Leonard Floyd projected as ‘breakout player’ by ESPN

Under Jeremy Pruitt, expectations are sky-high for the Georgia Bulldogs on the defensive side of the ball this season, and that fact is especially true for the linebacking corps. Ramik Wilson, who led the SEC in total tackles in 2013, is the biggest name of the group, but sophomore Leonard Floyd has been receiving a great deal of buzz in recent days.

Travis Haney of ESPN ($) had this to say about Floyd when profiling him as one of the 50 “breakout players” of the 2014 season in college football:

"I pegged Jordan Jenkins as the Bulldogs’ breakout linebacker a year ago, and while he did finish with a team-leading 12 tackles for a loss, Floyd (55 tackles, 6.5 sacks) managed to pass Jenkins along the way in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s system.The secondary figures to be a patchwork effort after some dismissals, but Jenkins and Floyd will make quite a pass-rushing tandem in first-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt’s scheme. As solid as FSU’s linebackers were, I’m not sure Pruitt had upfield rushers like he has inherited.Speaking of the secondary, I asked coach Mark Richt for a breakout candidate and he mentioned freshman safety Dominick Sanders.“For us to be good on that side, he’s going to have to help us,” Richt said, adding that Sanders has shown the ability to be a ball-hawk playmaker in practice."

There has been some concern about Floyd’s health during camp (he rejoined practice as a full participant on Friday), but aside from that, the stars have aligned for the explosive linebacker. In his first season in Athens, Leonard Floyd was named to the All-SEC freshman team, but if he can produce additional production as he receives full-time deployment under Pruitt, Georgia could justify preseason expectations, including that of Phil Steele, who ranked the Dawgs as the best group of linebackers in America.