have gone without regard to the widely publicized hoax. Nobody that I've seen has detailed a reason why this would diminish his value. I've seen people say that it will, but I have seen no actual logic as to why it would. I know very little about the present talent or lack thereof on NFL teams at any given position, but Teo's pick point will be determined by two things: 1) Team need; 2) Teo's ability (as evaluated based on viewing tape, combine performance, etc.) to meet that need as compared to another player at the same position. If Teo were a dope-head or had a tendency to rob liquor stores or beat up real girlfriends, it might be a consideration, but his character is, from all I can tell, up near the top of all candidates at all positions. I just don't see how what happened to Teo could possibly get an NFL team in trouble, even if it were repeated. NFL is all about winning; if they think Teo will help them win based on his on-field capability, they will pick him. His off-field life can do nothing but bring credit on the team that picks him.

The Vikings pick 23d in the first round of the draft. Their two biggest needs are, in order, a # 1 wide receiver and linebackers. Some of the writers who follow the team think that LB is a bigger need than WR, because two of the team's three starting LBs, OLB Erin Henderson and MLB Jasper Brinkley, will be UFAs on March 12. Neither one is above average and Brinkley, in particular, does not fit well into the Vikes' defensive scheme.

Those who identify WR as a higher need point to the legitimate fact that the team has invested a ton in QB Christian Ponder, who has started here for almost two full seasons, and yet we aren't sure how good he can be because the Vikes' arsenal (term being loosely defined!) of wide outs is pathetic, slot receiver Percy Harvin notwithstanding. However, this year's draft is extremely deep in wide receivers. There are 38 of them invited to the combine, and the Vikings can probably count on a very good one being available when their turn comes up in the second round.

Finally (and most importantly?), the Vikings brass and coaching staff like Domers. John Sullivan, Harrison Smith, Kyle Rudolph, John Carlson (unproductive last year) and Robert Blanton are all wearing purple.

Given Teo's mid-first round grade/prediction squaring up with the Vikings' spot at # 23, it's not hard to picture him patrolling the field next year alongside the Vikings' best LB, Chad Greenway.

Not because of the Catfish bullshit, but because he plays a position that's not highly valued, and because there are questions about a) his footspeed, and whether he can play all 3 downs; and b) his ability to disengage (particularly after the National Championship game).

Physically, he's probably behind Ogletree on most teams' boards. And there may be teams that prefer Minter to Te'o. But he'll interview well, and his tape (other than the Alabama game and the 1st half of the Pitt game) is really, really good.

so that's about right.

perhaps not at the combine.

I think that he is a 4-3 MLB or SLB. If he can test well in the footspeed area he'll move up to around 10-15 and if he doesn't he'll likely drop to 25-40, depending on team need.

ILB is just not a huge position to fill in the NFL; they're viewed as one or two down players and a dime a dozen. His value would come into play if he can be viewed as a 3 down type of player.

We played him a ton in pass coverage and his 7 interceptions seems to indicate an ability for pass coverage.

just because we played him there a lot doesn't mean NFL teams will.

He didn't have any interceptions before this year; I am as happy as the next guy that he got 7 this year but it might be seen as an outlier until he tests out well.

It's going to come down to his agility and speed.

In particular, on the series with the bizarre decision to go for it on fourth and goal, he absolutely blanketed Marquise Lee running a post.

and I think he will do well at the NFL level.

If he tests well in the speed/agility, teams will focus on the 12 games and not the one. If he tests poorly, teams will focus on the one and not the 12.

Either way, I think he is in pretty good shape; he'll interview well as he is a good kid and even if he ends up only being a 2 down guy he'll still have a lot of value.

It appears that this isnt much of a story to the NFL guys. What is a story is his play in the NC game.

one game vs a four year career? That ass would be in my office just long enough to get his pink slip.

against 'Bama. Look for him to be a first rond pick.

When asked what he would ask Te'o in the 15-minute interview allotted each team, Polian would ask (paraphrasing) "What happened in the Alabama game? What did Nick Saban do in terms of scheme to get you off of your keys? How did your coaches adjust? How did you adjust? etc." So, it is pretty apparent that the Bama game is, in fact, very important to NFL experts.

The NFL guys will pick at you to find out how you react. So they will take his two 'worst' moments and attack/grill him to see how he handles it.

weighs that much. First Polian is now on ESPN so immediately I consider the possible influence. Nevertheless, a question on his performance is fine: Why did you do this or that? If Te'o can explain why he had a bad game, then that's what a coach would be looking for imo. Can he learn from it? Would it happen again? Unfortunately for Te'o, that was the last game and he didn't have a chance to show his skills in a follow up game. However, I still cannot believe one game would tip the scales dramatically.

1) it is the best team he faced in his career, by far

2) they seemingly exposed some of the weaknesses in his game; they had a long time to prepare their method of attack and when he is in the NFL that is the type of preparation he will be going up against.

3) he played like shit


Personally, I think there are other areas of his game that need continued work (he might be a step slow in the passing game, for example). I would likely think that right now he is at most a 2 down linebacker and those types of guys are late first round picks at best. If he could play all three downs, that would be different.

In short, if he tests well with footspeed and he interviews well about the Bama game, he can likely shoot up to a mid to high first round pick. If he doesn't test well, he will likely drop to late first to mid second. I believe he will interview well about the Bama game and the twitter nonsense and it will end up being a non-issue.

I think that is what they are looking at. How did he perform against an NFL line and running backs?

will face most Sunday's.

As far as any player's personal life goes, who knows what goes on behind closed doors? Tiger was a ho monger sex fiend but also the #1 golfer in the world while he was "active". Injuries hampered his performance not the hos. They might have even inspired him like Lennai's imaginary courage inspired Manti.

If you were hiring between 2 22 year old kids out of college and one of them was a normal, likes to party, has drunk pics on Facebook type while the other was a reserved, introspective, scammed by a man into a long distance relationship type...would you hire the first guy or the second?

It means something, it's not a good thing for his stock, we can't pretend when he goes 20 that was always supposed to be his slot. But he'll recover from it or he won't. He lost some money when all this happened and I feel bad for the kid but we need to stop pretending this isn't a red flag.

Than catfishing or anything else, IMO

I think the NC game hurt him much more than anything else. While I don't agree, there were questions as to ND's schedule and strength of opponents prior to that, and that game gave a lot of weight to those doubts.

If we were to theorize that Teo dropped from top 5 to about 20, I would say most of that drop has to do with the NC game, and he maybe lost a few spots due to the other issue. I'm not sure what the difference in money is between being picked 15 and 20, but that would be the drop I would attribute to the other issue, not a drop from 5 to 20.

Let me put it this way, if ND had destroyed AL and Teo had a great game, I think he would be a top 5 pick regardless of the other issue.

So the idea that the Alabama game 'exposed' him is bogus.

About the only folks that thought he was a top 5 pick was the folks that run their mock drafts. As noted by more than one scout, he has never been seen by the pros as a high impact guy as opposed to a solid player who can be a solid player in the middle for a long time but not a guy who makes dynamic plays that warrant a top 10-15 pick.

That might be good for Te'o in that he gets picked a good team that won't have huge expectations to be an instant impact player.

I hope I'm right. My gut tells me he'll be an excellent field general and a vital cog for a long NFL career.....

He can be a glue guy.

its worth that hoax inspired me to play some pretty solid ball. It's sad that it affected my grandmother's death though. That's my biggest regret."

Just a thought...I'll take the pelting if need be...

I'd hire the second one. drunk pics on facebook vs reserved and introspective? you'd hire the first?

"Character" is always a factor most teams take into consideration when drafting a player. Only the brain dead sports media considers this a character issue.

And if he drops, which will be because of his physical skills, they will cite it as the reason based on their own ignorant mock draft premise that he ever was a top 10 pick to begin with.

A red flag? For what exactly? That he might be another after school special waiting to happen? What difference does it make to his football ability that he's reserved, introspective and perhaps a little gullible in matters of love??

They regularly pay murderers and criminals in the NFL if they avoid convictions and make tackles on the field. Kansas City had a player whose girlfriend was quite real and now no longer exists. You'd think they'd welcome more guys like Te'o. Fake girlfriends who disappear don't screw up your roster with homicide charges.

This fake bromance fiasco should mean nothing to the NFL.

what is the underlying reason you would downgrade the reserved, introspective, scammed player?

Dishonesty?
Is he at risk of it happening again?

What, specifically, would give you pause as an employer?


I can't identify an underlying red flag and I don't think NFL teams, when they really think about this, can either.

He lost endorsement money for sure, but I don't think that it will affect his overall draft status after he speaks and interviews with teams.

It has nothing to do with pretending. It has everything to do with the fact that being catfished doesn't signal anything more than the obvious... this generation lives online and some grew up less savvy than others. Now he's more than savvy.

I still think he's going to land a big endorsement deal with Match.com.

Falling for the hoax and committing himself so completely shows that he's not as strong in that department as expected.

Why are we forming ranks and crying about this injustice. If a kid gets in a bar fight he still gets drafted but his value drops, any negative drops your value. We are unable to accept that this is a negative and we write off any real damage as something else, why? We're so eager for this embarrasment to be a non-issue that we won't even admit something wrong happened.

negative nor do I think any NFL team will. I've looked at it, turned it over and while it sounds weird as hell, I don't think it's a mark on his intelligence, nor a comment on social awareness.

He's shown to be intelligent, so that's not an issue.

If Te'o didn't know about catfishing he wasn't the only one, so I don't buy the social awareness issue. Online is rewriting the rules.

I don't think many of us are that socially aware. NFL players fell for it, apparently lots of people fall for it.

If it happened to someone else and was this public and then Teo fell for it, I'd be more worried.

Manziel got arrested, but I'm sure he'll be just fine in the draft.

Te'o's off field issue isn't performance impacting at this point, as long as he gets his head right. It's not like he's an alkie or on steroids, and his physical health is affected. The combine is all he needs ot prove his value, and teams will make more of that than the scandal.

three things. It could be positive, negative or neutral for Manti. I'm sure some people can find something positive about it. He's a great, caring, loving, God fearing, yet naive individual... I'm leaning towards neutral to minimal negative impact on his pick status. However, he is no where near the poster child/media darling he once was.... That's the sadness of this hoax. It unnecessarily and cruelly harmed one of ND's all time great players. How that is measured is yet to play out....

In the end, he'll make any team he goes to better.

ter issue. The hype will blow over, people will get educated, Teo will be Teo.

Fans will love him. Eventually people will defend him.

People get caught up in the short term and forget that there's a process to synthesizing new information.

I'm quite sure I'm more internet savvy than most over 30-4- adults and I had no idea what catfishing was and immediately, like an idiot, made a judgement.

was criminal for its intentional infliction of emotional distress. Manti could have sued rt and that would have prolonged the story. Instead he chose the high road of forgiveness. He's a world class young man and any team will do well to draft him.

objects in mirror may be worse than they appear.