'09 HI LB Manti Te'o (Notre Dame Man)

[CanadalovesND]

He had a really nice tackle for loss on an RGIII option.

Gifs or it didnt happen...

 

[EuropeanDomer]

Some Chargers writers (SB Nation):

@RichardWade: Trading up for Te’o is looking worse and worse with every snap.

@BFTB_Chargers
Gachkar > Te'o

@NickNRickShep
1. The DC is horrible. 2. Reyes is completely misused. 3. Te'o looks like the worst pick of the draft. 4. Beat every week by best WR on opp.

@RichardWade
All day long RT @patrickpgreen: Manti Te'o owned again.

People are bashing him so hard. One year ago he was fantastic and the best even if he looked bad and now if he misses a tackle or something they take advantage of that to just insult him. I just really feel bad for him, people can be so brutal at times and he is getting humiliations every day. Obviously those beat writers do not talk about his "GF" but the 99% of people just kill him every second. I never seen something like this before.

 

[aubeirish]

To his defense, he is coming back from an injury. I wonder how fit he really is...

 

[NDPhilly]

If he was so ****in bad he wouldn't be a starting MLB calling the plays as a rookie.

 

[yankeehater]

I like Te'o as much as anyone on the board, but I have to somewhat agree with the assessment of the writer's. It is way too early to define his career, but he has not looked sharp so far. We get most of the Charger games here in Cali so I have seen a large sample size. Right now he looks slow to react and seems like things are moving way too fast for him. He is getting caught inside on the runs and lost in space during pass coverage. I could not believe when I saw the stat line with his total tackles. I think he was given credit for several when he just piled on late.

I hope he figures it out in time, but Burfleck (sp.) doesn't seem to be struggling. My belief is that guys are also targeting Manti because of who he is. It seems like he gets hit or chipped quite a bit when he is not even around the ball.

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

Played in the first quarter of the first preseason game against the SeaHawks and no other preseason games, missed the first 3 or 4 games of the season with the same injury. Made it back to starting ILB and making the calls???? And bashing him?

If Manti wasn't from Notre Dame and from Georgia/LSU/USC would he get this backlash?

How is Jarvis Jones doing after his 17th overall pick? 21 tackles and not much impact.
How about Alec Ogeltree in the 1st round on pace for not much more tackles than Manti. And I have seen him overrun many other potential tackles.
How about Kevin Minter taken not too far after Manti and his 0 tackles.
2nd rounder Jon Bostic and his 11 tackles
2nd rounder Jamie Collins and his 6 tackles
2nd rounder Arthur Brown and his 5 tackes and .5 sack.

yeah, Manti so much worse than all these 1st and 2nd round LB's.

How about Melvin Ingram from the San Diego 2012 Draft Class as a high 1st rounder and 41 tackes and 1 sack in his Rookie Season, did he get ripped as bad as Manti? 16 games last season. Heck Manti has almost caught him in 5 games.

Now Kiko Alonso from Oregon taken in the 2nd round after manti has 89 tackes and 4 Ints, that is really good. 1 forced fumble as well.

 

[nsideirish]

I don't think it is a matter of him just getting tackles as the numbers definitely do not lie there. But, at times, he just seems so much less athletic that some of the players out there. He just seems to react too slowly and whiff quite often--very similar to the Bama game last year.

 

[ND NYC]

Manti's gonna be fine

Haters always gonna hate

just stay healty, keep learning and staying motivated Manti!

 

[IrishLax]

Played in the first quarter of the first preseason game against the SeaHawks and no other preseason games, missed the first 3 or 4 games of the season with the same injury. Made it back to starting ILB and making the calls???? And bashing him?

If Manti wasn't from Notre Dame and from Georgia/LSU/USC would he get this backlash?

How is Jarvis Jones doing after his 17th overall pick? 21 tackles and not much impact.
How about Alec Ogeltree in the 1st round on pace for not much more tackles than Manti. And I have seen him overrun many other potential tackles.
How about Kevin Minter taken not too far after Manti and his 0 tackles.
2nd rounder Jon Bostic and his 11 tackles
2nd rounder Jamie Collins and his 6 tackles
2nd rounder Arthur Brown and his 5 tackes and .5 sack.

yeah, Manti so much worse than all these 1st and 2nd round LB's.

How about Melvin Ingram from the San Diego 2012 Draft Class as a high 1st rounder and 41 tackes and 1 sack in his Rookie Season, did he get ripped as bad as Manti? 16 games last season. Heck Manti has almost caught him in 5 games.

Now Kiko Alonso from Oregon taken in the 2nd round after manti has 89 tackes and 4 Ints, that is really good. 1 forced fumble as well.

+1. Perspective. Some people just fail at it hard.

 

[IrishLax]

Here's another analysis of Manti's performance, taken from another board:

Manti had his best game as a pro yesterday. 10 tackles, 1 for loss. PFF graded him at -0.2, once again the highest-graded ILB for SD.

The bottom line is anyone trying to paint Manti as a bust right now is either stupid or a hater. Or both.

 

[ab2cmiller]

The good news for Manti is that if they took the survey again today, Incognito would've vaulted to #1 and Manti has slipped to #3. If this trend continues, he will be #100 in no time.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Thought I saw something today that Manti made a really bad attempt at a tackle on a Charles Clay touchdown. Didn't watch the game. How'd he play?

 

[Rizzophil]

He looked fast and aggressive to me. I didn't see the whole game though

 

[OlympiaIrishFan]

I stated this earlier, Manti had 1 quarter of 1 preseason game total! He hurt his foot against my beloved Seahawks. And didn't play another down, heck he didn't practice. Then I believe he missed the first 4 games of the season, maybe 5 (off the top of my head). Then he comes in and is making all of the calls (mic. up helmet). 4 games total with no preseason---I am sure if he was a bust the Head Coach wouldn't have him do all that.

On the west coast I have seen 3+ games with Manti, and he is just fine. He is asked to do a lot, and Rushing the passer isn't one of them. So, sacks aren't going to be his bag as of right now. But, reading and reacting are. And he has gotten better on every one of those as I have watched.

Go Irish!

 

[FLDomer]

I watched the entire game and Manti looked decent (5 tackles), not spectacular but solid. The announcers were stating the the San Diego organization was very happy with him and they mentioned the early injuries (wearing a huge elbow brace on his left are) and now he was just getting up to full speed. The over all comments by the announcers were very positive.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

This is the play I was referencing. Again, didn't watch the game, but some troll posted it and it came across my feed.

 

[IrishLax]

This is the play I was referencing. Again, didn't watch the game, but some troll posted it and it came across my feed.

An NFL player made an NFL move and the linebacker didn't quite get over... that would've been one heck of a tackle to make.

Unlike the one player that actually gets run over or the other guy in position to bring him down who can't make a tackle... we're going to single out the guy who didn't quite get there to make the play in space? Really? Seriously trollish. What board was this posted on?

 

[woolybug25]

This is the play I was referencing. Again, didn't watch the game, but some troll posted it and it came across my feed.

Geez... so in that play, the missed tackle in space was what was pointed out? Not the dude getting completely ran over immedietely after it?

 

[Booslum31]

Geez... so in that play, the missed tackle in space was what was pointed out? Not the dude getting completely ran over immedietely after it?

There are four guys who could be called out on that play. That guy getting mowed down was classic.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

An NFL player made an NFL move and the linebacker didn't quite get over... that would've been one heck of a tackle to make.

Unlike the one player that actually gets run over or the other guy in position to bring him down who can't make a tackle... we're going to single out the guy who didn't quite get there to make the play in space? Really? Seriously trollish. What board was this posted on?

A troll OSU fan that follows me. And yeah, I'm sure in the film room there are tons of guys getting hammered for this play.

On a side note, it looks to me Manti is a little more lean. Might be playing at around 245 lb instead of the 255 Kelly liked him at.

 

[irishpat183]

A troll OSU fan that follows me. And yeah, I'm sure in the film room there are tons of guys getting hammered for this play.

On a side note, it looks to me Manti is a little more lean. Might be playing at around 245 lb instead of the 255 Kelly liked him at.

Yep. Had too. Needs to be more than just a 2 down LB. I love the move. Hopefully it adds some speed to his game.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Chargers Not Sure if They Should Tell Manti Te'o That Santa Isn't Real - SportsPickle | SportsPickle

*Slightly humorous, totally shitty.

 

[Ironman8]

He's playing great right now against the Giants. Almost just had a pick on great reaction / coverage and almost had a punt block before. Flashing a lot.

 

[yankeeND]

He's playing great right now against the Giants. Almost just had a pick on great reaction / coverage and almost had a punt block before. Flashing a lot.

Absolutely, he is getting there. I think he is adjusting very well at a difficult position for transitioning from college to pro. I truly hate all the flack that this kid has taken but, there is no doubt in my mind he will overcome all that he has faced that has turned him into a mockery in the public's eyes. Great football player, even better person!

 

[EuropeanDomer]

Three straight games almost perfectly in coverage. Against the run he looks very hesitate, slow and really really bad.

 

[EuropeanDomer]

Manti has the 10th-best coverage grade & 6th-worst run defense grade of any ILB per Pro Football Focus.

 

[CanadalovesND]

Lol take the good with the bad

 

[rtrn2glory]

he did struggle to get off blocks that much is a given.

big lou made things sooooooo easy for him

 

[IrishSteelhead]

8 tackles today, and 1st playoff win. CONGRATS!

 

[palinurus]

8 tackles today, and 1st playoff win. CONGRATS!

Good catch. For the record and a little context, he was second on the Chargers, after Donald Butler's 12 tackles; Ray Maualuga had 15 for the Bengals to lead all tacklers, so Manti had the third most today.