Detroit Lions Management Impressed by Notre Dame's Manti Te'o

Manti Te'o during the Notre Dame Pro Day on March 26, 2013.
Picture Courtesy: Blogspot.com

If you have followed the Manti Te'o saga, and are a Detroit Lions fan, this article may just make you sick.

After a highly productive senior season at the University of Notre Dame, Te'o quickly became the source of plenty of media attention. The reason? Having a fake girlfriend, and continuing the hoax. Te'o has raised several questions as the NFL approaches, but according to Lions general manager, Martin Mayhew, Te'o has answered all of those questions.

"It was great," said Mayhew, referring to meeting with Te'o at the Notre Dame pro day on March 26 in South Bend. "Very smart guy. Very smart football player. Very personable. Great personality."

According to Mayhew, everything is positive when it comes to Manti Te'o, but is he worthy of the number five overall draft pick? Maybe before the saga, but certainly not now. Currently, Te'o is projected as a late first round pick, but several experts are reporting that many teams are removing Te'o from their draft board, because the risk is just too high. Following his tremendous senior season, Te'o was projected as a top ten NFL draft pick, but his saga and a poor showing in the BCS National Championship against Alabama, has since led to several questions.

The Lions hold the fifth overall pick in Thursday night's NFL draft, which would certainly be too high to draft Te'o, but he could be a target if he were to fall to the second round or if the Lions trade down in the first round. Manti Te'o is listed as a middle linebacker, but if drafted by Detroit, he would most likely be moved to outside linebacker due to the resigning of Stephen Tulloch to a five-year deal this off-season.