Manti Te’o is a name a lot of people are watching as we head into the NFL Draft, and it now appears as though we now where he’ll be going. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rappoport, the Chicago Bears will be selecting Manti Te’o with the 20th overall pick if he’s available on Thursday night.
Watching @StaceyDales say she believes via source #Bears will take Manti Te'o at LB if he's available. Matches what I have been hearing.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 25, 2013
This is a report that has been bubbling for a while, as the very same Ian Rapoport reported that the Minnesota Vikings are trying to trade ahead of the Bears to select Te’o before Chicago goes on the clock. All of this is extremely interesting as Te’o didn’t have the best of workouts — or the best offseason off the field — yet it appears there’s a bidding war for him and we will see a photo finish style race to see who drafts him.
Both the Vikings and Bears are in need of middle linebacker relief, as the Vikings have no one capable of playing the position and the Bears have no one to play the position. The NFC North rivals have both been linked to Te’o quite heavily over the last few days, and it appears as though we won’t get a definitive winner until later tonight.
Still, the Bears have the edge here, as the Vikings would need to find someone ahead of Chicago who wants to trade down and at that point, they begin to trade into a different tier of prospect and Te’o all of a sudden isn’t the most attractive name on the board.