Minnesota Vikings: Michael Floyd is not the answer behind Diggs and Thielen

There’s been plenty of hype surrounding what wideout Michael Floyd would bring to the Minnesota Vikings. Contrary to popular opinion, he’s been nothing but a disappointment.

The Minnesota Vikings took a chance on Michael Floyd prior to the season. Following a down year with the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, the 27-year old was hoping to resurrect a once promising professional football career. This includes restoring his image off the field after multiple run-ins with the law resulted in his release from Arizona.

The latest of those, a DUI last December, landed him a four-game suspension to begin 2017. Nevertheless, the Vikings felt Floyd deserved another shot to put the past behind him in his home state. On the field, the thought was that he would come back and contribute right away after the suspension. In fact, all signs in training camp and the preseason pointed to that being the case.

Adding to the optimism was the fact Floyd had a track record of success, including one 1,000-yard season. As matter of fact, he was a great complement to Larry Fitzgerald and the high-powered Cardinals offense during his five-year stint with the team until off the field problems derailed his time with Arizona.

Basically, the Vikings saw Floyd as a high risk, high reward player they were willing to take a chance on. By doing so, they could be rewarded with a three-headed monster at the receiver position. That is, if all went right.

Basically, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Floyd has proved the opposite. In two games, he has just two catches for 24 yards. To make matters worse, he only put up one catch for five yards in place of an injured Stefon Diggs against the Green Bay Packers. Sure, he lost time in the game due to a calf injury, but he failed to make an impact at all in the large chunk of time he was on the field.

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Furthermore, when you consider the likes of Laquon Treadwell outperformed him against the Packers, the results reach a new low for the Minnesota native. Although, I truly hope that Treadwell’s game was a glimpse of his real potential rather than a fluke performance. Fingers crossed. Even so, there’s no reason Floyd shouldn’t have a leg on the 2016 first round pick, considering he’s a six-year veteran in the league and supposedly a more seasoned talent.

While I want to believe Floyd turns it around and becomes the player he was just a couple of seasons ago, I’m not optimistic, especially in Minnesota. He’s looked like an after thought in the offense and I don’t see that improving, especially with Diggs returning to the lineup. It’s even possible he’s just declined faster than most taking into account he had a career-low 37 catches and 488 yards last season.

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Additionally, given Treadwell and Floyd’s inconsistencies, I fully expect Stacy Coley, possibly Rodney Adams, to get more of a run with the offense like Diggs did his rookie year. I mean, why not? Treadwell and Floyd have combined for seven catches in six games, so they can’t do much worse.

At the same time, the Vikings can see if they found something special in their late round picks. If Floyd was still special, he’d surely have proven it by now.

While I know there’s an argument that Floyd hasn’t had enough time to get back in sync with the offense, I don’t see that as an excuse. He had a full offseason with the team and a couple of full weeks of practice to get acclimated. For gosh sakes, Adrian Peterson lit up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first game with the Arizona Cardinals after ONE week of practice, so it’s not impossible at all to make an impact right away. At least, show some promise, which he has not.

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Honestly, I don’t know how much longer Minnesota can wait to see that Floyd isn’t not the answer behind Diggs and Thielen in the offense. As much as they want him to be, it’s time to accept he’s not the same player on the field and move on.