Poor showing against Alabama still lingering over Te’o as NFL Draft nears.
Despite being named an All-American during his final season at Notre Dame, Manti Te’o is still facing criticism from NFL scouts over his poor showing against Alabama in the National Championship game.
Many believe that this was Te’o’s first real test against a strong team, and on national television he failed to live up to expectations and ultimately saw his draft stock fall.
While still considered the best linebacker in the upcoming draft, he is certainly no longer viewed as the dominant player he seemed to be six months ago.
In a recent interview on DetroitLions.com, the linebacker was quick to suggest that the game should not define his career, and that he has much more to prove.
“Alabama is definitely a game I didn’t do as well as I could have, but it’s not something I felt could define my career at Notre Dame.” Te’o said.
“I can always get better, and I’m going to get better, but if anyone questioned my ability to cover, I had seven interceptions. That should say, ‘hey, he has the ability to play three-down football.'”
There are still a lot of question marks over the 22-year old, with just 15 days until the draft, questions will still need to be answered over his abilities, as well as clarifying the whole situation about the fake girlfriend fiasco.
While some scouts still see him going in the middle of the first round, don’t be surprised if he gets drafted later than that, or not even in the first round at all.
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