TEMPE, Ariz. — Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt would like to clear up a misconception about wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the team’s personnel decisions.
“Larry is not as involved with the process as a lot of people like to think,” Whisenhunt said with a smile.
That may be true, but what Fitzgerald wanted, Fitzgerald got Thursday. In this case, it was Notre Dame wide receiver Michael Floyd.
While there were strong arguments to be made for drafting an offensive lineman or a pass-rushing outside linebacker with the 13th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, the lure of pairing another big-play receiver with Fitzgerald won out over perceived needs.
With Fitzgerald already lending his blessing earlier this month in published reports, the Cards selected a 6-foot-2, 220-pound specimen who can help relieve pressure on a couple of beleaguered Cards: Fitzgerald and quarterback Kevin Kolb.
“We’ve added a weapon that is very big, very fast and very physical,” Whisenhunt said. “It was pretty apparent this year how important field position has become with the new kickoff (rules). When you really look at it, you’ve got a player who can change field position pretty quickly.”
Floyd finished his career with seven Irish records, including most receptions (271), most yards receiving (3,686) and most TD catches (37). The Cards believe his height makes him an instant red-zone threat, while his weight and strength make him a difficult receiver for cornerbacks to press at the line.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly also noted that Floyd is an excellent blocker, and the Cards have seen ample proof that he can make the back-shoulder catches Whisenhunt said receivers “have to make in the NFL.”
One question the Cards needed Floyd to answer before they selected him concerned his DUI arrest in March 2011 — his third alcohol-related brush with the law in two years.
“One of the things that struck me about him was his honesty,” Whisenhunt said. “We asked him some pretty tough questions about his past.”
Floyd said he just tried to meet those questions head-on.
"It was a bad decision,” he said of the incident. “I learned from it and I moved on.”
Kelly believes he did more than move on.
“I think it’s just the realization that he had to change his life,” Kelly said. “You’ve got a young man who’s been through some adversity, has handled it and been humbled because of it. The best is in front of him now.”
Kelly was quick to point out that Floyd earned his sociology degree in three and a half years. He also called him the best practice player he has ever had in his 23 years of coaching.
“Diving for balls in practice on Tuesday late in the season — just competing when nobody was watching. All the great ones that I’ve ever coached have had that,” Kelly said. “They’re going to have to tell him when to tone it down, and that’s a good thing.”
In that sense, Kelly noted Floyd is a bit like Fitzgerald, and that’s no coincidence. Both grew up in Minnesota, and Floyd uses Fitzgerald’s trainer. The pair struck up a friendship when Floyd was still in high school, and they still “text back and forth.”
“He’s one of the best receivers in the game,” Floyd said of Fitzgerald. “I’ll be able to learn from one of the best.”
Floyd has another thing in common with Fitzgerald.
“He attacks the football,” Kelly said. “If the ball’s in the air, he’s going to get his hands on it. He’s got a great ability to track it.”
Whisenhunt found it admirable that Fitzgerald lobbied so hard to get Floyd.
“It says a lot that a receiver who wants the ball thrown to him every down is willing to bring in another guy who is obviously going to spread the receptions out,” Whisenhunt said.
Floyd’s arrival likely drops incumbents Andre Roberts and Early Doucet down a notch on the depth chart, although Kelly said Floyd still has to work on the precision parts of his game, and Whisenhunt is notoriously careful while bringing rookies along.
But with talent at receiver, a deep tight end corps that includes Todd Heap, Jeff King and Robert Housler and an emerging running game with Beanie Wells, Ryan Williams and LaRod Stephens-Howling, the Cards feel they have given Kolb enough weapons to ease some pressure as he attempts to become the franchise quarterback they envisioned last offseason when they dealt away their 2012 second-round pick and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to get him.
“Hopefully, our offense will improve a little bit,” Whisenhunt said.
It had better given the fact that the Cards had obvious needs along the line and at outside linebacker and don’t have a second-round pick Friday. They had offers to move down in the first round via trades that would have netted them additional picks, but in a draft that was rife with early movement, they ultimately decided to stay put.
“I think there will be opportunities there later in the draft,” general manager Rod Graves said. “We’re not going to (take a lineman) at the expense of other magnificent players.”
