Mosley vs. Te'o

uaintn

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Aug 2, 2000
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I don't think he is as valuable as the kid at UGA. ESPN just picks out someone to hype as a dark horse for the Heisman every year. He happened to be this year's lucky candidate. Last year it was HB, who wasn't even the best player on his team. It'll be somebody else next year. Manti is a good player and a good linebacker. He is not the best player in college football and was not in the top five, either.
 

rgw

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I mean, if we're talking about making a trade for any one player...I'd make the Dickson for Jarvis Jones trade 100 times out of 100 over Mosley for Te'o. I think Te'o is better at this stage but the area for most improvement would be a dominating Jack LB...our ILB positions are as solid as you could hope for in college.
 

domeronaroll

BamaNation Citizen
Dec 17, 2005
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Demeco Ryans' best statistical season at Alabama was 2003 when our defense was abhorrent. You can rack up a lot of tackles on bad defenses because you're often cleaning up somebody's mistake.
Manti Te'o is a clone of Demeco Ryans, both as a ferocious defender on the field, and as a scholar-athlete off the field.

Ryans graduated on-time and racked up impressive athletic honors:



Te'o graduated on-time and racked up impressive athletic honors:

2012:
unanimous All-American
Lott Trophy
Nagurski Trophy
Butkus Award
Lombardi Award
Bednarik Award
Maxwell Award
Walter Camp Player of the Year
Heisman runner-up

Ryans developed spectacularly as a senior under Joe Kines. Te'o developed spectacularly as a senior under Bob Diaco.
 

FriendlyIrish

3rd Team
Nov 22, 2012
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Te'o reminds me a lot of LSU's "honey badger" last year. His stats are on-par with other solid LBs in America, but they do not stand out in any category except one - turnovers. That doesn't make him better than his peers - just luckier.

Lester had 8 INTs his first year as a starter. He has had 6 in the two seasons since. Has he regressed?

Don't get me wrong, this guy is very good, he is just not the super-star that he has been made out to be.
Luckier? Wow. You have been hating on ND since I have been on this board. I know I am a guest, but I would like to stay. I have received an immense amount of great info since I have been here. But each one of your posts has consistently not made sense to me.

Getting 7 interceptions is not lucky. It means he is an ILB that is excellent in pass coverage, with a very good defensive front that allows him to stay and work in space.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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Luckier? Wow.
Te'o had 7 INTs this year. Impressive, but he had ZERO his previous three seasons. Why the huge leap in stats? Did he become infinitely better this year?

You have been hating on ND since I have been on this board. I know I am a guest, but I would like to stay. I have received an immense amount of great info since I have been here. But each one of your posts has consistently not made sense to me.
All of my posts, or just the ones about Alabama/ND? :wink:

Getting 7 interceptions is not lucky. It means he is an ILB that is excellent in pass coverage, with a very good defensive front that allows him to stay and work in space.
Robert Lester has had 14 INTs for Alabama over the last 3 seasons - a HUGE number for a safety. But don't let that stat deceive you - a safety with only 6 INTs over the same 3 seasons is better - his name is Eric Reid (ducks). And several other ILBs are better than Te'o, IMO - the 7 INTs not withstanding.

Is getting an INT pure luck? No. But getting 7 in one season in a 4 year career in which he had zero in previous seasons shows that he got lucky more than once this year, and maybe was a little less fortunate in previous seasons.

Edited to add - just because I do not like Notre Dame does not mean that I do not like the ND fans posting on this site. You all seem to be very level-headed (maybe more so than me), and I appreciate the perspective that you have brought to the discussion this past month or so.
 
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taddy

BamaNation Citizen
Dec 25, 2012
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Te'o had 7 INTs this year. Impressive, but he had ZERO his previous three seasons. Why the huge leap in stats? Did he become infinitely better this year?

Edited to add - just because I do not like Notre Dame does not mean that I do not like the ND fans posting on this site. You all seem to be very level-headed (maybe more so than me), and I appreciate the perspective that you have brought to the discussion this past month or so.
He became much better. He lost weight in the off-season which improved his quickness and he worked on his coverage skills. Pass coverage was a weakness for him and he was smart to stay another year because it paid off. Seven interceptions is a lot for a MLB and a lot of the interceptions were lucky but he put himself in the right positions. Denard Robinson made him look good. :)

A MLB that can play three downs is pretty valuable. When Manti lost his loved ones, it became a story and he also played two pretty good games. That started the talk and the hype and that's when his name started popping up on ESPN's Heisman watch, like #5. From there the leaders kind of fell off after losses and Manti and Johnny started moving on up. To be honest I got a little uncomfortable with some of the coverage, especially with the repeated story about his lost loved ones. It was kind of an off year for real superstars and no one else ever stepped into the picture so it held up through the Heisman ceremony.

Manti is a very humble kid, very spiritual. While I'm sure he appreciated the coverage I would bet it meant a lot less than the success of the team. The coverage was out there but that was the media's doing, not his. I do understand the weariness of the hype. Manti is a good kid like many on Alabama's team

Thanks for the edit. I've enjoyed the board a lot.
 
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FriendlyIrish

3rd Team
Nov 22, 2012
217
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It is surely not impossible that a 4th year returning starter exponentially improved over the offseason in simply one aspect of the game - pass coverage. Manti had 133 tackles his sophomore year. 30 less this year, yet had more interceptions. He drastically improved his coverage ability in the offseason. In fact it was one thing he strongly focused on for months.

I'm sure some of his INT's involved luck. Rarely does an INT involve something forced purely by the one making it. Often it can involve enhanced pressure or a bad decision. I don't have to tell you that. If that is "luck," then I stand corrected, and you are correct.

Also, I'd like you to name me a better ILB not named C.J. Mosley.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
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Yeah, I know but the awards that Te'o were given were available to him.
 

FriendlyIrish

3rd Team
Nov 22, 2012
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LOL. I'm not trying to prove a point here, really. If I was a 'bama supporter, I'd probably want C.J. Why wouldn't you? Why change what is working, really well? My objective was really to show there isn't anyone I can think of that I would rather have than Manti, and I just find it difficult classifying his INT's as luck.

To classify his INT's as luck, we must first define what a lucky INT is. I'm not sure I am capable of that.
 

rgw

Suspended
Sep 15, 2003
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Tuscaloosa
I think LB interceptions are often off tip passes (thanks to the DL) and "gotcha coverages" when the LB drops and the QB wasn't expecting him to be there. In a sense, it involves lucks to catch a tip pass and calling an LB drop which is conducive to picking the pass (the offense has to call something going into his area).
 

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