We tend to not believe 'sources', but this seems like a pretty likely rumor.
It sounds like Kyle Rudolph is planning to leave early and enter the NFL Draft.
Not all that surprising, but also the lesser loss between Rudolph and Floyd. While Kyle is a stud that is hard to replace, ND has a budding star in Tyler Eifert, as well as additional quality depth with Welch and Koyack, though I expect Koyack to save a year of eligibility. Welch is rumored to be Rudy v2.0 though, so it's not like ND would be struggling at the position.
Floyd is more difficult to replace as he literally can force defenses to plan around him, opening things up for everyone else. He's also become a big-time leader on this offense, and that would be missed next year as well.
Regardless, it's sad to see Rudy leave. He's been a great player despite multiple injuries, and he would have certainly helped solidify an experienced offense next year. Here's to hoping he has a full recovery and goes 1st among TE's in the draft.
Best of luck to you Rudy, you'll be missed.
By Mike January 5, 2011 - 3:04 am
I hope both of them leave and get millions.
GOD bless them!!
ND football will be fine.
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By tjak January 8, 2011 - 9:03 pm
Mike, to quote Mr Fessiwigg (sp),from Dicken’s A Christmas Carol “Money is not everything.” Notre Dame Lore is just as important as money and the NFL. If it was not then there would not be a College Football Hall of Fame. I could care less how much money these guys make in the Pros; it has no bearing on my life. I do have a life, but Irish National Championships make my life more fun, not contracts of former Irish players in the bigs.
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By Pat January 5, 2011 - 8:16 am
Sounds like you are holding out hope that Floyd comes back. I think the chances are quite slim. Would love to have him though, of course.
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By stewvee January 5, 2011 - 9:12 am
I hate this.
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By tjak January 5, 2011 - 10:31 am
Me too!
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By domer.mq January 5, 2011 - 9:15 am
A 641px wide image? Seriously? We’ve been at this blog thing for half a decade, and you’re still overflowing the whitespace?
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By Don Sullivan January 5, 2011 - 9:17 am
What does “save a year of eligibility” mean. Better play these guys when you have them because the NFL poaches them immediately. There arn’t many seniors to be planning to stay and ND is not immune to that disease.
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By domer.mq January 5, 2011 - 9:23 am
Also, you keep hotlinking and/or stealing other people’s photos, and you’re gonna get me sued.
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By The Biscuit January 5, 2011 - 11:49 am
I don’t even know what ‘hotlinking’ means. I just link to photos the way I’ve always done. And I have no idea how to resize. If you tell me, I will do so. You’re like a grumpy old man. “In my day, we never hotlinked a 647 wide pixel photo, and we did it uphill, both ways!”
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By domer.mq January 5, 2011 - 12:08 pm
Hotlinking means you just clicked “insert photo” when writing the post, and then you gave the image url from the site that’s hosting it. So now when ppl bring up our site, it costs that hosting site bandwidth.
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By Danno27 January 5, 2011 - 9:38 am
wow that photo, DMQ’s rage aside, is AWESOME. I’m gonna miss him even though it looks like ND’s tight end tradition is in good hands with the crew we’ve got in the stable.
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By Trey January 5, 2011 - 9:43 am
Im surprised at this. Of the two, i thought Rudy was most likely to stay. Guess that means more bad news in a few days. I read that floyd will go #14 to STL in the draft
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By domer.mq January 5, 2011 - 10:03 am
I think it has a lot to do with how the guys grade out. As I understand it, the advisory grades help you figure out where you rank among your position. Hard to imagine any TEs ranking out over Rudy this year. I can’t think of any big names. And he’s already been a finalist in a previous season for best TE in the country. Floyd’s got quite a bit more, big-name competition in this draft.
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By SDI January 5, 2011 - 11:12 am
I’m hoping that competition + possible lockout + college degree = a senior season of dominance for M. Floyd.
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By The Biscuit January 5, 2011 - 11:50 am
Exactly. Rudy projects as #1 TE. Floyd won’t be #1 WR. He may be #4.
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By SDI January 5, 2011 - 4:32 pm
some other “expert” claims there are 9 other receivers ahead of him on the draft boards. I’d like to see them–I find that hard to believe. But it’s possible that his draft analysis told him the same thing.
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By stewvee January 5, 2011 - 11:18 am
Sources also have Rees leaving… C’mon. Why doesn’t anyone worth their salt stay for four years anymore?! I don’t get it. You get to develop and get a degree. Money is really that important? I wish someone woulda clued me into that when I was in school. I probably wouldn’t have majored in philosophy and minored in classics.
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By PootND January 5, 2011 - 12:49 pm
You’d think all the philo majors taking your burger order would have clued you in. #ScienceMajorInsult
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By stewvee January 5, 2011 - 1:01 pm
It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. I was the posterkid for solipsism.
So who thinks Floyd stays? I don’t. But, boy, do I hope he does…
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By Danno27 January 5, 2011 - 1:26 pm
Think he goes, hope he stays.
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By domer.mq January 5, 2011 - 2:16 pm
Ahem. I was the poster child for solipsism.
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By Erik '04 January 5, 2011 - 1:49 pm
I would have anticipated Floyd to leave and Rudy to stay, even though we need it to be the other way around. While I figured his injuries would have kept him here for another year, perhaps Rudy felt that he was vulnerable to ANOTHER season ending injury next year that would have killed his draft stock altogether. Maybe he’s getting out while he still can?
Either way, I sure hope Floyd comes back. I give it a 15% chance, though.
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By stewvee January 5, 2011 - 2:56 pm
Has Rudy played a complete season at ND? I don’t think he has…
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By borromini January 5, 2011 - 6:29 pm
Jermaine Gresham is Kyle Rudolph’s precedent for making this decision. A a season ending injury or in Gresham’s case…an entire season doesn’t mean anything if you’re still graded as #1 in your position with an overall 1st round projection.
Considering how well Gresham has played this year…NFL scouts have reason to give KR a favorable projection.
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By BigE January 5, 2011 - 10:49 pm
Rudy will be missed but can be replaced. He earned his #1 rating and ND benefited from his efforts. He should make his millions while he can and then he can afford to pay to finish his education later.
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By domer.mq January 6, 2011 - 9:40 am
It’s a huge help to ND, really, that the Irish played so much this year without him. Eiffert got a lot of really good PT thanks to that. It sort of makes me wonder with Floyd: he can’t be replaced, obviously, but would ND benefit in 2012 from a Floy-less 2011? Or is it better to hope for a shot at running the table in 2011? I pick running-table shots over long-term hope, but who’s to say?
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By canuck75 January 6, 2011 - 1:18 pm
I think Floyd will stay. He has a chance to be the no.1 receiver in the country next year on a very good team. Plus, don’t you think that all our guys must be a bit sobered by the fact that our stars-Quinn, Clausen Tate, have struggled. Money is important of course, but I bet tate wishes he had come back.
I guess I am far too much of an idealist, but I would have thought that Rudolph might have wanted to come back just because we appear to be able to have a special season next year.
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By tjak January 6, 2011 - 3:05 pm
I cannot blame Rudolph, but it sure would have been nice if he had taken the same approach as Andrew Luck. The Standard QB picked by many to go 1st overall wants to complete his architectural degree. For a school that has apparently not had a lot of guys go the NFL recently we certainly have been hit by the leaving for the NFL early by our studs bug.
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By JM January 6, 2011 - 5:11 pm
I know it’s a growing trend across college football, but I also think that it is because they were recruited by Mr. “I can get you to the NFL.” Weis did a great job recruiting, and he will again for Florida, but his schtick is getting kids to the NFL. With Kelly’s focus on playing for ND and team effort, I wonder if we will see more seniors stay in the coming years.
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By tjak January 7, 2011 - 11:05 pm
JM, I see your point and I hope that you are right.
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By tjak January 7, 2011 - 11:03 pm
I have just finished re-watching the Army game and I am again impressed by Tyler Eifert. I know that I will not be popular for saying it, but other then the 95yard catch against Michigan, did Rudolph do anything that will go down in Irish lore.
He has made some great plays to be sure, (Hawaii Bowl catch near the end of the first half), but I feel more connected to guys like Eifert and John Carlson. I know Kyle has to do what is right for Kyle, but I am an Irish fan and Goddammit I want more 1988′s.
I wish him well, but I am going to cherish players who made Notre Dame a priority. This is why in my mind Jimmy Clausen is more of a footnote then anything else to me. I do not give a shit how much money Rudolph will get by going pro; I will never even be able to dream to make that kind of money, so why would I go all gaga because Kyle gets a big contract in the first round.
What will impress me as an Irish fan is a young man who does everything in his power to bring Notre Dame a National Championship. That this is as important to him as it is to me and any other person who loves Irish football.
I do not wish to disparage Kyle Rudolph, he is a fine young man, who when he was healthy was the best tight end in the land. It is just a shame that he was never able to find glory in an Irish uniform. I hope he finds glory in the pros….and that the Irish find that young man that will bring Notre Dame a 1988.
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By tjak January 8, 2011 - 3:10 am
An addition…..For those of us that will never make pro sport money; tradition, lore, records, history and a place on the wall are pretty cool. I know Mike Floyd struggled financially in his youth, but man I personally as a gumba who has never played a down of college football would kill to be the all time leader in all things receptions at the University Of Notre Dame.
I am beating a dead horse, sorry everyone, I just wish that these boys would stay.
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By TLNDMA January 8, 2011 - 10:26 am
Tjak, you are not off base. No matter what happens in the NFL, put these three in order of best ND QB’s… Rice, Quinn, Clausen. If you put them in any order than the one presented, then you can’t consider winning to be the primary goal.
We all understand Rudolph’s motivations for his decision. That doesn’t mean we have to be happy about it. And as fans, we have the right to take his decision into consideration when discussing his legacy.
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By tjak January 8, 2011 - 9:14 pm
Thank you TLNDMA, you get my point.
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By tjak January 8, 2011 - 8:40 pm
Speaking about NFL Notre Dame players who stayed the full time on campus, Julius Jones and John Carlson scored four of the touchdowns in the Seahawk/Saint Wildcard game. Carlson was instrumental in the come from behind win over Michigan State in 2006 and he was instrumental in the Seahawk win over the Saints. If Rudolph wins a Super Bowl that will be great, but he didn’t really do anything to bring the Irish big wins.
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By Erik '04 January 10, 2011 - 11:30 am
Didn’t he catch the game winning TD against Purdue last year? The game where Christ kept us going for a bit, but Clausen came in on his broken toe and led the game winning drive in the rain? I seem to recall that his throw was to Rudolph.
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By The Biscuit January 10, 2011 - 12:54 pm
He did. But to say ‘he didn’t do anything to bring the Irish big wins’ is a bit disingenuous I think. Because in the last 8 or so years, nobody has done anything to bring the Irish big wins. Up until USC/Utah at the end of the year (which arent looking that big in the rear view mirror given their relatively weak seasons) I don’t think anyone has done much to get the Irish big wins in a long, long time. Rudy was awesome, he just wasn’t on awesome teams.
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By tjak January 10, 2011 - 3:05 pm
Fair enough. I am done on this issue…I can hear the sighs of relief. I agree with a previous writer that said we should just play these guys when they get to Notre Dame if they are goosd enough. If the best are only going to stay for three years, get the three years going as early as possible.
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