Manti Te'o

[Kemp17]

Originally Posted by AK46um

If I combine my anticipation for him to turn pro these past few years with his current stats he'd be a late 1st rounder to late 2nd rounder to me.

However if I add the media hype and most importantly expert's thoughts on him as a prospect then I'd bump him up to mid 1st round. Thats likely not going to happen since I think teams value him that much. I'd go no higher than (8-12) which is roughly where the Chargers may pick. Probably not the ideal pick for us there but I wouldn't be mad.

No I wouldn't be angry either, depending on who is on the board. But if I'm being as objective as I possibly can be and trying to ignore hype, I like Joeckel, Lotulelei, Werner, Moore, Lewan, Fisher, Milliner, and Warmack as better talents and overall prospects.

[AK46um]

Originally Posted by Kemp17

No I wouldn't be angry either, depending on who is on the board. But if I'm being as objective as I possibly can be and trying to ignore hype, I like Joeckel, Lotulelei, Werner, Moore, Lewan, Fisher, Milliner, and Warmack as better talents and overall prospects.

Much of the hype behind T'eo is likely to be replaced by the hype of other players generated at the combine. By then I think T'eo is gonna be pushed outside of the top 10 on a lot of mocks. Up to the 12-18 range.

[DanDiegoDuck]

We need OL. Our LB's aren't bad, defense is doing pretty well. Until we can protect the QB and run block as well, we're mediocre.

[909 Charger]

Originally Posted by Kemp17

I have a question for everyone. And it's an honest question; I'm not trying to make a statement.

Imagine for a moment that Manti Te'o got no attention from the media. Let's say that the only way you would know his name is if you happened to look into draft eligible linebackers for 2013 (like pretty much every other linebacker in this class). In this scenario his play is exactly the same, as are his numbers (52 solo tackles, 51 assists, 5.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 7 INTs).

So if you were researching the draft, you came across Te'o, watched him play, looked at his stats- but never heard anything about him from the media- would you yourself think you were looking at a top 10 player? I'm not sure that I would.

Legitimate question. As far as just his play goes, I think it's obvious that the guy's a difference maker. Just from the normal camera angles, you can see him diagnosing plays, taking the right angles, etc. The media certainly helps us see the leadership and passion. You get the sense that his team mates would follow him anywhere. It's that "it" factor that helps him to soar. So, without being able to see those intangibles, he's probably a mid 1st rounder. But he's special in the sense that he does have great physical ability (I'll bet we'll see surprisingly good combine numbers), high football IQ and legendary leadership. He's low top 10 for me.

[Kemp17]

That's fair. Some people are going to be a lot higher on him because of the "it" factor. For me personally, I've seen just as many cases where the so-called "it" factor turned out to be meaningless at the next level as I have cases where it carried over. Because of that, I have a hard time placing stock in it. Some of the things said in Manti's favor are reminiscent of the reasons given why we needed to draft Casey Matthews (obviously Te'o is head and shoulders better physically and athletically).

[WootMonkey]

Every time people talk about him I feel like I could easily replace his name with laurinaitis. Is that fair?

[Kemp17]

Te'o is better in coverage. Possibly worse in run defense (hard to say because of how strong the ND line it). I would say that Te'o is the better prospect, but not by as wide a margin as the hype would make one think.

[The Stig]

Originally Posted by DanDiegoDuck

We need OL. Our LB's aren't bad, defense is doing pretty well. Until we can protect the QB and run block as well, we're mediocre.

And Mingo was his...err..Bingo! was his name-o!

[Ace590]

In reference to what Kemp was saying about if Teo recieved no media attention where would he rank, I think it would be nowhere near where he is considered right now. I was watching the USC v ND game this past saturday and I can swear that any chance the announcers could get, they would throw Teo's name out there. Yet the guy who stood out in the game to me was Lucas Nix and he was rarely mentioned.

It's hard not to like him though. It is tough to get a read on him when having potential top 15 players in front of him in Tuitt and Nix.

I wouldn't select him if we pick in the 8-12 range. I just think that ILB is not where we need to focus our attention. It would be a luxury pick. We are in a good situation to get an impact player at various positions of need. If we selected him, I wouldn't be mad, but I would be disappointed if we passed up players like Werner,Millner, and Lewan for him.

[Kemp17]

Nice points Ace. To add, inside linebackers (especially in a 3-4) are the guards of the defense. Having good ones is nice, but they are of lesser importance on the totem poll.