No choice but to draft Te'o

**Dj Diesel** · 11-26-2012, 11:21 AM

I have been against drafting Te'o with a top 10 pick and have been hoping for a pass Rusher but we Clearly need a leader on this team and some1 that can inspire the players around them to play at a higher level which i believe he can do. At this point I believe Nobody on this team deserves to have a Captains patch on their jersey. This team needs Heart and is lost

**Okie** · 11-26-2012, 11:38 AM

I honestly think the guy will go by 5. The offensive skill positions are kind of weak this year and offensive linemen are deep into the 2nd, maybe 3rd round. If there was a year that a LB would go in the top 5 i would say its him and this year.

MLB is my biggest concern (with FS right behind it) so while i think the draft value is bad, the team value makes it worth it. Trade down and grab him.

**Delahernandez** · 11-26-2012, 11:52 AM

Te'o is Reggie Mckenzie's type of player... Work ethic, and a guy that flies around the ball is RM type of player.

**diana** · 11-26-2012, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Dj Diesel

I have been against drafting Te'o with a top 10 pick and have been hoping for a pass Rusher but we Clearly need a leader on this team and some1 that can inspire the players around them to play at a higher level which i believe he can do. At this point I believe Nobody on this team deserves to have a Captains patch on their jersey. This team needs Heart and is lost

Leader in college doesn't always transfer to the NFL..........Rolando McClain was a leader at Alabama........mmmmmmmmm not so much here

**MaxxxPayne** · 11-26-2012, 12:04 PM

I thought the problem on D was lack of leadership... but after the past couple weeks I realized it is a BLATANT lack of talent.
interior D lineman are no longer top rate. Houston is a good 5 tech, but we don't even have 1 pass rusher (we need 3 for depth).
Burris is a solid LB, but not close to being a pro bowler. Wheeler is a "solid" or "serviceable" LB, but is a backup on good defenses.
Huff is a good nickel CB, Bartell & Spencer may be "serviceable" 2 or 3 CBs. We don't have a lockdown CB, though.
Branch is a good SS for run support... but he NEEDS a great FS to cover his *ss when he isn't in position... we don't have that, either.

In a nutshell.
We need 3 new D-lineman... (2 more for 3-4)
we need 2 more LBs... (McClain may play better in a 3-4 with a quicker ilb... Te'o?)
We need a shutdown CB.
We need a stud FS.

we need to find 7 new starters on D... One player won't fix this mess.

**darthraider76** · 11-26-2012, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by diana

Originally Posted by Dj Diesel

I have been against drafting Te'o with a top 10 pick and have been hoping for a pass Rusher but we Clearly need a leader on this team and some1 that can inspire the players around them to play at a higher level which i believe he can do. At this point I believe Nobody on this team deserves to have a Captains patch on their jersey. This team needs Heart and is lost

Leader in college doesn't always transfer to the NFL..........Rolando McClain was a leader at Alabama........mmmmmmmmm not so much here

I'd take T'eo over McClain ANY DAY!!!

**FROZEN** · 11-26-2012, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by Okie

I honestly think the guy will go by 5. The offensive skill positions are kind of weak this year and offensive linemen are deep into the 2nd, maybe 3rd round. If there was a year that a LB would go in the top 5 i would say its him and this year.

MLB is my biggest concern (with FS right behind it) so while i think the draft value is bad, the team value makes it worth it. Trade down and grab him.

What on earth makes you think we'd need to trade down?

**raiderHEAT** · 11-26-2012, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Delahernandez

Te'o is Reggie Mckenzie's type of player... Work ethic, and a guy that flies around the ball is RM type of player.

Considering some of our pick ups...I am starting to doubt I know what an RM type player is at all.

**EmeraldCityR8r** · 11-26-2012, 12:49 PM

Much rather have Jarvis Jones or Damontre Moore. Teo sounds like a great leader but look at his tackles game by game, not very impressive. Damontre has 12.5 sacks and leads the SEC

**WTG** · 11-26-2012, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Dj Diesel

I have been against drafting Te'o with a top 10 pick and have been hoping for a pass Rusher but we Clearly need a leader on this team and some1 that can inspire the players around them to play at a higher level which i believe he can do. At this point I believe Nobody on this team deserves to have a Captains patch on their jersey. This team needs Heart and is lost

If we follow the trend of the Packers while McKenzie was on staff. Look for 1 major FA signing on defense (White, Woodson) and look for us to add via draft around him. We need an elite pass rusher? Cliff Avril. We need desperate help at MLB? Te'o. We have the cap room, and signing a major FA without Al Davis over paying the market won't put us back into cap hell. McKenzie has been on a staff handling the cap well for a little more than a decade, so I can trust him to not dish out stupid money. I thought he handled Branch very well, I expect the same in the FA market.

Avril to a nice/modern 5 year contract, and we take care of one issue. Drop some cap hell contracts, 2nd issue solved. Draft defensively, a guy that is the heart of the defense, 3rd issue solved.

**WTG** · 11-26-2012, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by diana

Leader in college doesn't always transfer to the NFL..........Rolando McClain was a leader at Alabama........mmmmmmmmm not so much here

McClain was a great player in Bama, but he was not the leader. He never display the heart Te'o displays every single play. He made good plays behind a great front, and he was effective. Te'o has his fair share of talent around him, but if this season is any indication, he's the guy that steps up the most when the team desperately needs him to. Goal line stands? Turnover the close the game? Simply put, the guy makes plays when the team needs someone to make plays. He reminds me a lot of Polamalu in a sense, that when you need someone to step up, he's the guy that takes the challenge.

**DSOTM** · 11-26-2012, 02:41 PM

Can we afford to draft in the top 5?

**Raiders Baby!** · 11-26-2012, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Okie

I honestly think the guy will go by 5. The offensive skill positions are kind of weak this year and offensive linemen are deep into the 2nd, maybe 3rd round. If there was a year that a LB would go in the top 5 i would say its him and this year.

MLB is my biggest concern (with FS right behind it) so while i think the draft value is bad, the team value makes it worth it. Trade down and grab him.

We aren't going to have to trade to get him. We should end up with a top 5 the way we are playing. If we are going to trade, we should trade our top 5, not get Te'o and get a late first, late second and later third or something like that. As you said, linemen are deep into the second and even third so if we trade away our first we can address a lot of needs in this draft. But I'd be okay with drafting a top 5 talent, too. Just please, for the love of everything Silver and Black, don't squander this pick. We absolutely need to draft well in the first round if we are going to return to glory under Reggie's plan.

**DarkLordAlDavis** · 11-26-2012, 03:08 PM

I am a long suffering ND fan hoping this miracle season has 1 more win in it. So drafting Te'o is alright by me......

At the very least you know the guy loves football.....