As we count down to the NFL season, Sports Jerks is bringing you 32 questions in 32 days. Each day, we’ll feature one of the most important questions for a different NFL team heading into the opening weekend of the league.
Today’s feature team and question?
The San Diego Chargers – Will Manti Te’o be ready for the NFL?
Up until January, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o appeared to be living the life. A standout for the Irish, Te’o was a Heisman candidate and widely regarded as one of the best defensive players in the nation. By all indications, he was a future first-round NFL Draft pick and on the fast track to millions of dollars and NFL stardom.
At the end of the month his career had reached rock bottom.
On the field there was a poor performance against Alabama where Te’o didn’t make plays as the Irish were steamrolled by the Crimson Tide in the national championship game. Even though that game certainly hurt the linebacker’s stock in the upcoming NFL Draft, the bizarre off-field revelation about Lennay Kekua, a fictional girlfriend, was what really rocked him. We may never know about his exact involvement in the situation, but the scandal certainly played a part in how he was viewed by NFL teams.
That became evident as Te’o slipped from the first round where most had projected him in the NFL Draft down to the second. The San Diego Chargers could have a tremendous talent on their hands, but will the linebacker be truly ready?
Here’s what we know – Te’o is a beast on the field. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and one of the top linebackers in the nation. The star lived up to that billing in college as he was one of the top defensive players in the country by the time he left. Te’o racked up nearly 400 tackles over his final three seasons with the Irish and in his senior season, had a whopping seven interceptions and recovered a pair of fumbles.
Te’o was also extremely durable over his college career. The linebacker never missed a game at Notre Dame, playing in all 51 contests over his four seasons. Ironically, he just was diagnosed with a foot injury and will miss the Chargers’ second preseason game, but Te’o has a history of being healthy and finding ways to get onto the field.
Lastly, Te’o is also performing well in camp and is a candidate to start the season at one of the linebacker spots. On the field, he’s had a heck of a career and looks well equipped to become a star in the NFL.
The big question about Te’o, of course, is his off-field character following the girlfriend hoax. While those questions will never truly stop unless the truth finally emerges, Te’o is likely past the worst of it. Over time, talk will die down and his reputation will come down to what he ultimately does as a player. Te’o will continue to be a punchline this year and likely for years to come, but as long as he produces on the field, he can quiet a lot of critics.
One thing that will surely help is that Te’o isn’t directly in the limelight. Players of every NFL team are all under a microscope of sorts, but the media scrutiny in San Diego isn’t going to be nearly as intense as if he had landed in New York or another major market.
Another positive is that Te’o will be playing in what should be a good group of linebackers. The club signed havoc wreaker Dwight Freeney this offseason and those two are expected to play alongside Donald Butler, who had 77 tackles last season, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. That group will be a solid one and having Freeney and Butler there should help Te’o along.
It’s impossible to predict what kind of player he ultimately becomes, but Te’o will do just fine in San Diego this season.
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