Making sense of Manti's lacking of Playing Time

[Brown]

Manti Te'o hasn't really received much playing time to start the season, and most prognosticators had him as an immediate impact player. Does his lack of playing time reflect on a lack of ability he's showing in practice? Or is Tenuta just being loyal to a veteran?

Toryan Smith has had some nice tackles, and plays with a lot of emotion, but it's clear on a down-to-down basis, he's the least talented LB we have. I DVR all ND games, and watch them a few times through the week, and have tried to make sense of the defense, and Toryan Smith is constantly getting burned (speed), or over-powered (not making tackles at the LOS) when he has gap-control responsibilities.

Te'o has seemed out of place when in the game, simply running into a wall of defensive linemen on blitz plays, but that should be expected given his lack of experience. With experience he's going to be a beast (he's the most explosive player in the front 7 when on the field).

Just looking for some general feedback on the LB situation.

 

[jason_h537]

Te'o is not getting much playing time because he does not know the system. That is all.

The coaches want him in the game but not at the expense of a blown up play

Calm down, hell get his

 

[We_Are_ND]

Yup plain and simple I just think Manti is still learning. One thing that stood out was on a play action Manti bit HARD and the TE was wide open over the middle for about a 25 yard gain. I don't think they let him back on the field for a long time after that.

But like jason said, his time will come.

 

[BGIF]

Considering the youth that gets to play under Weis on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams, loyalty to a veteran isn't an issue.

Considering that Weis and all of his assistants are on the same hot seat, winning is important - now. They put the best team on the field that's ready to play that day.

Considering the hemorraging the Front 7 showed in the first two games and the Secondary reciprocated in the third, anyone that will help stop the bleeding will see the field. Ryan was demoted and then promoted. He's not the best DE but with Johnson at DT, at the moment Ryan is of one of the two best DE's available to play there on this team.

Considering that Tenuta is the LB coach as well as DC, it's reasonable to believe that he's playing the better player in his judgement, or to rephrase, the one that hurts the defense least at this point in time.

 

[fightinirish68]

toryan is SLOW haha like john ryan could beat him in a race

 

[tko]

Considering the youth that gets to play under Weis on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams, loyalty to a veteran isn't an issue.

Considering that Weis and all of his assistants are on the same hot seat, winning is important - now. They put the best team on the field that's ready to play that day.

Considering the hemorraging the Front 7 showed in the first two games and the Secondary reciprocated in the third, anyone that will help stop the bleeding will see the field. Ryan was demoted and then promoted. He's not the best DE but with Johnson at DT, at the moment Ryan is of one of the two best DE's available to play there on this team.

Considering that Tenuta is the LB coach as well as DC, it's reasonable to believe that he's playing the better player in his judgement, or to rephrase, the one that hurts the defense least at this point in time.

well phrased

 

[NDisme]

Did you see john ryan vs purdue all the tight ends and linemen that he faced just went down and cut his legs and he couldn't do anything it was horrible, they teach you in ppractice how to avoid that.

toryan is SLOW haha like john ryan could beat him in a race

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Teo was slowed by a hamstring injury, I believe this is the main reason we have not seen him on the field more. I bet after the bye week, we will see a lot more of him. Plus his pass coverage has been bad.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Teo was slowed by a hamstring injury, I believe this is the main reason we have not seen him on the field more. I bet after the bye week, we will see a lot more of him. Plus his pass coverage has been bad.

Actually, CW in his Sunday presser said that Manti will be on the field a lot more from here on out, which is great news IMO. Of course, he said that before and then he still stuck with T. Smith. But this time, with 2 pro-style offense coming in, and us needing more speed on the field, I think we will see him much more. He's got too much damn talent to stay off the field...

 

[The Polish Irishman]

Time for Weis to Unleash Manti Te'o -- NCAA Football FanHouse

 

[bert2834]

Time for Weis to Unleash Manti Te'o -- NCAA Football FanHouse

Nice article!

 

[weisbank4]

I thought he looked good, especially that nail in the coffin sack he had. Hes a Freshman, were 4 games in. He will have his time!!

 

[ND_HAS_RISEN]

Teo will be a STUD, but he isnt there yet. He is a RAW talent and still needs to develop. Toryan is WAY to big and slow to deal with the pass coverage or spread attacks that we have been seeing, but he does make some great plays sometimes. The only thing lacking from Toryan is speed, otherwise i think he could be a monster, ofcourse thats always the defining question for defense though right?!?!? They need to move Manti to middle, let B Smith and Darius cover the edges. Darius is going to be VERY VERY GOOD. He has made some bad plays and the bite agaisnt Forcier was HUGE, but that dude can straight up play!! He just needs to settle down a bit. IMO the only reason we havent seen much Teo yet is cause of the pass coverage. Because of the blitzing the zone coverage is especially difficult to understand every play. It will come, and ND WILL RETURN!!!!!!!

 

[ND_HAS_RISEN]

I thought he looked good, especially that nail in the coffin sack he had. Hes a Freshman, were 4 games in. He will have his time!!

Although i loved that we got the sack, that fact that he blitzed almost all out on that play was down right STUPID!! If he gets away and makes a throw downfiled, we can get burned badly. I was happy we got him, but you better beleive that after that play all i was yelling at the screen was DON"T F&*^%^ BLITZ!!!!!

 

[The Polish Irishman]

I would not be surprised if Teo comes in with the 1st team nickel defense from now on.

 

[JefMaj]

My fear is - and I've been worried since he stepped on campus - is that he gets homesick - takes his mission and ends up west. I bet his prolem is his speed and the play of the D-line. They haven't gelled - hit their gaps - and have cause him to go on instinct and not stay commited. Too much speed and moving to wrong place means he just got to the wrong place quickly - leaving space. As the line gets in the gaps, through the O-line, the rest of them can trust the scheme (which more often than not hasn't been bad but for missed tackles and lack of execution) and get to ball and not panic to where they fear. Did that make sense?

 

[DirtySecret]

My fear is - and I've been worried since he stepped on campus - is that he gets homesick - takes his mission and ends up west. I bet his prolem is his speed and the play of the D-line. They haven't gelled - hit their gaps - and have cause him to go on instinct and not stay commited. Too much speed and moving to wrong place means he just got to the wrong place quickly - leaving space. As the line gets in the gaps, through the O-line, the rest of them can trust the scheme (which more often than not hasn't been bad but for missed tackles and lack of execution) and get to ball and not panic to where they fear. Did that make sense?

Anyways didn't his dad at Punahou run the 3-4 scheme with Manti Te'o at the Mike postion?

 

[jason_h537]

I would not be surprised if Teo comes in with the 1st team nickel defense from now on.

Te'o is in fact the starting LB on nickel from now on but Toryan is still starting on base.

 

[ab2cmiller]

Video of Charlie talking about Jimmy and Manti
Weis interview

The part of the interview concerning Manti starts at about the 1:50 mark

Basically said that the reason Manti hasn't got more playing time is because Manti is trying to adjust to the college game with multiple formations and personnel groups. Right now he lacks a "comfort zone" in regards to knowing where to be and how to adjust to the multiple formations. Weis did basically acknowledge the only real way for Manti to learn and get to the point where he is in a comfort zone is for him to play more.

Weis did say that Manti will get plenty of of opportunity this week. At another point in the interview he said a second time that he will be out (on the playing field) a bunch more this week.

So it looks like we will get to see more of Manti but we should continue to see some growing pains. I'm sure there will be flashes of brilliance but I'm also prepared for times where Manti is in the wrong place.

 

[irishfan]

Some Te'o news

Weis called the expected increase in freshman linebacker Manti Te’o’s playing time this week and the arrival of Locker on Saturday ‘coincidental.’

“Could it help us? Yes, but one didn’t have really the direct tie to the other,” he said.

But he did not rule out using Te’o as a spy on the quarterback.

“Whether it’s he or somebody else, you have got to be worrying about that number 10,” said Weis. “But I certainly wouldn’t say who we were doing that with if we were doing it.”

Still, the coach said that Te’o has reached the point where he has proven to the staff that he is ready to handle more.

“He obviously has got top line athleticism, I think it’s taken him a little time to just get comfortable with the position and all of the formation-recognition and everything that goes on that’s totally different than when you’re in high school,” said Weis. “The sky’s the limit for him. Once he knows what to do, he’s going to be able to do it and do it very well.

“He’s going to get plenty of opportunity this week to grow from that. It’s kind of tough for that to evolve without being out there and he’s going to be out there a bunch more on Saturday.”

Weis Wants To Get To Bye