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Thread: Robinson: Manti Te’o, Steelers could be perfect couple

  1. #1
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    Robinson: Manti Te’o, Steelers could be perfect couple

    Robinson: Te’o, Steelers could be perfect couple

    By Alan Robinson
    Published: Sunday, February 17, 2013

    He is an acknowledged leader, an instinctive player who isn't a project but a producer. He was primarily responsible for the long-awaited turnaround of college football's classic program, a feat perhaps even more befitting of a Hollywood movie than “Rudy.”

    He would seem to be the prototypical Steelers player. He fits one of their biggest needs. And he could be available at No. 17 when the Steelers make their first-round draft pick on April 25.

    If only there wasn't the asterisk beside the name of Manti Te'o that, in the aftermath of the recent revelation that the girlfriend he talked about for months was fictional, has raised considerable questions about the Notre Dame linebacker's previously unquestioned character and judgment.

    How well — or how poorly — Te'o begins to erase that asterisk will be one of the most-watched stories at the NFL Scouting Combine that begins this week in Indianapolis. And, no doubt, the Steelers will be among those watching.

    Several mock drafts have the Steelers choosing Te'o, who is ranked by many draft evaluators between the 15th and 25th best player available.

    “It has nothing to do with the off-field stuff. It's where he grades out as a player,” said ESPN draft expert Todd McShay, who said earlier projections putting Te'o in the top five were much too high. “That's one of the questions: Can he be a really good third-down or passing-down linebacker? I think this year helped him, the seven interceptions. ... He was quicker this year because he took off some weight. You can tell he was moving better than he had in years past.”

    Even with the Steelers' multiple needs — wide receiver, defensive line, secondary, offensive line — it might make sense for them to choose an inside linebacker. A year ago they almost certainly would have gone for Dont'a Hightower had David DeCastro not unexpectedly fallen into their laps.

    The Steelers badly need inside linebackers, even if 2012 third-round pick Sean Spence returns from his serious training camp knee injury and is ready for the start of the season.

    Larry Foote probably won't come back after being one of the NFL's lowest-graded linebackers last season. And backups Brandon Johnson and Stevenson Sylvester could leave via free agency.

    Of course, should the Steelers choose Te'o, he would be hounded by questions — at least at first — by the fake girlfriend story and how he kept it going even after he knew it was a hoax.

    But once the season started, all that would fade, and it would matter only if Te'o can play. And while he is a natural middle linebacker — a position the Steelers don't have in Dick LeBeau's 3-4 defense — he would seem to be a good fit for what they do. Notre Dame also ran a 3-4.

    ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. thinks Te'o would be a good fit as Ray Lewis' replacement in Baltimore. Kiper thinks he could be gone before the Steelers choose.

    “You love the ball skills, the instincts getting there,” McShay said. “I like him as a player. I think he's a really good player, but I don't think he's a (49ers linebacker) Patrick Willis, that kind of value in a player in terms of the athleticism and the complete game. I don't even think he's a (Panthers linebacker) Luke Kuechly in terms of the complete game. And that's why I have him in the mid-to-late first-round range.”

    That's where the Steelers draft. And if it hadn't been for the phantom girlfriend and all the questions about Te'o's judgment and maturity that the unsightly mess created, he and the Steelers would appear to be the perfect couple.

    A perfect real-life couple.

    [URL]http://triblive.com/sports/nfl/3472071-74/steelers-player-linebacker#ixzz2LAxzUhbC[/URL]
    Steel Maniac's Time-Based Prediction: Lamar Jackson will be a bust and total flop in the NFL.

    What Actually Happened: Lamar Jackson became the youngest two-time NFL MVP winner ever.

    Gloat gloat gloat


    Boom........

    Hahahahahahaha

  2. #2
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    wouldn't bother me one bit... he was the guy in my last mock...

    ILB is the pick if you ask me...
    2013 MNF Executive Champion!

    DeVille's Late-March Mock (In Progress)
    1.20 - Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon
    2.51 - "WR/DL/CB" (tbd)
    3.84 -
    "WR/DL/CB" (tbd)
    3.98 - "WR/DL/CB" (tbd)
    4.117 - Jordan Travis, QB, FSU
    6.178 -Travis Glover, OT, Ga State
    6.195 - Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville





  3. #3
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    This year is the D's turn after picking O last year. In that sense, I can see them going with the LB. That said, many here were questioning Te'o because of the Alabama game than the girlfriend thing.

  4. #4
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    One guy on this forum ( ), has been saying this for the past 6 months. Not only is Te'o a good fit for the the Steelers but even better, he is great compliment to what Lawrence Timmons does.
    Steelers 2015 Draft???....Go Freak! As in....

    1-Bernardrick McKinney MLB Mississippi State 6 ft 5 250 4.5 40 yard dash

  5. #5
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    I wouldn't be upset. Timmons & Te'o could wreak some havoc.
    @_Hellgrammite

  6. #6
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    At this point, I'd rather see us get Minter.

  7. #7
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    Man, the power of media is so powerful... it makes you realize why our world can be so f'd up (i.e. corrupted). Those condoning drafting this scumbag (and FTR... before it all came out, I was driving the Draft Manti Te'o bandwagon) want to believe that a virile 20-year old kid... who could snap his fingers and have the best Midwestern co-ed 'tang at ND at his beck & call... would fall in love ("the love of his life") with a girl he never even saw in-person or touched (intimately or not)??? Are you serious?

    The guy is a charlatan; I'm sure he is a pawn to a certain extant (i.e. maybe his father pulled the strings, etc.) But to act like he is some innocent little dupe at this point and that we should entertain taking him anywhere in the first couple rounds... is laughable if it didn't involve my favorite football team.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shoe View Post
    Man, the power of media is so powerful... it makes you realize why our world can be so f'd up (i.e. corrupted). Those condoning drafting this scumbag (and FTR... before it all came out, I was driving the Draft Manti Te'o bandwagon) want to believe that a virile 20-year old kid... who could snap his fingers and have the best Midwestern co-ed 'tang at ND at his beck & call... would fall in love ("the love of his life") with a girl he never even saw in-person or touched (intimately or not)??? Are you serious?

    The guy is a charlatan; I'm sure he is a pawn to a certain extant (i.e. maybe his father pulled the strings, etc.) But to act like he is some innocent little dupe at this point and that we should entertain taking him anywhere in the first couple rounds... is laughable if it didn't involve my favorite football team.
    Did you ever stop to think that maybe he wasn't after the "best Midwestern co-ed 'tang?" Maybe "she" was someone he connected with, had cultural familiarity with and was safer than the girls around him?

    To me, the tape from the Alabama game might be more troublesome than this episode.

  9. #9
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    How many times do you think he can use the, "Hey guys, I know we're up against it -- and the breaks are beating us -- but if we can just go out there with all we've got and win one for my imaginary dead girlfriend..."

  10. #10
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    [QUOTE=Sugar;549412]Did you ever stop to think that maybe he wasn't after the "best Midwestern co-ed 'tang?" Maybe "she" was someone he connected with, had cultural familiarity with and was safer than the girls around him?

    To me, the tape from the Alabama game might be more troublesome than this episode.[/QUOTE]

    You said a mouthful right there Sugar.

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