Notre Dame football: 10 best players to play in the NFL this past decade
By Matt Clark
From 2008-2011, Michael Floyd set Notre Dame school records with 271 receptions, 2,686 receiving yards and 37 receiving touchdowns. As a result, he positioned himself as one of the elite receiving prospects in the 2012 NFL Draft.
When the Arizona Cardinals selected Floyd in the first round of the draft with the 13th overall selection, experts felt that the Cardinals had set their offense up nicely by pairing the immensely talented Floyd opposite of future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
Unfortunately, Floyd’s success with Notre Dame would never fully translate to the NFL game. Floyd had his best season in 2013 when he had 65 receptions for 1,041 yards and five touchdowns. However, it would be the only 1,000-yard season of his career.
In 2016, Floyd would be released by the Cardinals in the middle of the season following an arrest for drinking and driving. He would sign with the New England Patriots and complete the season there, winning a Super Bowl while making minimal contributions to the team.
Floyd would bounce around the league after that playing sparingly for the Minnesota Vikings (2017), New Orleans Saints (practice squad 2018), Washington Redskins (2018) and Baltimore Ravens (practice squad 2019).
For his career, Floyd has amassed 266 receptions for 3,959 receiving yards and 25 receiving touchdowns in his eight-year career. While the numbers are respectable, they fall far short of what the expectations were for him when he was selected in the middle of the first round of the 2012 draft.