Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
WR Michael Floyd of the Arizona Cardinals has a golden opportunity heading into the 2014 NFL season to become a major force in the fantasy football realm.
The third-year man who was a former first-round pick out of Notre Dame has all the physical gifts to be an elite receiver. Last season, Floyd was thrown into an open competition with former teammate Andre Roberts for the No. 2 receiver role with the Cardinals. It took Floyd a little while to find traction last season, but he essentially doubled all of Roberts’ production and led the team in reception yards.
The reasons that fantasy football owners really should believe Floyd is ready to make a big jump in production this season is that he is in a really great-looking situation in Arizona. Due to Rashard Mendenhall’s decision to retire this season, the team will look to utilize second-year running back Andre Ellington out of the backfield and in the passing game as well.
As sad as it makes me to say this, father time is starting to creep up on Larry Fitzgerald. In his declining years, Fitzgerald will be better suited running underneath and mid-range routes. With Fitzgerald and Ellington wrecking havoc underneath, it should allow Floyd to use his physical gifts to stretch the field deep and really cause secondaries some problems in 2014.
While he won’t see his numbers spike like Alshon Jeffery‘s did last year during his breakout campaign, Floyd will still be the top breakout candidate for receivers this upcoming season. His physical assets and team situation will allow him to excel in ways fantasy football owners haven’t seen from him before. All owners should have their eyes glued to Floyd during fantasy drafts this year.
Alexander Muir is a writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @AmuirAlex, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on your network on Google.
