The draft rolls on! For the results of round one and two click here.3.01 (UHND) - Jerome Bettis, FB
"Thought about going defense again here, but it was too hard to pass up Bettis with this pick. Bettis will play RB in my offense and will give me the flexibility to play FB if I want to get Rocket some carries out of the backfield." - Frank
3.02 (Domer Law) - Ryan Harris, OT
3.03 (Her Loyal Sons) - Jeff Faine, C
"Badass." - domer_mq
3.04 (WeNeverGraduate) - Michael Floyd, WR
"I'm sticking on the offensive side of the ball for round three and snatching up a guy who will have rewritten the entire receiving record book at Notre Dame when all is said and done. Of course I refer to one Michael Floyd, the most impressive physical specimen to ever line up out wide for the Irish. He's proven in three years that it doesn't matter who is throwing him the ball, he's going to go up and get it and likely drag a couple defenders for a ride once he comes down." - Mattare
3.05 (Subway Domer) - Bobby Taylor, CB
"None of you are going to be able to throw the ball on the Subway Domer Disciples. Believe that." - Subway Domer
3.06 (Irish Illustrated) - Golden Tate, WR
"After going defense with my first two picks, I need a playmaker and Tate has Rocket-type versatility as my starting wide receiver, punt returner, kick returner and Wildcat back. Plus, Tate is a legitimate deep threat to bust the lid off opposing defenses. Sure Floyd, might drag a couple defenders along for the ride, but those same defensive backs won't get a hand on Tate. If he'd stuck around for his senior season, this is Notre Dame's most prolific wide receiver of all time." - Pete
4.01 (Irish Illustrated) - Tom Carter, CB
"Getting back to the defensive side of the ball with this elite cornerback who was a first round pick back in '92. There are bigger names in the secondary during the past 20 years, but Carter provides a lockdown defensive back for my defense. Obviously the genes are good as Brian Kelly offered a scholarship to his son, Alex Carter." - Pete
4.02 (Subway Domer) - Luke Petitgout, OT
"Hogs are needed along the trenches, and this former Irish tackle was one of the best to come out of South Bend in the last 20 years. His name means "petite gout-lover" in Portuguese." - Subway Domer
4.03 (WeNeverGraduate) - Michael Stonebreaker, LB
"Pete said when he picked Te'o that there was a significant drop off at the position after Manti. I have to respectfully disagree. National championship pedigree? Check. All-american? Check. Clutch performer? Check. Tough as nails? Check. Great in coverage and run support? Check. Greatest name for a linebacker in history? Check. Stonebreaker bows to no Hawaiian." - Mattare
4.04 (Her Loyal Sons) - Shane Walton, CB
4.05 (Domer Law) - Mirko Jurkovic, OG
4.06 (UHND) - Anthony Weaver, DE
"When Tuck was selected I debated which DE I would go after and ended up targetting the 2001 Team MVP and 2002 2nd Round Draft pick. I thought about other DE's here but Weaver's guady 21 tackles for loss in 2001 and 42 in his career - both good enough for 2nd all time at Notre Dame - pushed him ahead of the pack. Weaver is a big DE who can move inside if necessary who will anchor my DL." - Frank
- - - - - - - - - -
I think the instant analysis pretty much covers the entirety of my feelings on the Stonebeaker pick, but the Michael Floyd analysis does little to articulate how much I went back and forth on that pick. The two I was waffling between were Floyd and Bobby Taylor, a lockdown corner in a 20-year stretch where lockdown corners were few and far between in the South Bend. There were three things that pushed me to ultimately choose offense over defense in this instance.
First, there's the fact that Michael Floyd is a touchdown machine. He's averaged just a shade under a touchdown per game for his entire career, a mind-blowing statistic. It doesn't matter who is throwing him the ball--Clausen, Crist, Rees, whoever--he finds a way to come down with it.
The second reason is the because he is an absolutely devastating run blocker. If you go back and look at a lot of the big gains the Irish had on the ground this year on the edge you'll find #3 making a key block in many of them. If I ultimately end up going with an offense based heavily on the run (which is probable given the fact that the only two pure passers ND has had since Beuerlein are off the board) then he's going to be an incredibly valuable asset whether the play call is pass or run.
The final reason is that Floyd is the type of leader I want on this team. Coach Kelly has called him the hardest worker he's seen since he's been in coaching, which is a scary thought since he also happens to be one of the most physically gifted receivers in all of college football. Also let's not forget that Floyd had a legitimate opportunity to go pro after his junior season and choose to stay around. Bobby Taylor bolted for the NFL a year early.
I wanted those touchdowns, that willingness to do the dirty work, and that relentless work ethic. When I pulled the trigger I felt comfortable knowing the (soon to be) most prolific wide receiver in school history would help spearhead the WNG offense no matter who ended up under center.
No comments:
Post a Comment