Notre Dame Football: Where Will Michael Floyd Be Selected Among WRs?

The 2012 NFL draft class of wide receivers could be one of the most talented and deepest we have seen in a very long time.

Justin Blackmon, Alshon Jeffery, Jeff Fuller were all highly touted coming into the season and other seniors like Jarius Wright, A.J. Jenkins, Nick Toon, B.J. Cunningham and T.Y. Hilton have all had fantastic seasons.

However, one player that has fallen by the wayside in terms of the national spotlight is Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd.

He could have declared early last year for the draft but opted to stay and improve his stock. Unfortunately, he was cited for a DUI, the third alcohol-related incident he had since 2009.

After being suspended from the team, Floyd returned and is having another fantastic season at Notre Dame with 788 receiving yards and six total touchdowns.

So where does the 6’3”, 229-pound receiver stand in the NFL draft now?

According to Todd McShay and Scouts Inc., Floyd is a solid first-round pick, rated 19th overall. ESPN’s Mel Kiper has him as the 33rd player overall, while many other sites have Floyd as the top overall receiver.

The two major detractors Floyd will have to deal with are his off-field issues and the injuries he has gotten over the years. He has missed eight full games due to injury since 2008 but has remained healthy for all of this season and only missed one game in 2010 against Navy. (The Irish also got dominated in that game by 18 points, so it's obvious how important he is to the team.)

Other than that, he is an ideal possession receiver. He is not the most explosive player in the game but has sure hands and is a matchup nightmare for just about any cornerback.

Throwing a fade route to him in the red zone is almost a sure touchdown, though he will likely have fewer touchdowns this year as a result of Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood running the ball better.

He blocks really well but with his size comes some detractors. He does not accelerate particularly fast and doesn’t consistently break away from the cornerback on the first cut.

Teams should not expect Floyd to make an immediate impact, but in the right system and under the right mentorship from veteran players, he will turn into one of the more dependable receivers in the league.

He would be a great fit for a team in the mid- to late-first round and fits really well with what the Jacksonville Jaguars or Baltimore Ravens do, but could fall into the second round because of the depth in this class and the issues he’s had with alcohol and injuries.