Manti T'eo

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big deli Vike
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Re: Manti T'eo

Post by big deli Vike »

losperros wrote: Not to beat a dead horse but we all have to keep in mind that Bama had a fantastic offense that was loaded with talent and was well coached.
like every nfl team though right? i mean Te'o could be playing against Womack, fluker, and lacy this year. but will also be facing Russel wilson, RG3, dump passes from Rodgers, eli manning and cam newton. thats pretty talented too. If we take him i hope we does great, but its a little scary
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Re: Manti T'eo

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big deli Vike wrote: like every nfl team though right? i mean Te'o could be playing against Womack, fluker, and lacy this year. but will also be facing Russel wilson, RG3, dump passes from Rodgers, eli manning and cam newton. thats pretty talented too. If we take him i hope we does great, but its a little scary

So you are not ok with a prospect playing poorly in any one game in college?

Or would you rather have him struggle against lesser talent rather than the best in college. Chance Warmack has made the best college LBs look pedestrian and he's very likely to continue that trend once he reaches the NFL. It would not surprise me if Warmack is the best guard in the NFL within a year or two of playing.
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big deli Vike
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Re: Manti T'eo

Post by big deli Vike »

I want a player who can play on the biggest stage and succeed.Somebody like Hopkins took over the game against LSU.
Te'o looked pedestrian against Bama. It was almost laughable.
I would rather judge him off that game then Navy, BC, Miami, and Wake forest. ND played sup bar competition minus maybe Oklahoma and USC. He did well in those games, but when it mattered most, he was invisible. If that creates a chip on his shoulder and we pick him, great. He's going to play against them week in and week out. need to be dominant to be a 1st rounder i think. and yes warmack is a monster, but so are alot of NFL players.
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Re: Manti T'eo

Post by PacificNorseWest »

While I'll agree that Manti didn't look to 1st roundish in that Nat'l Championship game, I think people have to remember that as an MLB, you rely on your defensive line to help you out, and they got dominated as well.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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big deli Vike wrote:I want a player who can play on the biggest stage and succeed.Somebody like Hopkins took over the game against LSU.
Te'o looked pedestrian against Bama. It was almost laughable.
I would rather judge him off that game then Navy, BC, Miami, and Wake forest.
It makes no sense to judge him (or any player) off one game, no matter the stage. Great players have bad games and sometimes mediocre players can step up and have a great game. It's the body of work that matters and when trying to determine if a college player can succeed in the NFL, it's the body of work a team has to consider. We should do likewise.
Last edited by Mothman on Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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big deli Vike wrote:I want a player who can play on the biggest stage and succeed.Somebody like Hopkins took over the game against LSU.
Te'o looked pedestrian against Bama. It was almost laughable.
I would rather judge him off that game then Navy, BC, Miami, and Wake forest. ND played sup bar competition minus maybe Oklahoma and USC. He did well in those games, but when it mattered most, he was invisible. If that creates a chip on his shoulder and we pick him, great. He's going to play against them week in and week out. need to be dominant to be a 1st rounder i think. and yes warmack is a monster, but so are alot of NFL players.
I guess that's your prerogative, if you think picking out the one game in his Notre Dame career he played worst and saying "this is who he will be" then so be it. I do not write off the Oklahoma or USC games, nor do I write off the play against lesser competition. Nor do I write off the Alabama game. It is all important and must all be taken into consideration.

I do however try to see the bigger picture. I think those who get so upset of Te'o in the Alabama game are far too caught up in Te'os media attention. I fail to understand why that defensive failure is placed largely on Te'o's shoulders when Warmack and the Alabama offesive line were getting to the second level far too quickly and easily. I think if you were to ask a pro talent evaluator to tell the story of that game, it would not be that Te'o was washed away far too easily and missed tackles. The story of Alabama's domination would be the ease at which they dominated the line of scrimmage.

This is not to make excuses for Te'o, I'm simply trying to point out a fact that so few detractors want to focus on. They limit their view to "Te'o played bad against the best competition in the biggest game", he's a "choker" or he can't handle "NFL talent". When in reality, Te'o's bad game does not rest solely on his shoulders, his line did not help him out in anyway, and as the game wore on you saw Te'o actually trying to do too much in order to offset the way his team was being abused. Again, not to say he's excused of his poor play, because he was not up to snuff that day either. But his job was made harder by the play in front of him.

And in the end, we are simply talking about one game. A big game no doubt, but it is only one game amongst many. If you look throughout Te'o's career you will see he did not struggle when faced with pressure or adversity, bar this one game. Adrian Peterson had one of his worst games of his life in the biggest game of his career, are we to get him off the team because he can't "raise his game" in the big ones? Or do we simply strike that in the record books as a bad game for Peterson?



As for have to be dominant to be a 1st rounder, I think that's far from the case. In fact just a year ago, the Vikings were criticized for taking a player who was considered "just a guy", a solid football player but does not possess special qualities. Those "just guys" often end up being the best pros, because they show up, they do their job, they lead by example and they make the plays that are presented of them. That's the type of player Harrison Smith was and I truly believe that is the type of football player Manti Te'o is.
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Re: Manti T'eo

Post by Texas Vike »

saint33 wrote:I think if you were to ask a pro talent evaluator to tell the story of that game, it would not be that Te'o was washed away far too easily and missed tackles. The story of Alabama's domination would be the ease at which they dominated the line of scrimmage.

This is not to make excuses for Te'o, I'm simply trying to point out a fact that so few detractors want to focus on. They limit their view to "Te'o played bad against the best competition in the biggest game", he's a "choker" or he can't handle "NFL talent". When in reality, Te'o's bad game does not rest solely on his shoulders, his line did not help him out in anyway, and as the game wore on you saw Te'o actually trying to do too much in order to offset the way his team was being abused. Again, not to say he's excused of his poor play, because he was not up to snuff that day either. But his job was made harder by the play in front of him.

Great post. I fully agree with this. What the National Championship showed was how dominant Bama was throughout their lineup. ND couldn't match up and it would be foolish to assign the entire blame on one player.
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Re: Manti T'eo

Post by big deli Vike »

Your right, i cant blame that game on Teo and i didnt. all i had originally said is that he will be facing the "best talent" week in and week out. Given bama couldve beaten the Jags last year but still.
And AP already proved himself at the level. and yes he choked.
But did you see lacy "shake" teo. that was bad. happened a couple times, one on one. cant blame that on nix and the guys
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Re: Manti T'eo

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big deli Vike wrote:Your right, i cant blame that game on Teo and i didnt. all i had originally said is that he will be facing the "best talent" week in and week out. Given bama couldve beaten the Jags last year but still.
And AP already proved himself at the level. and yes he choked.
But did you see lacy "shake" teo. that was bad. happened a couple times, one on one. cant blame that on nix and the guys

I don't think anyone's denying he had a bad game. Getting shook by Lacy was certainly not pretty, but I don't think it's something you'll see often when you watch his game tape. He had bad technique in lunging after Lacy a lot rather than tackling "through" him. This is not a common problem in his game, he's usually a very sure tackler.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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Manti Te'o - LB - Player

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported on SportsCenter Wednesday that Notre Dame ILB Manti Te'o is widely viewed as a first-round pick inside the NFL.

Mort also mentioned that Te'o "aced" his team interviews at the Combine. "At least half the teams in this league have solid first-round grades on Te'o," stated Mortensen. "I have heard 'undersized' a bit. (But) most teams do see that he's going to go somewhere in the first round." ESPN's Mel Kiper listed the Bears, Vikings, and Giants as Te'o's likeliest three landing spots on day one.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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mrc44 wrote:His tape against Purdue is great. He does everything you could ask of a MLB. I know it is just Purdue, but the fact hat he still knew where he needed to be and when to press for the running play, is pure instinct... and you can NOT teach instinct.
He's simply a good football player and all the micro-analysis of his faults seems to have severely dimmed that point in some eyes. I fully expect him to be drafted in the first round and I won't be surprised if he's a Viking. I also won't be surprised if he's the first MLB chosen.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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Mothman wrote: He's simply a good football player and all the micro-analysis of his faults seems to have severely dimmed that point in some eyes. I fully expect him to be drafted in the first round and I won't be surprised if he's a Viking. I also won't be surprised if he's the first MLB chosen.
As someone that doesn't want him in purple, but agrees that he's a good football player...I just don't think he'll be able to have success in this defense. Just like Flacco or even Dan Marino in the run option, or a guy who accels in man coverage outside in our defense.

If we take him I won't be upset because I don't think he'll be a good solid player for us, I'll be upset every time an easy third down given up because he couldn't get his butt to where it needed to be. Or when they take him out and Erin/Greenway has to step in on passing downs! The defensive system isn't going to change. The personnel have to match it. And there's not much you can do in this defense to adjust it to make up for Te'o's short comings in that department.

Heck if Ogletree wasn't a complete nut ball he's a guy with so much upside I'd love to see him on the Vikings! Te'o isn't going to suddenly play more fluid. But you can coach a guy like Ogletree.

Skol Vikings! (And maybe just give Cole a chance or sign Urlacher. Zero reason to force ANY pick if they don't feel they're a fit!!!)
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Re: Manti T'eo

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You know. People wondered if Harrison Smith would fit in our defense and he turned out pretty good...They ran the same defense this year which is the same coverage. Coverage wise i dont see how Te'o doesn't fit, and he's going to be a good run stuffer no matter what scheme he goes into.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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CaptainKirov wrote:You know. People wondered if Harrison Smith would fit in our defense and he turned out pretty good...They ran the same defense this year which is the same coverage. Coverage wise i dont see how Te'o doesn't fit, and he's going to be a good run stuffer no matter what scheme he goes into.
Who wondered if he'd fit in our defense? Every scouting report out there made him sound like a great fit! Harrison had all the skills to excel in this defense, Te'o doesn't. And it's clear watching him play he's not going to be able to perform in coverages that he's going to be asked to in this defense. Sure he can do other things. But that likely means another MLB we'll be seeing as only a two down guy.
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Re: Manti T'eo

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Demi wrote: Who wondered if he'd fit in our defense? Every scouting report out there made him sound like a great fit! Harrison had all the skills to excel in this defense, Te'o doesn't. And it's clear watching him play he's not going to be able to perform in coverages that he's going to be asked to in this defense. Sure he can do other things. But that likely means another MLB we'll be seeing as only a two down guy.
I cant speak for the people on this board. But on MVN where i spend most of my time and Bleacherreport many people questioned Harrison Smith to the vikings during mock draft season. I was one of the few that loved him and was overjoyed when they drafted him.
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