Manti Te'o fails to impress with slow 40 times at combine

Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

Manti Te'o may have performed admirably in his press conference with a massive media horde on Saturday, but he left a little bit to be desired during his 40-yard-dash performances at the NFL Scouting Combine Monday.

The former Notre Dame linebacker clocked unofficial hand-times of 4.81 and 4.8 in his two attempts (later adjusted to an official 4.82 as his best), neither of which were awful, but also failed to show the explosiveness many teams would be looking for in a first-round pick. His official electronic time (the best of the two runs) was later determined to be 4.82.

NFL Network caught the reaction of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh after Te'o's first run, which showed him mouthing the words "4.83" and shaking his head.

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Analyst Mike Mayock evaluated Te'o's second run this way.

"He reaches maximum speed at about 20 and there's no increase from there. I think we saw the same thing there. And that's OK. Again, he's an inside linebacker and you've got to go back to the tape. And there's going to be a lot of questions. He's – quote – only a 4.8 guy. Luke Kuechly, a year ago the ninth pick in the draft, ran sub-4.6. Same position, a little bit different body type and person."

"Remember, Manti dropped 12 pounds. I heard (Steve Mariucci) talking earlier about he thought he was a 255-pound linebacker type guy. Manti was that guy as a junior. He was 255. He dropped 10 or 12 pounds to get closer to 240 and be better in the pass game. And subsequent to that, he had seven interceptions this year."

Ex-Dallas Cowboys personnel guy Gil Brandt hand-timed Te'o a little faster, but still tweeted that the performance wasn't what he would've liked to see.

Via @Gil_Brandt:

Just hand-timed Manti Te'o at 4.71 in 40. Had hoped to see 4.65 from him. Probably tight, under pressure. All eyes on him at #NFLCombine

The 40 (and combine as a whole) is just one component of evaluating potential NFL talent. Even if the Lennay Kekua madness had never happened, Te'o's struggles against the speedy Alabama team in the national championship game likely would've raised some red flags among NFL execs. His average showing in this measurable isn't going to do him any favors either.

Not that combine performance is always the greatest predictor of success. Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict ran a 4.93 and 5.1 at the combine last year. Paired with his off the field issues, the former potential first round pick ended up falling all the way out of the draft and had to sign as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals. After all that, he ended up leading the AFC wild card team in tackles as a rookie.