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

[irishandy]

Would make our defense much better if we land Te'o as well as Moore.

 

[tko]

if we get all three you could wake up in a puddle from having a wet dream

Nocturnal Emission pls

 

[jonesman]

I want Manti, but I am actually more concerned that we get Moore and/or Starling at safety. All three would be awesome, but safety is going to be extremely thin in 2010 if we miss this year.

 

[WabashFalcon]

I want Manti, but I am actually more concerned that we get Moore and/or Starling at safety. All three would be awesome, but safety is going to be extremely thin in 2010 if we miss this year.

I disagree. It's much easier to recruit a DB and shift them from safety to corner and vice versa. Manti's a once-in-a-lifetime talent. OLB's aren't a dime a dozen. They have to hit, stuff the run, and play pass coverage as opposed to "stop the pass first" safeties.

 

[chyrspchuck]

I agree completely with the Falcon, Manti is more valuable in my mind.

Manti/Jelani I believe will be talked about as 2 of the greatest linebackers in College Football. I believe they will both continue on to the NFL and have great careers there.

Whoever said Manti would ride the bench.....your wrong.

 

[LOVEMYIRISH]

Whoever said Manti would ride the bench.....your wrong.

I disagree.

i think Manti will ride the pine...everytime the offense is on the field. Then when the D is out he's gonna knock heads on the field.

 

[chyrspchuck]

Ok so he won't play defense......

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

Manti is not just a rare specimen on the field, he appears to be an incredible young man. A 17 or 18 year old kid who wants to challenge himself and get out of his comfort zone? Are you kidding me? When was the last time you heard something like that? Most kids his age are just looking for easy street and this kid wants to push himself to new experiences. That says a lot about his character. If he is willing to do that with this decision then I don't see him cutting corners in the weight room or on the field.

 

[Irish52]

Manti can make the difference in winning many games next season at ND. Hopefully, we get his services...and many wins over the next few years.

 

[NDinL.A.]

This is what I've been reading from my 'sources' (LOL):

1. ND is sending 3 coaches to Manti's home tonight (Tenuta, Polian, and Brown) to sell him one last time. Obviously CW can't be there for health reasons. Those are 2 fantastic guys, and if we're sending them all the way there, that has to mean they think they still have a good shot at him. And his parents loved their visit apparently.

2. He's visiting USC this weekend.

I'm having a harder and harder time believing he'd leave to be that far (SB) from the island. I think family is so important to him that he would like to have them be a closer flight away. Just a gut feeling. I can't see him at USC, and since he has close friends at UCLA, I still see him signing there.

The one thing that still allows me hope is that he said that he doesn't want to be comfortable. And ND would give him the most challenging experience out of the 3 by far. Brand new environment, no close friends, family far away, Catholic school, etc. Hoping that point sticks with him...

 

[NDfanatic333]

Doesn't he already have some family in SoCal somewhere? I thought I heard that somewhere. I hope that the visit goes well tonight. Would they take the private jet to Hawaii, because its still in South Bend!?

FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > N42ND

 

[IrishAddiction]

jenkins has more upside than Teo, and i think Teo will not get significant PT as many here expect. He seemed slow and hesitant in the UA game, but than again he wasnt allowed to blitz.

Remember, we still have Brian Smith, Toryan Smith, Steve Filer, and David Poluzney all holding down the middle..... two HS all-americans, brother of one of the best MLBs in Penn St history, and a guy who many people, as well as i, think is the heart and soul of the defense. teos good, but he will have to wait in line, which is OKAY. We need to be that team that has great players waiting to play behind other great players.(cough cough USC). JMHO fellas, but he will see special teams probably, not defensive PT. Im still just praying for a miracle with jenkins myself.

 

[Irishlew]

jenkins has more upside than Teo, and i think Teo will not get significant PT as many here expect. He seemed slow and hesitant in the UA game, but than again he wasnt allowed to blitz.

Remember, we still have Brian Smith, Toryan Smith, Steve Filer, and David Poluzney all holding down the middle..... two HS all-americans, brother of one of the best MLBs in Penn St history, and a guy who many people, as well as i, think is the heart and soul of the defense. teos good, but he will have to wait in line, which is OKAY. We need to be that team that has great players waiting to play behind other great players.(cough cough USC). JMHO fellas, but he will see special teams probably, not defensive PT. Im still just praying for a miracle with jenkins myself.

i respectfully have to disagree with every point you made. Jenkins will most likely end up a safety at the next level. Te'o would be the biggest defensive recruit we would have in recent memory. Te'o would no doubt earn a spot at starting LB his freshman year...i will guarantee it if he commits.

 

[IrishAddiction]

i respectfully have to disagree with every point you made. Jenkins will most likely end up a safety at the next level. Te'o would be the biggest defensive recruit we would have in recent memory. Te'o would no doubt earn a spot at starting LB his freshman year...i will guarantee it if he commits.

No doubt he is the biggest defensive recruit in recent history if you go off of the rankings, but i dont put much faith into them myself. He plays in Hawaii, not exactly a HS football powerhouse state, but who knows. he will be a good linebacker someday i think, but just not a college starter right off the bat. We have quality LBs ahead of him, and they will have something to say about him starting right away.

And as for the jenkins thing, he should easily gain 30+ lbs by his college last years, and he is still growing from into his 17 year old body. Mays is like 226, but a 240lb safety would be outrageous, unless they dont let him gain weight.

 

[amgarvey]

Irish Addiction, I think you have some interesting points. It is possible that jenkins has a higher ceiling than teo, possible. He looks great on tape that's for sure and I can't imagine how good he will be stronger and more experienced. However, I think you are really underestimating Teo's ability and over estimating the ability of Toryan Smith ( I love him, but it's true.). As Irishlew said, Teo will play. If he is going on a mission in a year or two do you think he is going to a school to sit. No. Plus he's amazing.

 

[NDOM]

I will tell ya plain and simple. WE ARENT GETTING this guy!!!!! I know I know.....Mr. Negative again. Plan on pretty much sticking with the 16 players that we got right now. This years class is a dissapointment. This will hurt us bad in a few years.

 

[Stalking_Eagle]

I will tell ya plain and simple. WE ARENT GETTING this guy!!!!! I know I know.....Mr. Negative again. Plan on pretty much sticking with the 16 players that we got right now. This years class is a dissapointment. This will hurt us bad in a few years.

I couldn't agree with you more. We probably shouldn't even field a team for a few years.

 

[JeremyND07]

I will tell ya plain and simple. WE ARENT GETTING this guy!!!!! I know I know.....Mr. Negative again. Plan on pretty much sticking with the 16 players that we got right now. This years class is a dissapointment. This will hurt us bad in a few years.

I agree...wow did I say that! I know this was not suppose to be a big class but I still expected top 20! I think we are done too unless we lose another guy or two!

 

[chyrspchuck]

Byron and Teo will announce Irish next Wednesday and all you naysayers will eat crow like you did when we blew out Hawaii......

i remember posing the question what if we blow out Hawaii and people on the board laughed about it, then it happened and 1 guy got back on and said well you were right......just ridiculous.

So the question is will you admit that we had a successful 2009 recruiting class if we get those 2. I will admit that we weren't so successful in recruiting in 2009 if we don't get them.

 

[KAPLAN]

Byron and Teo will announce Irish next Wednesday and all you naysayers will eat crow like you did when we blew out Hawaii......

i remember posing the question what if we blow out Hawaii and people on the board laughed about it, then it happened and 1 guy got back on and said well you were right......just ridiculous.

So the question is will you admit that we had a successful 2009 recruiting class if we get those 2. I will admit that we weren't so successful in recruiting in 2009 if we don't get them.

With the talent we have coming back if we get those two it will be a VERY successful class. The high ranking classes have great skill players. We do not have holes at QB, RB, or WR and thus will not get the great players. I have a feeling that Mr. Weis and Co know a little more about getting a solid class than we do.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I will tell ya plain and simple. WE ARENT GETTING this guy!!!!! I know I know.....Mr. Negative again. Plan on pretty much sticking with the 16 players that we got right now. This years class is a dissapointment. This will hurt us bad in a few years.

It won't hurt us bad in a couple years, as long as we back it up with a monster class next year, which by all accounts is shaping up to possibly be a great class. Anyone who says that this was supposed to be a monster class is making up bull****. It was supposed to be better than this, and it still might be, but not a super class whatsoever. As long as you back up a subpar class with a great class, you'll be fine.

(And people dismiss our special teams recruits, which make our rankings go down, UNTIL YOU BITCH WHEN WE HAVE A BAD SNAP, OR MISS A FIELD GOAL, OR SHANK A PUNT! Special teams win ball games people, and yet I hear that we care more about special teams than other parts of the teams, which is such b.s. The staff cares about the ENTIRE football team, which yes, includes special teams. We're filling needs with this class, and yes, it could be better, but we're not done yet)...

 

[JeremyND07]

Byron and Teo will announce Irish next Wednesday and all you naysayers will eat crow like you did when we blew out Hawaii......

i remember posing the question what if we blow out Hawaii and people on the board laughed about it, then it happened and 1 guy got back on and said well you were right......just ridiculous.

So the question is will you admit that we had a successful 2009 recruiting class if we get those 2. I will admit that we weren't so successful in recruiting in 2009 if we don't get them.

I will admit we had a HELL of class if we land those two, YES! i just see Byron at Colorado and Teo at UCLA so I think we are done!

 

[irishmarine]

i agree with ndinla. either way it just proves that college football is the best drama on tv

 

[Stalking_Eagle]

It won't hurt us bad in a couple years, as long as we back it up with a monster class next year, which by all accounts is shaping up to possibly be a great class. Anyone who says that this was supposed to be a monster class is making up bull****. It was supposed to be better than this, and it still might be, but not a super class whatsoever. As long as you back up a subpar class with a great class, you'll be fine.

(And people dismiss our special teams recruits, which make our rankings go down, UNTIL YOU BITCH WHEN WE HAVE A BAD SNAP, OR MISS A FIELD GOAL, OR SHANK A PUNT! Special teams win ball games people, and yet I hear that we care more about special teams than other parts of the teams, which is such b.s. The staff cares about the ENTIRE football team, which yes, includes special teams. We're filling needs with this class, and yes, it could be better, but we're not done yet)...

I don't know if special teams wins ball games but they most definilty can lose ball games.

 

[NDOM]

Byron and Teo will announce Irish next Wednesday and all you naysayers will eat crow like you did when we blew out Hawaii......

i remember posing the question what if we blow out Hawaii and people on the board laughed about it, then it happened and 1 guy got back on and said well you were right......just ridiculous.

So the question is will you admit that we had a successful 2009 recruiting class if we get those 2. I will admit that we weren't so successful in recruiting in 2009 if we don't get them.

I will take whatever you are smoking. Yeah IF they do commit I will eat crow and admit I'm wrong (which I do admit when I'm wrong, (its just not that often) ). Moore is gonna be a Buffalo and Teo either a Bruin or Trojan.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I think what is most impressive is the fact that we are in the running for these top tier guys this late in the game. Coach Weis and Co. are giving it their all right down to the very end.

Personally, I think we land Teo. I also think we get Moore and maybe one other. This is going to set the table for next year's class and our defense is going to be LOADED for years to come.

 

[krupstheirishfan]

Of Teo, Jenkins, Starling, and Moore, I think we need to get at least two of these to consider this recruiting class a success. I know Watt, Evans, and Wood will be impact players relatively early on but we need at least two of these guys to forgive the glaring lack of D-lineman here. I think we land Teo but Jenkins or Starling would be surprises of epic proportion. I don't see Moore coming to ND however.

 

[allnd1962]

QUOTE=GO IRISH!!!;276261]I think what is most impressive is the fact that we are in the running for these top tier guys this late in the game. Coach Weis and Co. are giving it their all right down to the very end.

Personally, I think we land Teo. I also think we get Moore and maybe one other. This is going to set the table for next year's class and our defense is going to be LOADED for years to come.[/QUOTE]

Good point GO IRISH 5 or 6 years ago we wouldn't get to have this debate because we wouldn't have chased these guys so hard........we would have been on the 19th hole.

 

[NDinL.A.]

I don't know if special teams wins ball games but they most definilty can lose ball games.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Saw a crazy stat in ESPN the Mag, where they totalled all of the scores ever played in pro football (i.e. 28-21, or 24-20, etc.). The score that came up the most, I believe, was 20-17. Every single game in the top 10 was a spread of 3 points. So or course, special teams is a huge part of the game. Not O-line and D-Line huge, but still huge.

As for the commits, from everything I've been reading (and that is a ton lately), I firmly believe that Moore will be Irish. And Te'o, well, NOBODY knows. My GUESS is, unfortunately, UCLA, but really I have no idea...

 

[phork]

Rivals.com Football Recruiting - Ask Jamie: Tracking the tight races

Today, I think Te'o chooses Notre Dame, but that could change with a great visit to USC.