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| J.T. Floyd |
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 183 lbs.
High school: Greenville (SC) J.L. Mann
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #8
Last year: I ranked Floyd #37 and said he would be a backup cornerback. He started all 13 games and had 48 tackles, 8 pass breakups, 2 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble.
Last year I assumed Floyd would be the backup to Troy Woolfolk while Courtney Avery won the field corner job. Instead, Avery played in the slot while Floyd and Woolfolk manned the outside spots. Floyd played well enough to be named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Some people saw marked improvement from his 2010 season; I saw slight improvement. Some people overrated his performance based on a nice interception against Illinois; some people say I underrated his performance based on him getting burnt deep against Nebraska and Ohio State.
With Avery entrenched at the slot corner position and Blake Countess having established himself at field corner, the defensive backfield returns all four (or five, if you count Avery) starters. Floyd should be expected to carry on with his solid but unspectacular performance. His athleticism would seem to hold him back from making a huge leap, but hopefully he will continue to improve under the tutelage of Curt Mallory, who is a significantly better coach than former cornerbacks coach Tony Gibson. I think the loss of three starters on the defensive line will give quarterbacks an extra split second to throw, which may hurt Michigan's overall pass defense. The disappearance of Terrence Talbott leaves a small void behind Floyd, but Raymon Taylor got some experience last season and bulked up in the offseason to 182 lbs.; he should be Floyd's primary backup at boundary corner, with Blake Countess also a possibility to slide over in case of a long-term injury. Floyd should repeat his Honorable Mention performance. Anything more or less would be slightly surprising.
Prediction: Starting cornerback; 55 tackles, 2 interceptions
Good post. In general, you expect returning players to improve - it is nature of college football. Especially in cases where they don't have to deal with a new coaching staff, scheme change, etc. Plus, a lot of people do step up in their final seasons. I think a lot of guys sense the urgency and finality of their college careers coming in and really focus in on building off the lessons learned from past seasons and former players. I think Floyd will be better this year, even if I agree with your opinion about his athletic limitations.
ReplyDeleteThat said, your point about the DL is spot on. While the secondary should be better this year, they're also going to have more responsibility. So, they might not LOOK like they are performing any better.
Really, that applies to the whole team. Like a couple others noted before - this team could be better but less successful.
I agree with your assessment. He has improved his technique greatly and made himself a starter as the bigger tackling CB who can play the other teams big WRs and help in run support.
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