Manti Te'o

[Ace590]

That's a very good way of looking at it. Who would have a bigger impact though. If we were picking 12-18 and Teo and Warmack were on the board who should we take?

In my opinion Warmack would have a bigger impact, and would be upgrading a position of need. Teo would have that leadership quality though, but as SDfootball alluded to in another thread, Butler was a strong leader himself from his time at UW.

This is going to be a highly debated topic all the way until the draft xD

[JammerHammer23]

Warmack. Leadership is overrated in a player, and shouldn't make them taken high. Yeah, you want a guy to lead. You'd rather a good player.

[Ace590]

Your answer doesn't shock me Jammer. I've read about your love for Teo. I share the same opinion about him though. I think he will be a good player. That being said there are an abundance or players I would select over him.

[Kemp17]

Warmack for pretty much the same reasons. He fits a bigger need, is a better schematic match, and in my opinion has been more dominant at guard than Te'o has been at linebacker.

[JMelHo]

Originally Posted by Kemp17

Te'o is going to be a pretty polarizing figure in the coming months leading up to the draft. He gets a lot of hype for several reasons:

1. He's a terrific leader and it shows by the way he carries himself on the field.

2. He's plays for the #1 college team in the country.

3. His name has been around a while (many thought he would enter the draft last year).

4. His play. He's a really good, instictive middle linebacker than can cover, which is rare.

There are, however, a few things against him:

1. He's not a pass rusher. Put simply, in today's NFL the guys going after the opposing QB are the most valuable.

2. He's not as dominant against the run as one would think for a linebacker who receives this much hype. Only half of his tackles are solo and a lot of them come after a running back has already had a decent gain. He also doesn't shoot the gap very often to drop backs for a loss (only 5.5 times this season... one would expect it to be 20 the way he's talked about). That last part throws a wrench in the Seau comparisons.

3. He is not asked to take on blocks and shed, which makes his value to a 3-4 team hard to evaluate. He has one of the best defensive lines in the nation in front ohf him, and they keep him pretty clean. Note- I am not saying he can't stack and shed, I am saying it's hard to know without seeing him do it.

I think that he has a lot of value to a 4-3 team as a tampa 2 style middle linebacker. He could very well flourish here in a 3-4, for all I know, but I would still put him behind a lot of other players in my first round cluster and would almost definitely end up passing on him in the first round if it were my call. He's a good player, but I do honestly believe that the publicity and hype he receives from the media is going to cause people to take it for granted that he's better than what he is. Which is going to lead to a lot of this:

"WHAT?! Are you CRAZY??? He's the BEST linebacker in the country!!!"

You're right about him in the run game. He doesn't stack and shed. He is more of an opportunist for his TFLs. But he is a play maker.

[Time4aRing]

Originally Posted by SDfootball61

Butler was known for being an amazing leader since his Washington days. No doubt he could be the leader of this front 7

Too many don't know about that. Same could be said of Stuckey.

[AK46um]

Manti was a special guest announcer for the Notre Dame vs Kentucky? college basketball game last night. He comes across like someone who'd eat fish tacos and surf with the San Diego fanbase. That plus he's a very passionate guy rooting for the Notre Dame basketball team to win. He seems to blur the lines between team and family. Its all one in the same for him. For what its worth the likelyhood of him getting into off the field trouble seems very unlikely but I think most already know that.

[The Stig]

Originally Posted by AK46um

Manti was a special guest announcer for the Notre Dame vs Kentucky? college basketball game last night. He comes across like someone who'd eat fish tacos and surf with the San Diego fanbase. That plus he's a very passionate guy rooting for the Notre Dame basketball team to win. He seems to blur the lines between team and family. Its all one in the same for him. For what its worth the likelyhood of him getting into off the field trouble seems very unlikely but I think most already know that.

Seems like it, but, he also seems like a luxury pick at this point. Unless we somehow pull a Harbaugh with a D pick when the Niners clearly needed O and somehow it all works out.

[JammerHammer23]

Te'o isn't an Aldon upside guy.

[Time4aRing]

Te'o is a frustrating prospect to talk about. Some act like he is the next Seau, others the next Rey Maualuga. I like him better than Keuchly. Top 15? Yes. Top 5? No.