The Manti Te'o downward spiral is certainly well-known, but it deserves revisiting given recent events. Te'o, once a first-round lock, tumbled after a hoax involving his deceased "girlfriend" was revealed and, later, his uninspiring play against Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game.
Lately, however, Te'o has been a steady climber on draft boards. So much so, in fact, that the majority of pundits have him going in the first round, despite concerns about his speed. Still, four out of the five draft analysts -- NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, ESPN's Todd McShay, SBNation.com's Matthew Fairburn, and CBSSports.com's draft insider Rob Rang -- reviewed this week have Te'o being selected in the first round.
The question now becomes: Who takes Te'o? The Notre Dame linebacker reportedly met last week with both the Dolphins and Giants, but Te'o going to the Vikings at 23 (or 25) seems to be the consensus. Three of the four pundits who have Te'o going in the first 32 picks have him ending up with the Vikings, with McShay putting him 32nd with the Ravens -- despite his colleague's suggestion that there would be "no way" Te'o falls to Baltimore.
WVU teammates climbing: Last week, the majority of pundits had West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith going 8th to the Buffalo Bills -- or later. This week, however, has seen a major shift. All five analysts have Smith going sixth or better, with NFL.com's Bucky Brooks slotting him second to the Jags.
 |
| Tavon Austin is projected as high as No. 8 to Buffalo. (USATSI) |
According to the mocks, Smith is most likely to end up in Philadelphia, which makes sense. Michael Vick is in the last year of his contract, and Smith is seemingly a better fit for new head coach Chip Kelly's offense than current backup Nick Foles.
Smith's college teammate, Tavon Austin, has also been climbing draft boards. Austin is widely considered a mid-first round pick, but NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah has him jumping all the way to No. 8 with the Bills. The pick makes sense -- especially now that the Bills have locked up quarterback Kevin Kolb -- but the consensus seems to be that Austin will fall to the Bucs at 13 or, more likely, the playmaker-deficient Rams at 16.
Joeckel holding strong at number one: Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel is the near-unanimous No. 1 pick to the Chiefs, with only Brooks differing. Instead, Brooks pins Central Michigan OT Eric Fisher at the top. There is still a chance the Chiefs can trade the pick away, but chances are they'll be left with a safe pick up top.
Floyd could tumble: An interesting player to watch draft day will be Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. Due to team needs, it's entirely possible Floyd goes third to the Raiders -- or not until the middle of the first round. The Raiders need defensive linemen -- though it's also possible they nab cornerback Dee Milliner at three. If that happens, Floyd could fall.
However, the Raiders could be taking Milliner (or Star Lotulelei or Dion Jordan) out of necessity, because, as Rob Rang suggests, Floyd could go second overall to the Jags -- especially since he's seen as a "safe" pick with a high ceiling.
Buffalo trade: An interesting theory posited by Fairbanks is a late-first round Bills trade with the Packers, with Buffalo taking EJ Manuel. The Bills had bandied about taking a quarterback with the No. 8 pick, but the signing of Kevin Kolb seemingly squashed those ideas. Kolb is certainly not the answer for the future, but are any quarterbacks in this draft good enough to take eighth besides Smith?
Probably not, which makes Buffalo using a late first round pick on Manuel (or Ryan Nassib or Matt Barkley) plausible, given that they don't want to be forced into sweating out the remainder of the first round and early second and risk seeing all their quarterback targets get plucked off the board.
Still, the connection between new Bills head coach Doug Marrone and Nassib can't be overstated, given their past at Syracuse. The Bills have the 41st overall pick -- chances are Nassib will still be around, and if he is, expect Buffalo to grab him.
