Man, talk about a long time in the making… Chicago Tribune interviews Leonard Floyd’s coaching chain at Georgia, from Jon Fabris, who first recruited him, all the way to Jeremy Pruitt, who last coached him, with stops in between from Todd Grantham and Mark Richt. All told, an eight-year story.
It takes a village to produce a top-10 recruit.
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Kinda sounds like roster management meant Floyd had to play out of position a lot to cover up holes.
I’ll never forget that sack of Mettenberger in 2013. That type of explosion and quickness was incredible to watch.
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Sounds like for all of his faults Grantham looked after his players. Floyd was definitely a team player and a DGD.
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Congrats to Leonard Floyd on the top ten pick.
Chicago has some great rib houses.
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One NFL scout was very harsh on how Floyd was used in our D system over the past few years. Basically said he was astounded that he was used as an inside LB and in coverage, instead of coming off the edge and getting to the QB as an outside LB, which is what by far he does best. He finished by saying the UGA D staff badly misused him and stunted his growth, and ‘shame on them,’ which was an eye opener quote for me.
Maybe Pruitt wasn’t the end all, be all after all. I do recall several here with the same opinion as the scout last year, as they wondered why Floyd was being used in the manner he was. Interesting thoughts, nontheless, and I won’t be surprised at all if Floyd becomes a pro bowl type player in the years to come.
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In his defense, Job One for Pruitt isn’t developing players for the NFL. It’s putting the best defense on the field he can.
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Completely agree. and maybe he had to play out of position in order to get someone else on the field. Pruitt always said he wanted the best 11 on the field.
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Yeah, what the NFL scout isn’t able to take into consideration is the talent level of the UGA roster at the time.
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As sports journalism goes, this one is on up there in terms of doing it right. Actually took the time to contact folks going all the way back to high school days. The folks down the road in the ATL could take a lesson.
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I was really hoping Floyd would end up a Falcon, and I think that was his preference too. Until the month or so ago, I think there was a chance he could be available at #17, but then he stock seemed to rise.
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After the Auburn game I heard Leonard apologizing to his mother for getting a penalty. He is some kind of humble.
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Just goes to show you that even though you sacrifice for the team and hurt individual stats if the talent is there the NFL will find you. Am happy for Leonard.
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I hope LF has a great NFL career, he was a DGD and I hope he represents UGA well for many years. I know he would have put up better numbers had he played rush end his entire college career but as the Senator said, his job as a team member was to play where he could help the whole team, not promote his pro potential. I was surprised he went as early as he did in the draft but it would be very cool if his career justifies the faith shown him by both his previous coaches and his new employers. His length and speed make him an attractive prospect although I do feel he will have to add 15-20 pounds to hold up for several years at the next level. Go get ’em young man! I don’t usually have much reason to watch any Bear games and now I can add them to my rainy Sunday playlist.
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He nearly single-handedly shut down Tech’s last possession in that 2013 OT game in Atlanta.
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