Does Te'o get his job back?

[SDFan]

IMO, once they clear him to practice and play- he will again be the starter. Conner never nailed down a starting job in Indy for a reason- and was brought in exactly as insurance for a situation like this. Since the team is secretive about injury severity, this could be anything from sprain, hairline crack to needing surgery and rehab before practicing again. Te'o had screws placed in his foot last year and came back to play IIRC, and English did that a couple seasons back too. The team DOES seem quick to IR guys now, but has not with Te'o so I do expect him back at some point.

[Yubaking]

Te'o's been more productive in 3 games this season than English was in his career. English is more in Mouton's arena.

English underperformed as a first round pick, but he was better for us than Mouton. Te'o has been okay for us and can still get better, but he certainly does not look worthy of the trade up to get him when compared to Alonso, Bostic and Minter when all 4 players were on the board and we were 8 picks from being able to get one of them without having to give up anything.

[Yubaking]

Q has already corrected you on Mark/Melvin, and I'm not sure it's worth correcting you on Joe/Jarret. (Ironically, the one difficult name, Jerry Attaochu, you got correct. )

But a few points that should be highlighted:

(1) No one on this board (that I'm aware of) values Te'o more highly than Ingram. Te'o is talented and has played well, but his backup, Conner, is pretty good, too. Plus, ILB is not a premium position as OLB is.

(2) Ingram is much better than Phillips ever was. Ingram is the best OLB we've had since pre-injury Merriman.

(3) Everybody (including Jarret Johnson) knows Jarret Johnson is not going to be a Charger next year, so it's not a very bold prediction. This is why Tourek Williams is on the roster, as the team has been grooming him as Johnson's replacement next season.

Welcome to the Board, btw.

Ingram is not "much better than Phillips ever was". To this point in his career, he is not nearly as good as Phillips was. Maybe he will be as good or better someday and I hope that happens, but he has not reached that point yet. He looked great against Seattle and I think he has the potential to be better than Phillips was for us, but that was one game and now he is injured--again.

Seriously, I get that you and others don't like anything about Phillips, but Ingram has 3 sacks in 22 games played in his career. That number, 3, is the same number as the number of seasons in which Phillips has had double digit sack totals (10+ sacks). Only in the most bizarre of fantasy realms could you even dream that Ingram has performed as well as Phillips much less better than him.

When I have commented before about posters not being objective in their comments about Phillips as a football player, this is what I am talking about. Crap, I don't even particularly like Phillips and I keep ending up as the comparative #1 pro-Phillips poster on this forum because seemingly nobody here comments about him in an objective fashion.

[Formula 21]

I'm no longer convinced that JJ won't be back next year. He's still solid at what he does. And as well as Freeney is playing, I suspect they bring him back too.

[sandiego17]

English underperformed as a first round pick, but he was better for us than Mouton.

Hell of an endorsement. Pretty much everyone was better than Mouton.

[QSmokey]

I'm no longer convinced that JJ won't be back next year. He's still solid at what he does. And as well as Freeney is playing, I suspect they bring him back too.

I'm not sure they will be able to bring both of them back. We've got bigger fish to fry, IMO (Flowers, Wright, to name two). JJ/Freeney might be a luxury we just can't afford.

[Panama]

Ingram is not "much better than Phillips ever was". To this point in his career, he is not nearly as good as Phillips was. Maybe he will be as good or better someday and I hope that happens, but he has not reached that point yet. He looked great against Seattle and I think he has the potential to be better than Phillips was for us, but that was one game and now he is injured--again.

Seriously, I get that you and others don't like anything about Phillips, but Ingram has 3 sacks in 22 games played in his career. That number, 3, is the same number as the number of seasons in which Phillips has had double digit sack totals (10+ sacks). Only in the most bizarre of fantasy realms could you even dream that Ingram has performed as well as Phillips much less better than him.

When I have commented before about posters not being objective in their comments about Phillips as a football player, this is what I am talking about. Crap, I don't even particularly like Phillips and I keep ending up as the comparative #1 pro-Phillips poster on this forum because seemingly nobody here comments about him in an objective fashion.

Ok, yes, apologies to chris9341 -- to Shawn Phillips fanboys and stats-obsessed geeks, Ingram is not better than Phillips ever was. But to people who have played the game of football and/or actually know the game of football, Ingram is much better than Phillips ever was. Phillips began his career as a promising pass-rush specialist who was a real liability against the run. He did eventually become decent against the run, and he got a lot of sacks, but he was rarely disruptive in the backfield and would disappear for long stretches, especially against good OTs. Ingram's sack numbers may not be impressive, but he is a disruptive force against both the run and the pass and must be accounted for on every play. Football people value this more than stats-padders like Phillips, but there's no convincing a fanboy.

[Yubaking]

Premature topic but let's say Conner plays like he did in preseason. Does Te'o get put back into the lineup or does Conner just grab the job and hold onto it? Love the way Conner plays. Hopefully it translates to regular season but I don't see why it wouldn't. He's had good seasons before.

To me, when Conner has played, he has looked more impressive than Te'o.

I want to hope that non-football considerations do not cloud the issue regarding which player plays and that it will be based solely on which player is better. If that is the case and Conner plays like he did in the preseason, I would start Conner over Te'o even if Te'o is fully healthy.

Obviously, though, the concern is that team management does not want to look bad when it comes to Te'o. First, they traded up to get him when 3 other top ILBs were on the board and we were 8 picks from getting one of them. One of those other ILBs, Alonso, then went on to have a strong rookie season. Bostic looks good in Chicago. And Te'o has been injured quite a bit. So the whole trade up already seems questionable and it only gets worse if Te'o ends up getting beat out by a 7th round draft pick.

While people have compared the Te'o trade up to the Attaochu trade up, I think they are different in that Attaochu was seen by most as the last top level pass rusher still on the board, which justifies that trade up. In the case of the Te'o trade up, it is difficult to escape the fact that the top 4 ILBs were taken within a 12 pick range and that the one we took has not been the top performer of the group even though we traded up to get him. Also, the trade up was questioned at the time of the pick, whereas nobody really questioned the trade up for Attaochu.

If Conner plays over Te'o, that would cast Telesco's trade up and selection in a very negative light, so your hypothetical (which I don't necessarily think is very hypothetical at all given what Conner has shown us so far) would appear to create a bit of a touchy situation for the team in terms of which player should start.

[sandiego17]

Ok, yes, apologies to chris9341 -- to Shawn Phillips fanboys and stats-obsessed geeks, Ingram is not better than Phillips ever was. But to people who have played the game of football and/or actually know the game of football, Ingram is much better than Phillips ever was. Phillips began his career as a promising pass-rush specialist who was a real liability against the run. He did eventually become decent against the run, and he got a lot of sacks, but he was rarely disruptive in the backfield and would disappear for long stretches, especially against good OTs. Ingram's sack numbers may not be impressive, but he is a disruptive force against both the run and the pass and must be accounted for on every play. Football people value this more than stats-padders like Phillips, but there's no convincing a fanboy.

Sacks aren't the only measure of defensive performance. But than again, sacks. Is Phillips better than Seau? I mean, sacks. How many seasons did Seau get 1 or zero sacks, 8? 9? Seau never got 8, Phillips has three season in double digits man, watch the games panama! Only in some bizarre realm can you consider that Seau performed as well as Phillips, much less better than him.

[Formula 21]

I'm not sure they will be able to bring both of them back. We've got bigger fish to fry, IMO (Flowers, Wright, to name two). JJ/Freeney might be a luxury we just can't afford.

Well they'd have to take old guy contracts, but it would allow us to not have to find another OLB in the draft next year. Agreed, we have to keep the dbacks signed.

[Panama]

To me, when Conner has played, he has looked more impressive than Te'o.

I want to hope that non-football considerations do not cloud the issue regarding which player plays and that it will be based solely on which player is better. If that is the case and Conner plays like he did in the preseason, I would start Conner over Te'o even if Te'o is fully healthy.

Obviously, though, the concern is that team management does not want to look bad when it comes to Te'o. First, they traded up to get him when 3 other top ILBs were on the board and we were 8 picks from getting one of them. One of those other ILBs, Alonso, then went on to have a strong rookie season. Bostic looks good in Chicago. And Te'o has been injured quite a bit. So the whole trade up already seems questionable and it only gets worse if Te'o ends up getting beat out by a 7th round draft pick.

While people have compared the Te'o trade up to the Attaochu trade up, I think they are different in that Attaochu was seen by most as the last top level pass rusher still on the board, which justifies that trade up. In the case of the Te'o trade up, it is difficult to escape the fact that the top 4 ILBs were taken within a 12 pick range and that the one we took has not been the top performer of the group even though we traded up to get him. Also, the trade up was questioned at the time of the pick, whereas nobody really questioned the trade up for Attaochu.

If Conner plays over Te'o, that would cast Telesco's trade up and selection in a very negative light, so your hypothetical (which I don't necessarily think is very hypothetical at all given what Conner has shown us so far) would appear to create a bit of a touchy situation for the team in terms of which player should start.

While Conner has played very well when he's had opportunities, he has not played better than Te'o has this season. When Te'o returns from injury, he will be the starter, not because of his draft status but because he is the better player.

[sandiego17]

While Conner has played very well when he's had opportunities, he has not played better than Te'o has this season. When Te'o returns from injury, he will be the starter, not because of his draft status but because he is the better player.

Unless you've already made up your mind and cannot be objective. Is there even a question that he has been the best ILB this season? I like how the excuse of 'looking bad' are made, this is the same group that benched and cut their marquee FA signing after one season, but somehow they're now in a 'touchy' situation with a player that's played well?