Notre Dame Wide Receiver Michael Floyd: Updated NFL Draft Projections

Depending on how many underclassmen decide to join the NFL party after this season, the wide receiver class for the 2012 draft has a chance to be one of the strongest and deepest we’ve seen in years.

Guys like Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon, South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery, Baylor’s Kendall Wright, Texas A&M’s Jeff Fuller, Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles and Arkansas’ Jarius Wright all have a chance to be in the first-round mix.

One receiver who will also be right in the thick of things is Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd.

Floyd could have gone pro after his junior season and likely cracked the first round of the 2011 draft. But Floyd knew if he returned to South Bend and spent another year in Brian Kelly’s offensive system, he would have a great chance to really prove that he's one of college football’s top talents.

Floyd hauled in a career-high 79 catches and broke the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career in 2010. He showed the college football world that when it comes to tracking the ball and making the sure-handed catch, there’s no one in the game that can do it any better.

Floyd’s offseason got off to a shaky start with a DUI charge that kept him from participating in spring practices, but Kelly had the confidence to reinstate his star receiver, and he’s returned the favor by hauling in 47 catches in the first five games of the season.

He has a knack for making impossible catches appear routine, and Floyd may very well just have the best pair of hands in all of college football.

The 6’3’’, 225-pound senior reminds me of a hybrid of Braylon Edwards and Vincent Jackson.

He’s got all the traits you look for in a go-to receiver: size, hands, crisp route-running, focus and the upper body strength to overwhelm smaller cornerbacks. Floyd presents a mismatch for whoever he goes up against, and he’s the type of threat that has to be accounted for on every snap.

Floyd’s got the ability to be a No. 1 receiving weapon for an NFL offense, and if he continues on his current pace, he should be a top-15 pick in next year’s draft.