ESPN

Had the NFL draft been held the day after Manti Te'o and Notre Dame were handled in the national championship game by Alabama, the inside linebacker would have been considered a steal if he was a top-10 pick.

After all, this is a player who was considered the possible No. 1 overall pick last December -- one of the most decorated, praised players in the country during the 2012 season.

Fast-forward to the present, and the idea that Te’o lasted until the No. 38 pick is stunning. The Chargers sent the 45th and 110th choices to Arizona to move up and rock the draft with this selection.

“Great pick,” San Diego safety and leader Eric Weddle said by phone moments after the Chargers' move. “We got better. He is going to help us win games. I like this pick 1,000 percent.”

Te’o became a polarizing figure in January when the bizarre hoax involving a dead fake girlfriend became public. Te’o has said he had nothing to do with the Internet scheme, and the person behind the elaborate ploy has backed up Te’o’s claims.

Fair or not, the hoax has defined Te’o. His once-sterling character has come into question, and there is no doubt it hurt his draft status.

Of course, the title game and a slow 40-yard dash at the NFL combine didn’t help his cause. But let’s face it, if the hoax hadn't happened, Te’o would have gotten the benefit of the doubt on those issues -- particularly since he generated great tape throughout his college career, had great character and improved his speed at Notre Dame's pro day.

With Te’o, it’s all about the hoax.

That will stop, Weddle said. Indeed, Weddle brought up the issue himself.

"I could care less about that other stuff," Weddle said. “I’m sure everyone will think that way here.”

It has been said that Te’o, the butt of national jokes the past few months, will face his harshest critics in his NFL locker room. Weddle said that won’t be a problem in San Diego.

“If he wants to talk about it, we’ll listen,” Weddle said. “But it’s not going to be a problem here.”

I think Te’o is going to a perfect situation for him to achieve some normalcy. The Chargers have good leadership in Weddle, quarterback Philip Rivers, tight end Antonio Gates, center Nick Hardwick and linebacker Jarret Johnson. Indeed, Te'o told San Diego reporters Friday evening, Rivers had already called to welcome him to the team. This is a strong, business-oriented locker room. Te’o will be treated well.

Also, the team’s brass knows how to deal with off-field issues. New San Diego coach Mike McCoy was at the center of Tebow-mania while with Denver. Nothing can match that. New San Diego general manager Tom Telesco was in Indianapolis last season during coach Chuck Pagano’s public fight against cancer.

Distractions will not be a problem.

I also think Te’o will find friendly confines in the city. San Diego has a thriving Polynesian community, and one of the team’s greatest players, late linebacker Junior Seau, was Polynesian. Te’o will be welcomed with open arms. San Diego is not far, in relative terms, from Te’o’s native Hawaii, so that will raise his comfort level, too.

Plus, even though it is not so far from Hollywood, San Diego is laid back, and there isn’t a huge media presence around the team.

Sure, the team and Te’o will probably have to deal with the curiosity of it all early in camp, but that will go away pretty quickly.

Plus, in my opinion, the hoax is over. What else can come of it? Whether he was involved or not, Te’o faced public humiliation, he saw his NFL stock drop and now the recovery begins. He can become a linebacker again.

Te’o is being brought to San Diego to play football, and it’s a good fit.

San Diego is building a strong, young defense, and Te’o should be a nice piece in a linebacking corps that includes Johnson, Donald Butler and 2012 first-round pick Melvin Ingram. Add Te’o to a strong, young line and this is an intriguing group. Yes, Te’o has limitations in coverage, but San Diego will be versatile enough to highlight him on first and second downs, and he will be able to play to his strengths.

It’s been a trying three months for Te’o, but his NFL career is starting on the right track even though it’s from a draft slot several picks lower than expected.

Manti Te'o is coming to the AFC West.

The San Diego Chargers moved up seven spots to take the polarizing Notre Dame linebacker.

The highly decorated Te’o was long considered a top prospect but played poorly in the national title game against Alabama, was involved in a bizarre hoax involving a fake dead girlfriend and had a poor performance at the NFL combine.

Nevertheless, Te'o was highly productive in college and known for having good character. He should start on a promising San Diego front seven.

San Diego gave Arizona the No. 45 pick and its fourth-round pick (No. 110 overall) to get Te’o.

I will have more on this pick later.

 
Darren Rovell discuss Manti Te'o's lack of endorsements due to the fallout from his girlfriend hoax and the linebacker's marketability heading into the NFL draft.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly discusses the expectations facing QB Everett Golson, replacing LB Manti Te'o, and the new playmakers on offense.

The Chicago Bears are the closest NFL franchise to Notre Dame, location-wise. Based on the fact that the Bears have the 20th overall pick in the April 25-27 NFL draft -- and on the fact that the Irish have two former players expected to go midway through the first round -- there seems to be a strong possibility of one of those players continuing his career just 90 minutes from South Bend, Ind.

That's certainly the vibe you get in looking at the latest mock drafts from Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, who both released their fourth versions of first-round mocks this week. Kiper has Tyler Eifert going 17th to the Pittsburgh Steelers, with Manti Te'o landing three spots later in Chicago .

McShay, meanwhile, has Eifert going to the Bears at No. 20, with Te'o getting scooped up five picks later by the Vikings, where he would be in familiar company with all of the former Notre Dame players in Minnesota.

Eifert is up three spots to No. 12 on Kiper's 25-man Big Board , with Te'o up three spots to No. 17.

Kiper says Eifert could add a new dimension to a Pittsburgh offense that loses Mike Wallace, while Te'o could end up a reliable long-term linebacker for a Bears team that currently has Lance Briggs, who turns 33 during the season.

Both players remain atop their position groups in Kiper's top-5s by position , with Stanford's Zach Ertz trailing Eifert and Georgia's Alec Ogletree trailing Te'o.

Notre Dame returns to the practice field Wednesday morning after a week off for the Easter holiday. Five sessions are in the bag and 10 remain, including the April 20 Blue-Gold spring game.

Like every team every season, the Irish are welcoming new faces in several new places. Among the biggest for the program heading into the 2013 season are at running back, center and Mike linebacker.

Here is a look at how those battles are shaping up as spring practice No. 6 takes place today.

RUNNING BACK
This is, frankly, a blanket term for a backfield that will likely feature more than one person at a time throughout much of the coming season. But the Irish did lose their top two rushers in Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick, and with (at least) a strong left side of the offensive line returning, it will be interesting to see how the unit shakes out. Rising junior George Atkinson III has the most experience among returners, and head coach Brian Kelly and position coach Tony Alford have been high on him so far this spring, praising his weight training (he's up seven pounds, to 217) and ability to catch the ball in the slot. Can Atkinson be the typical 20-carries-per-game, between-the-tackles back? Will it matter? USC transfer Amir Carlisle also drew plenty of praise in the same role this spring before the rising redshirt sophomore suffered a broken collarbone March 23. Rising junior Cam McDaniel and rising redshirt freshman William Mahone are back there as well, and the program will welcome in talented prospects Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston this summer, at least one of whom may be primed to make an immediate impact.

From Brett Perotta of the ESPN Stats & Information blog, citing seven signees in college football who will make an immediate impact in 2013:

RB Greg Bryant, Notre Dame

Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick are gone, leaving a vacancy in the backfield and over 300 carries to go around. Bryant is the first top-10 running back the Irish have signed since James Aldridge in 2006. Notre Dame posted a respectable 4.9 yards per carry as a team last season and will return three starters on the offensive line. With returning dual-threat quarterback Everett Golson, Bryant should have plenty of room to work.

CENTER
So much of how Notre Dame's offensive line shakes out will depend on this position battle. With fifth-year seniors Zack Martin and Chris Watt back manning the left side of the line, and with redshirt junior Christian Lombard seemingly back for Year 2 as the starting right tackle, the Irish need to identify Braxston Cave's successor in the middle. Redshirt sophomore Nick Martin, Zack's younger brother, was running with the first team during the start of the first spring practice, March 20, and figures to have the inside track there right now. Nick Martin served as something of a utility man on the second-team line throughout last season. Redshirt sophomore Matt Hegarty, cleared following a November mini-stroke that threatened his football career, should give Martin a push here as well. Right guard is the other open position battle, and if Kelly or position coach Harry Hiestand deem tackle sophomore Ronnie Stanley or early enrollee Steve Elmer ready, there is always the chance that Lombard could slide to right guard.

MIKE LINEBACKER
Jarrett Grace was talked about a lot last spring by the coaching staff but, frankly, just was not needed so much in 2012. Not with Manti Te'o having the kind of season he had, recording seven interceptions en route to a Heisman Trophy runner-up campaign that saw him rarely leave the field. Now that position is vacant following three consecutive 100-tackle seasons, and Grace, a redshirt sophomore, has the inside track to take over inside. Fifth-year senior Dan Fox, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, is capable of playing both inside positions, and fellow fifth-year senior Carlo Calabrese has resumed his role as the Will linebacker after splitting duties there with Fox the past two seasons. No one should expect anything resembling Te'o's All-America-type run from the position so soon, but with starters, and depth, returning at every other linebacker spot, the Mike is the position to keep an eye on during the offseason.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The video has been making the rounds for much of the offseason, garnering more than 12,000 views since it was first uploaded in January.

If hype and preseason projections hold to form, it may feature a future Heisman Trophy winner. If Everett Golson develops into the kind of quarterback he hopes to become, it may eventually feature two Heisman winners.

The first play of the South Carolina High School League AAA title game, as CSNChicago's JJ Stankevitz notes, offered a familiar sight: Jadeveon Clowney obliterating everything in its path en route to the quarterback.

The quarterback remembered getting tossed on the sack -- "like it was yesterday," Golson joked -- but he also remembered the night for something else. His Myrtle Beach team beat Clowney's South Pointe squad, 27-23.

Clowney, a rising junior at South Carolina, is among the early spring favorites to lift college football's most coveted individual hardware in 2013, especially after he capped his 2012 campaign with a hit like this one on Michigan's Vincent Smith.

Golson is quietly rooting for the fellow South Carolina native to become the first pure defensive player to win the Heisman. Golson's former teammate, linebacker Manti Te'o, came as close as any pure defender ever in 2012. But there is a caveat.

"I hope he does, but at the same time, I think I'm pushing for the same thing," Golson said. "I know it's maybe a goal some may say is a little bit far-fetched, but I want to be the best competitor I can be. So I want to see him do great, but I also want to be there at the same time."

Starting at the glamor position of quarterback -- at Notre Dame, no less -- one year after taking his team to the final game of the college football season gives Golson a built-in advantage. A year of ups and downs at the highest level, plus the ever-so-slight comfort of knowing the No. 1 job is his to lose, also gives Golson more confidence heading into his redshirt sophomore season. He is better prepared for this year after admitting to being a bit overwhelmed by the media attention.

"I think I came in and it was probably like six [reporters]," he said of last year's spring game, which served as his first breakout public performance. "I was like, 'All right, it's cool.' And next thing I know, I look up and it's like 20, 30 people. I'm like, 'Whoa.' So I'm trying to watch my words more carefully and stuff like that."

He is hoping his plan heading into the 2013 season goes a little bit better than his team's did entering that 2010 title game in South Carolina, end result notwithstanding.

"Oh man," he said laughing. "Let's just say what we planned to happen didn't happen at all. It was the complete opposite. I guess we had a great plan, scheme-wise. We thought it was a good plan. We were basically cracking back on Jadaveon so we would block him with our tackle and our tight end was actually detached and he would crack back as soon as the ball was snapped.

"But I remember we snapped the ball and he just gets off the line and I don't think my tight end gets to him. So I'm like, 'Awww man.' I know he's coming, so like I'm trying to get out but he's a great athlete and it wasn't really combat from me, I guess. I couldn't do anything. I was at a loss so I just kind of took that one."

Mel Kiper Jr. released the third version of his mock draft this week, projecting that, for the second time in two years, Notre Dame will have two players taken in the first round.

Kiper projects Tyler Eifert to go to Pittsburgh at No. 17 , with Manti Te'o going to the New York Giants two spots later. Kiper has the two back to back on his Big Board, which does not take into account NFL teams' needs. Eifert is No. 16 there , with Te'o at No. 17.

Both players remain atop their respective position groups on Kiper's top-five-by-position list.

Todd McShay, meanwhile, released his tier rankings , which break the nation's top 115 prospects down into seven different tiers.

Eifert and Te'o come in tiers 3 and 4, respectively, with Eifert the 17th overall prospect and Te'o the 26th.

The latest storyline surrounding Manti Te'o has nothing to do with the girlfriend hoax or the national title game. After running a 4.82 40-yard-dash Monday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, it is simply about speed.

Speaking in Atlantic City, where he received both the Maxwell Award (outstanding college player) and the Chuck Bednarik Award (outstanding defensive player), Te'o fielded 10 questions, according to a trasncript provided by the Maxwell Football Club -- one of which dealt with the fake girlfriend hoax and five of which dealt with his sub-par 40-time.

"Yeah, definitely," he said when asked if he can overcome the poor time. "I mean, I have another opportunity to run it. That’s what I’m training [for]. I just went back to train. I will continue to train hard and have another opportunity on my pro day."

Notre Dame's pro day is March 26. Te'o said he has run the 40 in the 4.6-range before, and that he doesn't think too much is made of the 40-yard-dash in general.

"I think there is a difference," he said. "I think the 40 time measures what the 40 time is supposed to measure. I think that’s something that I’m going to get better. The only way from here is up, so I’m definitely going to get better at that. I think, as far as play, I think what’s on the film, that’s the play. Obviously, I can get faster in my 40. There’s definitely two things where I can definitely get better."

Te'o said the combine experience was more positive than negative, and he hasn't given much thought to where in the draft he could be taken.

As for how Te'o has dealt with the all of the attention and scrutiny amidst the fallout of the girlfriend hoax, the philosophy has been simple.

"Avoid," he said with a laugh. "Avoid a lot of the stuff. I think [it’s] just knowing what you can control and knowing what you can’t control. What I can control is preparing for the combine. What I can control is making myself the best player, the best person that I can be. Whatever that is, I focus on that."

Whaddaya know? Our preseason No. 1 is our postseason No. 1.

No. 1: Manti Te'o, LB

Making the case: Before his name became as popular in the gossip pages as it did in the sports pages, Te'o turned in a historic season for Notre Dame. He led the Irish out of the depths of mediocrity to a perfect 12-0 regular season and to the Discover BCS National Championship, where they were routed by Alabama. Te'o amassed seven national awards, making him the most decorated player in college football history. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, coming as close as any pure defensive player has to winning the sport's most prestigious individual honor. He finished with a team-best 113 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, seven picks, four pass break-ups, 11 passes defended, four quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries. He was a probable first-round NFL Draft pick had he chosen to come out of school following his junior year in 2011, and he was a sure-fire first-rounder this April before the girlfriend hoax raised plenty of questions. While Te'o's legacy remains cloudy in some circles, there's no denying the impact that the captain had on bringing Notre Dame football back to the sport's highest stage.

Preseason ranking: 1

The countdown

No. 2 Louis Nix, NG

No. 3 Stephon Tuitt, DE

No. 4 Tyler Eifert, TE

No. 5 Zack Martin, LT

No. 6 Theo Riddick, RB

No. 7 Braxston Cave, C

No. 8 Kapron Lewis-Moore, DE

No. 9 Zeke Motta, S

No. 10 Prince Shembo, LB

No. 11 Danny Spond, LB

No. 12 T.J. Jones, WR

No. 13 Everett Golson, QB

No. 14 Cierre Wood, RB

No. 15 Bennett Jackson, CB

No. 16 Tommy Rees, QB

No. 17 DaVaris Daniels, WR

No. 18 Chris Watt, LG

No. 19 George Atkinson III, RB

No. 20 Dan Fox, LB

No. 21 Matthias Farley, S

No. 22 KeiVarae Russell, CB

No. 23 Robby Toma, WR

No. 24 Kyle Brindza, K

No. 25 Chris Brown, WR

INDIANAPOLIS -- Manti Te'o went through workouts at the NFL scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium with the linebacker group Monday afternoon, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds. His time was 20th of the 26 linebackers who ran at the combine Monday.

NFL front office personnel were looking for the Notre Dame linebacker, who measured at 6-feet-1 1/4 and 241 pounds, to run at least a sub 4.75 40-yard dash.

Missouri's Zaviar Gooden had the fastest time among linebackers in the 40 with a time of 4.47.

To read more, click here.

 

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Those who have watched Manti Te'o prepare for the scouting combine say the former Notre Dame linebacker has shown no signs of being distracted by national media attention that came from his online relationship with a girlfriend that turned out to be a hoax.

"He missed precisely one day," said former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke, the director of football operations at IMG Academy where Te'o has been preparing for the combine.

Read the entire story.

Manti Te'o's Twitter account no longer exists.

The account using the handle, @MTeo_5, disappeared from the social media platform during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday.

A source told ESPN.com the former Notre Dame linebacker will be off Twitter for an indefinite period of time to prepare for the NFL draft. Twitter accounts that are deleted can be reactivated by that person.

Read the entire story.

The timeline of events that have become public in the two weeks since it was revealed that Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend never actually existed align with everything Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knew about his star linebacker's situation.

Speaking with reporters on a conference call Tuesday morning for the first time since the Fighting Irish's Jan. 7 loss to Alabama, Kelly defended Te'o and said he did not notice a difference in the senior leading up to the Discover BCS National Championship.

"I didn't sense it, really," Kelly said. "Manti's a young man that continues to lead, and you don't really see him, because obviously he went through a tough time during the year and we didn't really see anything there that would've set off an alarm that he was under so much pressure concerning the situation. I just didn't see it as we practiced leading into the game."

Te'o, one of two captains of a defense that entered the title game as the nation's No. 1 scoring unit, missed a number of tackles in an uncharacteristic performance that saw the Crimson Tide pile up 529 yards of offense in a 42-14 win.

Kelly acknowledged Te'o wasn't at the top his game against Alabama.

"Hindsight is 20/20. I didn't think going into the game that he was affected by it. But he didn't play his best. Alabama had something to do with that as well, clearly. But I really don't know. It's a lot to weigh on the shoulders of somebody. I think we could make a leap that maybe it did, but I think Manti would know for sure."

To read the full story, click here.

After the NFL and the Manti Te'o questions came football talk, bringing some good and bad news to a 22-day-old Notre Dame offseason that has felt much longer.

Starting cornerback Bennett Jackson had surgery to repair a labrum tear. Starting inside linebacker Dan Fox had a similar operation. Both are expected to be limited to non-contact portions of spring practice, which starts March 20.

Safety Austin Collinsworth is expected to be ready this spring after missing the 2012 season because of separate shoulder and back surgeries. Brian Kelly also sounded optimistic about the playing future of center Matt Hegarty, who was shut down for the season following a Nov. 8 mini-stroke, while cornerback Lo Wood continues to recover from an Achllies tear suffered in fall camp.

Constant leg problems, meanwhile, may force offensive tackle Tate Nichols to take a medical redshirt.

Kelly pegged Hegarty, Nick Martin and Mark Harrell as players in the mix to replace Braxston Cave at center. Kelly said Fox, Carlo Calabrese and Jarrett Grace are the front-runners to replace Te'o at the MIKE linebacker spot, with Kendall Moore and potential incoming freshmen having a chance to be included as well.

The mentioning of Fox and Calabrese means both will likely be back for a fifth season in 2013, though Kelly said the official process needs to still take place.

"We're going to sit down when we get back, as we always have from recruiting, once we finish up our numbers in recruiting, then we start to talk about our fifth-year guys," Kelly said. "But they'll all, as we have in the past, they'll continue to train because they're in school anyway. And then we'll let them know our decisions as we talk to the university, relative to granting that additional year."

Kelly also said he is hoping the NCAA's ruling on safety Jamoris Slaughter's appeal for a sixth year will come before national signing day. Kelly said Slaughter is still in school.