Over a month has passed since the Lennay Kekua hoax took over the sports world by storm. For 48 hours, Twitter "blew up". For days virtually all sports and news related websites and television shows were covering the story. By now everyone knows what happened. Both, Manti Te'o and Ronaiah Tuiasosopo have went on national television telling their sides of the story. For what its worth, they both claimed that Te'o had no involvement in creating the hoax, and that he had no knowledge that Kekua did not exist prior to her "death". Whether or not you believe their claims is up to you.
The NFL scouting combine is underway, and Manti Te'o will be privately interviewed by a number of NFL teams and executives. Undoubtedly, they will all ask questions about the hoax and Te'o will tell them the exact same thing he has told everyone. It will be up to each NFL executive to determine whether or not they believe Te'o. However, I do not believe Te'o's draft stock should be affected by the hoax. But, his play versus Alabama in the national title game should. Manti Te'o played arguably his worst game on the biggest stage. Te'o seemed to be overwhelmed during the game. Maybe it was just the big stage, maybe he was overmatched, or maybe it was because of the hoax. Either way, Te'o missed more tackles in that game than he had all season. In addition, Te'o was unable to make plays because Alabama offensive guard, Chance Warmack, manhandled him every chance he got. If Te'o wants to succeed in the NFL he will have to learn how to shed blockers more effectively.
Although Te'o played poorly in that game, his performance over the course of four seasons versus BCS conference talent should not be ignored. Prior to the BCS title game, Te'o was considered to be a top 10 (maybe top 5) pick. In all honesty, that estimate was probably a little inflated due to the hype Notre Dame and Te'o received during their undefeated regular season. If Te'o were to be judged solely by his performance in the title game, then he would most likely be a 3rd round pick. Based on his career and title game performance, Te'o's draft stock has probably now reached a more realistic point. Most NFL draft experts now have Te'o being selected in the mid-to-late first round. In particular, ESPN's draft experts Mel Kiper and Todd McShay had Te'o going 13th and 20th respectively in their most recent mock drafts. Over his career Te'o has proven to be a tremendous football player, an outstanding coverage linebacker, and a great tackler. NFL teams that have a need at the inside linebacker position would be wise to take Te'o with a pick in the second half of the first round. Don't be surprised if Te'o winds up in a city like Pittsburgh, Chicago, or even Baltimore.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Follow me on Twitter @etichel07
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