Manti Te’o is one of the biggest question marks of the NFL Draft. While his stock fell following the National Championship Game and scouting combine, all it takes is one or two teams to believe in him for the former Notre Dame linebacker to be selected in the first round of the draft.
One thing I have noticed is that in many of the recently published mock drafts, the analysts/reporters have Te’o going to the Vikings at No. 25 overall.
Minnesota has two first-round picks. A lot of people are projecting them to take a wide receiver at No. 23 and then a defensive player at No. 25. Peter Schrager and Mike Mayock have them taking North Carolina DT Sylvester Williams at 25. SI’s Peter King projects the Vikings taking Te’o at 23 and a wide receiver at 25.
Rotoworld’s Evan Silva predicted Minnesota would take Te’o 25th. He included these good nuggets in his analysis:
ESPN is so confident Minnesota will draft Te’o that they’re sending a reporter to the Vikings’ Winter Park facility to have it covered live on Thursday night. Minnesota has a big need at middle linebacker, and GM Rick Spielman loves Notre Dame players, selecting four of them over the past five drafts.
ESPN’s John Clayton also reported on Thursday morning that the Vikings would like to find a way to draft Te’o in the first round.
Though various mock drafts projected Te’o to the Vikings, there is a possibility he doesn’t make it until when they pick. Both NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Stacey Dales are hearing that the Chicago Bears might want to take Te’o at No. 20 overall. Chicago needs some help at linebacker and could opt for one on the board, but does that necessarily mean they want Te’o? No. It’s possible that they are sending out those signs to make the Vikings panic into making a trade.
