J.T. Floyd's 2011 To-Do List, a review
I looked all this up while putting together the CB section of Hail to the Victors but coulnd't fit it in there. It's not enough for its own Museday (and the great JT Floyd's phoenix year has been covered in detail already) but I wanted to at least have it out there.
Checklist of NFL receivers Floyd was primarily responsible for covering in 2011:
| Receiver | 2011 Team | NFL Team | Rnd-Overall | Catches | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Floyd | ND | Cardinals | 1-13 | 13 | 159 | 0 |
| A.J. Jenkins | Illini | 49ers | 1-30 | 4 | 103 | 0 |
| DeVier Posey | OSU | Texans | 5-68 | 3 | 58 | 1 |
| B.J. Cunningham | MSU | Dolphins | 6-183 | 4 | 39 | 0 |
| Marvin McNutt | Iowa | Eagles | 6-194 | 9 | 101 | 0 |
| Jeremy Ebert | NW | Patriots | 7-235 | 11 | 86 | 0 |
| Jordan White | WMU | Jets | 7-244 | 12 | 119 | 0 |
| *******Total******* | - | - | 56 | 665 | 1 | |
| *****Average****** | - | - | 8.0 | 95.0 | 0.1 |
*VT's Danny Coale and MSU's Keyshawn Martin were also drafted this year, but Floyd was primarily covering Jarrett Boykin and BJ Cunningham, respectively, in those games. Boykin had 4 catches for 30 yards and 0 TD; he went undrafted and unsigned.
To me, the data does not paint a clear picture. I can still infer what is going on though.. But please answer this question:
Did you get the data of the receiver from the box score?
I ask this because the Michigan defense did not put a corner on a single man.. they played Floyd as boundary, so the receiver he would go up against would switch, depending on how the receiver lined up. I know Michael Floyd, for example, lined up at slot a lot during the ND game. I think I remember Ebert lining up in the slot a lot as well. Also, Jordan White was up against Woolfolk a lot, if I remember correctly.
Still, JT is a decent to good Big 10 corner, as the data shows.. surrendering only one touchdown all year is a magnificent feat. He's always going to have haters because of the poor coaching of Tony Gibson. Now that he's being taught better, his natural athletic ability has a chance to show on the field, just like with everyone else on the defense.
Yeah it's just box scores, but it's one more metric we haven't published yet. Even while playing boundary, especially versus these receivers, JT was often stuck to the guy. I could consult the UFR database too but this is just a "here's some figures people know" way of looking at it. Those are each receivers capable of 200-yard games. They were also TD machines for their teams. 1 Touchdown all year given all the red zone attempts, all the "go deep and we'll see if you can shake him"s, all of the chuck and prays to NFL-bound receivers, and they all ended up with 8-catch, 96-yards, 0-TD days.
I'm beginning to think JT Floyd underwent dragon ball z style training before the 2011 season.
One TD is damn impressive considering that list of talent!
In this year's HTTV, can you guys add a little more background on the current players? One little criticism I've had is that there will sometimes be just a couple of sentences on a player. I feel ike HTTV (which I've bought the last two years) has been a little too heavy on the "diary" articles and not enough on profile info on players. I've also bought the Wolverine's preview, and I found myself referring to it more often just to get a refresher on players' backgrounds and such.
Umm...
Like, we ship to the printer in a week and change. But I'll take that into consideration for next year. When we're done I think it would be a good idea to get as much feedback as possible on it and decide what we can do better. Telling their personal stories though I don't think is ever going to be our forte--The Wolverine, and this is not knocking them, mostly republishes the stuff you can pull up on MGoBlue.com. We cover different things--I don't think they have ever written the words "Prison Abs" for example--but for years the Wolverine was a constant companion to my purchase of NCAA [Next Year] because they good at being a reference book. On the other hand their articles are like "here's a retrospective of press releases from last year," and 3,000 words to say Michigan and Notre Dame are competing for "Winningest Program" by two metrics Michigan can get the edge on this year.
We don't exactly compete with the Wolverine because our deal is to give you the vitals on the players and the opponents, and have that lead into a a collection of what we try to make the best articles on Michigan you'll read all year.
Of course I buy it because I have a problem. Hello, I spend every waking hour thinking about Michigan, have we met?
I'm having non-buyer's remorse re: HTTV. Can I still order or am I a day late and $15 short?
Fear not. It will be available fairly soon.
Michael Floyd. How did he not score a TD in that game!? Thirteen catches for a buck sixty and no scores... he was a monster.
And as one who had completely written JT Floyd off as a complete waste of space, a net negative to the defense, where they'd be better off playing 10 and at least knowing they'd be a man down, I can't believe how well he turned out. I'm thrilled for the guy.
He has a small point about OSU, when Posey was beating him and Woolfolk regularly. Posey was just that good. His speed is the difference -- JT Floyd was able to hang in there with the big guys, playing them tough and running their routes for them. Posey he was overmatched. Then again the one big bomb they hit Miller threw a total Troy Smithian thing.