Notre Dame football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

Notre Dame football NFL busts: Manti Te’o.

A 5-star recruit coming out of high school, Notre Dame landing linebacker Manti Te’o was a huge get for the Fighting Irish defense. And though he took a few games to crack the starting lineup, he came in and made an immediate impact as he notched 63 total tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss while being named a Freshman All-American.

In his sophomore season, he moved to inside linebacker after a scheme switch to a 3-4 base defense and he was a natural at the position. He racked up a career-high 133 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss and became a staple of the Irish defense. That continued in his junior campaign as he had 128 total tackles, five sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss in a big year.

No matter how good he was in the first three years, though, Te’o’s 2012 senior season was one of the ages. The star of a team that finished as National Runners-Up, Te’o had 113 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and an incredible seven interceptions on the season. For his efforts, he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up while also winning the Maxwell Award in addition to gaining a slew of other hardware. He finished his career as Notre Dame’s third all-time leading tackler.

After a poor showing at the NFL Combine, Te’o fell to the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft when the Chargers selected him at No. 38. Injuries have largely derailed Te’o’s pro career to this point and, frankly, he hasn’t looked nearly likely the same player he was in college when healthy. He could still enjoy a late-career resurgence but, with what he was at Notre Dame, it’s hard not to think he’s another case of unmet hype at the next level.