Manti Te’o will finally take the field Sunday for his NFL debut. The San Diego Chargers blog boltbeat.com expects Te’o to shut up the critics months after ZBers.com noted that, “Almost everyone except Breitbart Sports readers was stunned when Manti Te’o was not drafted in the first round. On January 18, Breitbart Sports football expert Cole Muzio shocked most by writing ‘I do not expect that Manti Te’o … will be drafted in the first round.'”
The report initially came from 1090 Sports Radio in San Diego. The Chargers host the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.
Our colleague was proven correct as Te’o slipped to the second round and ZBer.com speculated that the reason he was more accurate was that teams were purposely attempting to sucker competitors into picking him too early to leave other players available.
Te’o only played a few downs in the preseason opener, but the Chargers doubled down by naming him a starting inside middle linebacker for the season. Boltbeat.com was quick to stand behind the pick as well, writing that the Chargers were probably waiting until Te’o was 100 percent because critics would jump on any mistake.
After a college season at Notre Dame that reached the high of him being projected as a Top 10 pick and finishing second in Heisman voting to an embarrassing falls that included getting run over by Alabama in the BCS championship and his fake girlfriend, many will be watching Te’o Sunday to see if he is for real or an overhyped player.