Interesting combine for Manti Te'o. As a middle-linebacker, he would be the center of the defense, typically calling signals for the defense and flowing to the ball or spying/shadowing the quarterback.
Can he do that while his teammates are joking about picking his girlfriend in the fantasy draft? That's what he has to convince GMs about, whether he can be taken seriously as a team leader after his gullibility and lack of full honesty was exposed.
Other positions wouldn't have quite that problem, but MLB is one position where leadership is part of the package. You can have a loopy corner, but as long as he stays on his man like stickum on Fred Biletnikoff, he'll be a valued part of the team. If a QB or middle-backer is a flake, he won't last long; Vince Young would be Exhibit 1 on that front.
Should that be enough to take Te'o from a top-five pick to a late-first rounder? That mock draft sends him to Baltimore to be Ray Lewis 2.0, which would work rather well, but I get the feeling that he'll be a better player than a late-first rounder.
Getting to start for the Super Bowl champs would be an advantage, but he'll be leaving quite a bit of salary on the table thanks to that drop in position.
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