Te'o and Kuechley... Kuechley just won DROY

[X-Era]

Many, including me, liked the thought of landing Luke Keuchley at 10 last year. He wasn't super athletic or flashy but was solid and productive. Some felt it was a reach and he would never be great.

He just won Defensive Rookie of the Year.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/02/luke-kuechly-earns-defensive-rookie-of-the-year-honors/


<tbody>
SEASON

GP

COMB
TOTAL
AST
SACK
FF
FR
YDS
INT
YDS
AVG
LNG
TD
PD
STF
STFYDS
KB


2012
16
164
103
61
1.0
0
3
9
2
22
11
25
0
8
11
30
0

</tbody>

Will he ever be as good as Patrick Willis? Probably not. But would he have been a difference maker in the middle of our defense? Yes, I think he would have.

To me Manti Te'o has very similar skills. He's not overly flashy but he's solid overall. He had a bad game in the national championship but his game overall is solid.

At this point, the story appears to be that the guy was just dumb and satisfied to be in a relationship with a "woman" he had never met. Football players don't all have to be intelligent. Especially at LB'er. I think the bizarreness of the story will affect him on draft day more than any real character issue. It looks to me like at the worst he lied to his father and misled the media after he found out that the woman was not real and also not dead. The honesty part raises a concern but i do feel like it was all so embarrassing that I can see someone lying to keep the truth from coming out. Just for fear of the weirdness being uncovered and making him look foolish. He's gone public now, he's owning his part of it. If the current story is true I really don't hold it against him that much.

On the field, I think he can be very productive and the sort of strong leader and competitor that we really need. I see Kuechley's demeanor and skills in him. They seem similar to me. Limited upside but likely to be very solid and productive. I'm good with that.

I would not take Te'o at 8. But, I would be fine taking him in the 2nd if he falls that far and I think it's possible. But I also think it's very possible that he still is drafted in the 1st round. Football wise he's still one of the top 3 ILB's in this draft IMO.

Thoughts?

[bills4ver]

I also wanted Keuchley last year but he was a better prospect than Manti, Keuchley was one of best coming out in many years that CAN cover. Manti is not even close to Keuchely in this area, he will go mid to late 1st imo.

[HAMMER]

Teo will take the fake every time, no thanks.

[CleveSteve]

How much better did Carolina's D get with the DROY at LB?

[Jaybird]

Teo can not shed the block... he is not an elite LB

[TigerJ]

Keuchley's measurables at the combine last year were mostly in or near the elite category, so I'm not sure where the observation comes from that he's not particularly athletic. Maybe he won't be as good as Patrick Willis, but I don't think he's going to be that far off. We'll see where where Teo's measurables end up at the combine, but I'm not expecting him to have the quickness and 40 time that Keuchley or Willis had. Ogletree might be more athletic, and of course he played in the always tougher SEC. He had some off field issues though.

[Bert102176]

I like Te'o and would like him at 8

[mixxum]

Ogletree is Awesome.

[EDS]

Ogletree is Awesome.

Agreed. What are his off-the-field issues?

[Thief]

Teo is a Mormon, Hawaiian, who plays football. No wondering he wanted to coverup his gay love affair. Anyone who buys his latest version.... I got property in Atlantis for sale.

[Ingtar33]

I also wanted Keuchley last year but he was a better prospect than Manti, Keuchley was one of best coming out in many years that CAN cover. Manti is not even close to Keuchely in this area, he will go mid to late 1st imo.

Te'o is the first LBer to have 7 ints in a season since 2001

freshman all-American
semi-finalist for the Butkis award in his sophomore season as the best college lb'er in the country (top 16).
finalist for the Butkis award in his junior season as the best college lber in the country (top 4).
of course he won the Butkis award in his senior season.

We are talking about a LBer who has lead the irish in tackles for 3 straight years... and been no.2 in sacks every season except this one. This season wasn't just a fluke either, that man can cover well... and has collected a lot of ints... and oddly is the most decorated defender in college football history.

This isn't a one year wonder, one year flash in the pan. this guy has brought it year after year, and gotten better in every way imaginable along the way. That's why the national championship was so strange to see. This man has been nothing short of amazing for 4 years... only to play his worst game in college football on the biggest stage.

Just hard to believe. And disturbing. I can only hope the distraction of this girlfriend nonsense is to blame... and that this isn't an indication of what we can expect from him in a big game going forward.

[JoeMama]

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q263/JoeMama025/bringmethe.jpg Alec Ogletree

[THRILLHO]

Teo will take the fake every time, no thanks.
Classic.

[Pinkerton Security]

Te'o is the first LBer to have 7 ints in a season since 2001

freshman all-American
semi-finalist for the Butkis award in his sophomore season as the best college lb'er in the country (top 16).
finalist for the Butkis award in his junior season as the best college lber in the country (top 4).
of course he won the Butkis award in his senior season.

We are talking about a LBer who has lead the irish in tackles for 3 straight years... and been no.2 in sacks every season except this one. This season wasn't just a fluke either, that man can cover well... and has collected a lot of ints... and oddly is the most decorated defender in college football history.

This isn't a one year wonder, one year flash in the pan. this guy has brought it year after year, and gotten better in every way imaginable along the way. That's why the national championship was so strange to see. This man has been nothing short of amazing for 4 years... only to play his worst game in college football on the biggest stage.

Just hard to believe. And disturbing. I can only hope the distraction of this girlfriend nonsense is to blame... and that this isn't an indication of what we can expect from him in a big game going forward.

beat me to it.

[Goobylal]

How was Kuechly at covering TE's? Not that it mattered since he was taken before the Bills picked.

[gr8slayer]

Kuechley > Te'o.

- - - Updated - - -


How was Kuechly at covering TE's? Not that it mattered since he was taken before the Bills picked.
Did a fine job in coverage. The guy is like the healthier version of Sean Lee, just does everything really well.

[kingJofNYC]

Teo isn't in the same league, just watch BC/ND and tell me with a straight face that they're similar players.

Teo is bottom first round guy, and you want him in the top 10. Unreal.

Edit: How many of Teo's interception came off deflections? The best cover LB ND has is Spond, enough with this myth that he is able to run with TE's, he can't. 7 ints is him having luck, just like having one int in 3 years is bad luck.

[X-Era]

Teo isn't in the same league, just watch BC/ND and tell me with a straight face that they're similar players.

Teo is bottom first round guy, and you want him in the top 10. Unreal.I don't want him in the top 10.

[kingJofNYC]

I don't want him in the top 10.

Alright, good. Now what do we do top ten? QB or WR? Patterson who may be the best WR and a poor man's Julio Jones, some might say a better Dwayne Bowe. Or do we go QB?

As bad as our LBs are, I'm not worried about LB. We need a QB/WR with the first two picks. I'm sick of running Donald Jones out there as a legit starting WR. Also don't want to invest $ in a WR when we have Byrd and Levitre up. Need a cheap controllable receiver because they cost a lot of money in FA.

[X-Era]

Alright, good. Now what do we do top ten? QB or WR? Patterson who may be the best WR and a poor man's Julio Jones, or a QB?

As bad as our LBs are, I'm not worried about LB. We need QB/WR with the first two picks. I'm sick of running Donald Jones out there as a legit starting WR.Patterson is my top pick at 8 at this point. Totally agree with the Julio Jones comparison. He's not quite as physical as Jones but he looks similar in many other ways to me.

I'd probably next look at Alec Ogletree

After that I'd go with Geno Smith if he's there

Then at Dee Milliner

Then I'd look at a DL like Ansah or Jordan.

[kingJofNYC]

A guy to keep an eye on is Kiko Alonso. He's a guy that we can pick up in the third, maybe, because off the field he's a bit of a mess, but he has talent. But they'll never draft him, just doesn't fit the guys they want around the team. He's a bit dirty on the field as well, plenty of Romanowski in him, just doesn't have his size.

I hate the fact that with two 4th round picks we stood pat in the 3rd round when Lavonte David was on the board and dropping, package the third with the forth like we did with Levitre.

Edit: I was with you on Kuechly last year, but I also loved David. Just didn't work out, that's what happens when you have too many holes. Still, D is a mess and I'm not sure they go WR that early, they've passed up insane talent at the position before just to shore up D, wouldn't surprise me if they ignore the position again until the later rounds.