.

He grabbed 79 passes for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Still, those numbers not only did not get him any Heisman attention, nor did they land him on the Biletnikoff finalist list either.

After passing on the NFL draft and returning to South Bend for one more season, Floyd did find himself on lists. The Biletnikoff Watch List includes him. The Maxwell does as well.

No mention on the Heisman boards.

Then came an arrest for driving while intoxicated.

Floyd had once before been cited for an alcohol-related infraction, and suddenly there was real fear that Notre Dame would come down hard on the repeat offender.

He was promptly suspended from the football program pending his Residence Life investigation, and there was doubt as whether Floyd would ever wear the blue and gold again.

Luckily for Floyd, he was given a reprieve. Not seen as a troublemaker, and generally a model student-athlete, he did not receive expulsion and was cleared to resume football activities.

To no one's surprise, just prior to fall practice Brian Kelly announced that Floyd would return for the year, and the probable first-round draft pick's senior season was official.

To date, Floyd ranks in the top two receivers nationally in every statistical category except touchdowns and yards per catch. 

He's tallied 31 receptions for 397 yards and two touchdowns in three games. He is on pace to bring in 124 catches for 1,191 yards and six touchdowns.

He is also an excellent route runner, as well as a superb down-field blocker, widely regarded as one of the most polished receivers in college football.

So why no Heisman love?

Part of the reason is probably that he plays a position that hasn't received a lot of Heisman attention since the early '90s.

Desmond Howard was the last wide receiver to take home the trophy, and that was in 1991.

The only other player to list wide receiver as his primary position and win the award was Notre Dame's Tim Brown in 1987.

Both Howard and Brown were also known as explosive kick returners as well as being game-changing receivers, which Floyd is not.

Since Howard won in 1991 the winners have included 12 quarterbacks, six running backs and one cornerback/kick returner.

The fact is that no wide receiver catches much Heisman buzz.

Last year, Biletnikoff winner Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State received 111 balls for 1,782 yards and an astounding 20 touchdowns, and he wasn't invited to the ceremony and wasn't in the top 10 vote-getters.

Unfortunately for Floyd, no matter how crazy-good a season he turns in, he won't be hoisting the hardware at the Downtown Athletic Club this November.

He will be a finalist for the Biletnikoff award that Golden Tate won in 2009, and will likely be a first-round draft pick in the NFL.

He will graduate the University of Notre Dame holding every significant receiving record and carry with him the admiration and respect of his fellow players, coaches and fans alike.

For a 22-year-old kid just getting started in the world, that's not too shabby.