In Charlie Weis’s last season as Notre Dame’s head football coach, he landed a recruit of such importance that his impact on the program is still being felt, three seasons on. Manti Te’o was a linebacker and under Weis, that was a neglected position in a neglected unit. By the time his career was over, Te’o had led the Irish to an undefeated 2012 season, the National Championship Game, was the Heisman runner-up and walked away with more individual accolades than Audy Murphy. Today, there is every reason to expect Jaylon Smith will be better.
To understand how big a get Manti was, I believe it helps to work backwards. Over the years, it seems that his accomplishments, and what he meant, have been dulled. Lennay Kekua fell upon Manti’s senior season like a bag of (cat-)fish filets, and a clearly, only in hindsight, distracted Te’o foundered against Alabama’s speed and physicality. Following the loss, and under the intense scrutiny his naivete invited, Te’o was suddenly maybe too small for the professional game and maybe too slow, even. A second-round pick by the Chargers, Manti’s first two seasons in the NFL were frustrated by injury, though he finished the 2014 campaign with impressive performances against San Francisco and Kansas City.
But when he was Irish, man, Manti was special. In his senior year, he was the face of the Notre Dame program and ended the 2012 campaign with multiple double-digit tackle games, was a first team All-American and won the Maxwell, Nagurski, Walter Camp, Lombardi, and Bednarik awards. In his earlier seasons, Manti set record after record, proving all the recruit buzz right.
Which is why it’s not wrong to say that without Manti, there would be no Jaylon. So what about him? Well, for one, Jaylon started every game as a freshman in 2013, making him the first first year linebacker to do so since Kory Minor in 1995. Perhaps more remarkably, Jaylon started every game in 2014, making him one of only three players to do so.
So, how do they stack up head-to-head? As freshmen, Te’o had 63 total tackles, while Smith had 67, but over three games. Smith had the above interception, along with 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 passes broken up, 1 QB hurry and 1 forced fumble. Te’o had 5.5 tackles for loss, 1 QB hurry, and 1 broken up pass. As sophomores, Te’o had 129 total tackles, 1 sack, 3 broken up passes and 3 QB hurries. Smith had 111 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 7 hurries, 2 broken up passes, and nine tackles for loss. He was also playing out of his natural position.
Whether Jaylon Smith develops the status Manti Te’o did remains to be seen. It is clear however, that Smith is every bit as good as his predecessor, if not better outright.
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