Manti Te’o Draft Watch: Searching for a fit
Nobody seems to know what to make of Manti Te’o. He had a historically great season as the leader of a Notre Dame defense that led the Irish back to national prominence and he finished as the runner-up for the Heisman trophy, becoming the closest thing to a purely defensive player the award in history.
That 2012 season wasn’t just a fluke either, as Te’o was a five star, consensus top-25 prospect coming out of high school who was named to a number of All-Freshman teams his first year on campus in South Bend. He followed that up by making the first or second team All-American squads in his next three seasons for the Irish.
He took home a boatload of awards, including every major Defensive Player of the Year accolade possible. He was regarded as a potential top-10 pick in this April’s NFL draft, and seemed like a lock to go in the top-20.
Then things went off the rails.
Te’o was one of the many Notre Dame players that looked completely overmatched against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the National Championship game, something that raised eyebrows among those paid to evaluate potential NFL talent. Then the emotional story of his dead girlfriend was debunked by way of her never having existed in the first place, in what may be the biggest sports story of the year (indeed, maybe even many years). The cherry on top of Te’o’s terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad offseason was his showing at the NFL Combine, where he committed the dual sins of being smaller and slower than expected.
Now nobody seems to know what to do with Manti.
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Once a near lock to go before the 20th pick in the draft, Te’o has slipped into the final 10 picks of the first round in many mock drafts, and he is completely out of Round 1 in others. He was once seen as a quietly successful college star, a “safe” pick for the middle of the first day. Now he’s a question mark, a media circus with a smaller physical presence than previously thought.
Teams have a whole new and unique set of questions to ask themselves on draft day. Instead of the usual queries about his speed and toughness and tackling ability, instead of figuring out how well he can transition into a team’s defensive scheme there are questions about character. There are questions about how he’ll handle the invasions into his personal life in a particular city; there are questions about whether his ongoing saga will be a distraction in the locker room.
Worst of all, there are new questions about his merits on the football field.
So where does Manti Te’o fit best? Which teams could best accommodate his talent and drama?
Below, an examination of a few possibilities.
A popular landing spot for Te’o has become Baltimore with the 32nd pick. There is a romantic notion of Te’o stepping into Ray Lewis’ now empty shoes in the middle of the Baltimore defense and continuing the elite-level play Ravens fans have come to expect from that position. Honestly, it’s not the worst spot for him. The team just won a Super Bowl and made Joe Flacco the highest paid player in NFL history, so there are other tantalizing storylines for the media to focus on in Charm City. Beyond that, the Ray Lewis 2.0 narrative mentioned above may overtake the Lennay saga as a go-to story for reporters. If he’s still there at 32, it may be very hard for Ozzie Newsome to pass on him.
An interesting spot for Te’o that has popped up in a few places is Denver. The Broncos hold the 28th pick in the draft, and it would be no surprise for Te’o to still be available at that slot. Denver is a medium-sized market, and the city is known as a more laid-back kind of town in a laid-back kind of state, which should take some scrutiny off of Te’o. The team also has a strong veteran leader in the locker room in Peyton Manning, as well as a young superstar outside linebacker in Von Miller. John Fox would have to at least think about bringing in Te’o to play Robin to Miller’s Batman.
Perhaps most intriguing, at least as a Packer fan, is the idea of Te’o winding up in Green Bay. The Packers have a very strong locker room with media veterans like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews there to help the youngster navigate the early waters. Plus, Green Bay is the smallest market in professional sports, a place where the bright lights don’t shine in the same way they do in New York or Chicago. Beyond that, he fits a need in Green Bay after Colin Kaepernick ran all over the Packer defense in the playoffs, largely due to lackluster play from the linebacker corps. Te’o in green and gold would marry a team with a need and a player looking for refuge nicely.
Still, those are all just ideas. The draft isn’t until next month, and who knows what will change in that time. Te’o’s stock could rise again, or it could plummet to new depths. Whatever happens however, the next chapter of his story will be one of the most intriguing parts of draft day.
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