Ever have one of those cars. It looks gorgeous, can fly at top speeds when opened up and feels like it could win any street race it entered? Then just when it seems to get revved up and going, something goes wrong. A hose bursts, a tire goes flat, or the battery dies. This has been the situation with Leonard Floyd over the past three years. There is no questioning the high-performance capability. Yet the body structure hasn't held up.
First it was concussions, then it was a knee injury, and last year it was a broken hand. Every time Floyd appeared ready to unleash his full fury on the NFL, something went wrong. One can understand why he felt discouraged through the first half of last year, going sackless in eight games. However, the Chicago Bears never lost faith in him. They let him keep playing and soon he appeared to rediscover himself.
Over the final nine games, he delivered five sacks and was consistently hounding quarterbacks. That combined with a new work ethic and help from a pass rush expert in outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino seems to have caught the attention of teammates already.
Leonard Floyd senses his moment is finally at hand
Danny Trevathan has been around for the entire Floyd experienced. Both players arrived in Chicago in 2016, Trevathan a month before. So he has known Floyd that entire time and seen the good and bad of him. When a veteran like him says the young linebacker looks different than before, it's best to take notice. Trevathan explained to Arthur Arkush of Pro Football Weekly.
“[He's] a different animal,” said Bears LB Danny Trevathan, who arrived in Chicago the same offseason as Floyd, the speedy and sinewy 26-year-old Georgia product. “There’s a lot on his plate, but you know he’s hungry and you can see that he has that attitude. Last year he was a little down. Didn’t start off the way he wanted. But this year he’s attacking it."
"He wants to be the guy that you go to, you got to block him with two or he’s going to get to that quarterback — and that’s his whole attitude this year," Trevathan said.
It isn't hard to understand why Floyd wants this. If he can start demanding double teams from opponents, just imagine what will happen with Khalil Mack on the other side. It would create a literal no-win scenario for offensive lines. Besides, there is also a financial incentive at play. The Bears picked up Floyd's 5th-year option for 2020. That buys some time, but if he wants a lucrative extension this year might be his best chance.
So yeah. Trevathan may not be lying. The guy has so many reasons to lay waste to the rest of the NFL this season.
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