Early years

Floyd was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended George Washington High School in Philadelphia, where he started playing basketball, which led to football. He totaled over 50 tackles, two sacks and seven tackles for losses during his junior season while tearing his ACL during a semifinal playoff game. He received an invitation to the annual U.S. Army National Combine in January 2009, but initially could not afford the travel costs to San Antonio, Texas. With help from special-education students and counselor, Dawn Seeger, Floyd baked brownies and sold them at school for weeks to raise the money. He was able to make the trip and earned first-team all-combine honors. After his senior season at Washington High School, he was named a high school All-American by USA Today, Parade magazine, and EA Sports. He ended his high school career at the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Floyd was listed as the No. 1 defensive tackle prospect in the class of 2010. He chose Florida over eight other major Division I FBS college football programs.

College career

Floyd accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Urban Meyer and coach Will Muschamp's Florida Gators football teams from 2010 to 2012. Arriving in Gainesville as the highest rated football recruit since Percy Harvin in 2006, he was one of seven true freshmen to make a start for the Florida Gators in 2010.

Freshman season (2010)

See also: 2010 Florida Gators football team

As a freshman in 2010, Floyd earned a starting spot and contributed with two tackles, including one for loss, in the Gators' win over Penn State in the 2011 Outback Bowl. For the season, he had 23 tackles (13 assisted and 10 solo) with 6.5 of them for loss.

Sophomore season (2011)

See also: 2011 Florida Gators football team

As a sophomore in 2011, Floyd started the final 11 games of the season at defensive end, and totaled 46 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 quarterback sacks, a pass breakup and a blocked kick. He also tied for the team lead with four quarterback hurries. He registered his first career sack in the 2012 Gator Bowl against Ohio State, and followed it with an assisted sack on the very next play for a total loss of five yards.

Junior season (2012)

See also: 2012 Florida Gators football team

During his 2012 junior season, Floyd moved back to his natural defensive tackle position, and had 31 tackles (including 19 solo). He also had a team-high 8.5 tackles for a loss, and was second with four quarterback hurries. After the season, he was recognized as first-team All-American by The Sporting News and received third-team honors from the Associated Press. He was also a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection.

After Florida's loss in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, Floyd announced his decision to forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Pre-draft

As of late January 2013, Floyd was projected to be a late-first round selection, and the fourth defensive tackle off the board, according to Sports Illustrated. After the combine, SI moved Floyd up to the No. 3 selection overall, and No. 1 among defensive tackles. In early April, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco projected Floyd to go second overall, calling him "the best player in this draft". Floyd was listed as a defensive tackle, but was considered to be best fit as a defensive end in a 3-4 defensive alignment.

External video

Floyd's NFL Combine workout

Floyd gets drafted by Minnesota

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
6 ft 2 1⁄2 in	297 lb	31 3⁄4 in	10 1⁄8 in	4.92 s	1.70 s	2.80 s	4.75 s	7.40 s	30 in	8 ft 10 in

Minnesota Vikings

Floyd was chosen by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round (23rd overall pick) of the 2013 NFL Draft, becoming the 1st defensive tackle selected by the Vikings in the 1st round since 2003 when the club drafted Kevin Williams 9th overall. He was also the 1st of 3 players drafted by the Vikings in the 1st round, marking only the 2nd time in team history the team had 3 picks in the 1st round and the 1st time for an NFL team since St. Louis did it in 2001. He signed a 4-year, $8,076,200 contract with the Vikings, including a $4,253,600 signing bonus, $6,569,900 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,019,050. He switched his jersey to #73 for the 2014 season, going back to his high school and college number after wearing #95 for his rookie NFL campaign.

2013 season

On September 29, Floyd recorded the 1st sack of his career when he and Jared Allen combined to sack Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger during the NFL International Series in London. He ended his rookie season with 19 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2 pass deflections.

2014 season

In 2014, Floyd finished the season with the most quarterback hurries among Vikings defensive tackles with 20, per Pro Football Focus, despite playing just 587 snaps. He collected 42 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and 1 pass deflection.

2015 season

Floyd was a starting DT next to Linval Joseph in the 2015 season. He got half a sack in week three against the Chargers, and half a sack in week six against the Chiefs. Floyd did not play in week seven against the Detroit Lions due to a knee/ankle injury. Floyd was still hampered by the knee/ankle injury and was listed inactive for the Week 8 match-up against the Chicago Bears.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]