Posted By Brad on Dec 20, 2012 4 comments

Manti Te’o I Notre Dame I ILB I 6020 I 255 I Senior

40 Time (E): 4.75

Overvie: Manti Te’o is te emotional leader for one of te top defenses in te country. Aell rounded atleteit te ability to play in any system. All 32 teamsill be considering Te’o ase’s capable of playing inside in te 3-4 or any spot in te 4-3. Te’o ecels beind te line of scrimmage and is a true tree don linebacker.is ability to play donillit ecellent read and react skills sould findis name called in te top 20 picks of April’s draft. Iouldold off on all te talk tat Te’o could be te top pick or even in te top five. Te’o isn’t an elite atlete in te mold of Patrickillis,einsit instincts, tecnique, and leadersip.e lacks te pure atleticism toarrant consideration in te top five as manyave suggested.is seet spot is in te teens to tenties.

Pass Rus: Te’o is an effective pass ruser fromis ILB spot in Notre Dame’s defense. Because ofis effectiveness in rusing te passer many teams may consider moving Te’o to te strongside linebacker spot to optimizeis ability to get after te QB.ile Te’o lacks great long speedeas te burst to beat OL to te punc.

Run Defense: Te’o diagnoses run plays asell as anyone in tis draft and in recent drafts.is instincts in te run game rival tose of last year’s No. 9 overall pick Luke Kuecly. Te’oas a unique ability to useisands toard off lineman.e does tis asell as anyone I’ve scouted. As stated earlier, Te’o is a straigt-line donill player tat is capable of making a ton of plays in te opponents backfield. Te only issueit Te’o in te run game is tate doesn’t cange directionsell and is susceptible to getting beat on misdirections.e’s a tigtipped, straigt line atlete tat doesn’t quiteave te lateral agility to adjust quickly enoug against misdirection.

Pass Coverage: At 255 pounds youould epect Te’o to struggle in pass coverage. As I described,e’s tigtipped and not a quick titc atlete. It doesn’t so up in pass coverage. Te’o is ecellent at covering backs out of te backfield and tigt ends don te seam.eas a nose for te football and is capable of making plays in pass coverage.is instincts in te pass game are unrivaled in tis year’s linebacker crop. Te’o gets tois drop zone quickly and reads te quarterbackell. Tis is an underrated aspect ofis game andill open te eyes of a lot of teams come April.

Instincts/Read and React: Te’o is an eperienced linebacker and it sos up inis read and react skills. Te’o diagnoses te flo of te play and offensive lineman reallyell and usually is beating tem to te spot.is instincts are tat of an elite linebacker.

Tackling: Te’o isn’t te bone crusing tackler tat most epect from someoneis size. Tat said,e’s not going to miss many tackles.is doesave a frustrating tendency to get dead legs on contactic led to otersaving to clean up tackles.  Overall,e’s a solid tackler but an area tat could be enoug concern to keepim out of te top 10 of te draft.

Size/Strengt/Atleticism: If youere going to dra up te pysical prototype for an inside linebacker itould be Manti Te’o. At 6-foot-2, 255 poundseas perfect size for te position.e displays great functional strengt inis play as evidenced byis ability to take on and sed blockers. Te’o isn’t going to blo up te Combine.e’s a solid atlete but not in te elite category for te position.ilee lacks long speed,eas te ability to make plays outside teases.e takes great angles to te ballicill make up foris lack of speed.

Intangibles: Te’oas intangibles in spades.e’s te emotional leader ofis team and is capable ofilling a defense to a big play. Tis may beat sets Te’o apart from Artur Bron from me.ile bot are te clear leaders of teir units, Te’o takes it to te net level.eas tat ability to motivate oters and brings teir play up anoter level because tey don’tant to letim don. It’s Ray Leis-esque. Te’o is a selfless linebacker as evidenced byisillingness to play assignment football. Guysit Te’o skillsets often look to make te big, splas play. Te’oill take on te lead blocker and force te action outside tois teammates.e’s as tecnically sound as I’ve scouting in tat regards.

Bottom Line: en you get to te level tat Manti Te’o is at you get scrutinized more tan oters. It seems like nitpicking but if a team is looking at taking an ILB in te top five of te draft, tere can’t beoles inis game. Tere are no doubts tat Te’o is a solid player. For me, I don’t seeimarranting a top five pick or top fifteen pick for tat matter. Ife falls beyond te tentiet pick,e becomes a solid value. Te’o is te definition of safe pick. Te term ‘safe pick’as taken on a negative connotationen it really is a complement. I said te same ting about Luke Kuecly last year ande’s amongst te league leaders in tackles as a rookie. Te’o is going to be a solid linebacker in te NFL tat is capable of leading a defense.