Manti Te’o helped his draft status over the weekend by acing the interview process at the NFL Scouting Combine, but the linebacker’s 40-yard dash time yesterday was beaten by several offensive linemen.
The Notre Dame star, who was embroiled in a “Catfish” scandal earlier this year, had an official 40-yard time of 4.82 seconds, placing him 20th out of the 26 linebackers who took part in the workout. In addition, Te’o measured in at just over 6-foot-1 and weighed in at 241 pounds at the combine before taking the field for the broad jump, vertical jump, shuttle drills and 40-yard-dash.
Te’o did not take part in the bench press exercise due to a stinger injury.
Te’o weighed in lighter than expected, which led to expectations of a faster 40 time than he turned in.
The fastest linebacker was Missouri’s Zaviar Goodwin, who ran a 4.47. Georgia’s Cornelius Washington and Florida’s Jon Bostic also impressed, running 4.55 and 4.61, respectively.
Both of Te’o’s attempts at the broad jump were measured at 9-feet, 5-inches, falling just shy of last year’s average for linebackers (9-8). To compare, former first-round draft pick and reigning defensive rookie of the year Luke Kuechly had a 10-foot, 3-inch broad jump at the 2012 combine.
Te’o’s best number came in the vertical jump: 33 inches.
While Te’o impressed team officials during the interview process, his relatively poor combine results, disappointing performance in the BCS national title game and the media circus that would come to any team that selects him following the fake-girlfriend scandal could cause his draft status to fall.
It was believed earlier in the year Te’o would be a top-10 pick, but it is widely believed he will now fall into the latter half of the first round in the draft on April 25.