SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Bowl preparation began for Manti Te’o and Tyler Eifert on Tuesday. Preparation for possible NFL futures is also underway for both Notre Dame junior standouts.
Te’o and Eifert have filed paperwork with the NFL for evaluations from the league’s College Advisory Committee to inform their stay-or-go decisions, Irish coach Brian Kelly confirmed Tuesday.
It’s an exceedingly standard step — Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph did it last year, USC quarterback Matt Barkley is among the top prospects to acknowledge doing it this year — and typically the feedback offers players a conservative estimation of where they’d be picked.
“I think it’s important that both of them get evaluated so they can see where they stand,” Kelly said. “But as far as it goes towards a decision, I think that’s only part of it. I don’t want to speak for either one of those guys, but I think we all know why Manti is here.
“If Manti just wanted to go pro, he’d be somewhere else. He loves Notre Dame and he loves what it’s about. The same thing with Tyler. We’ll see where it goes. But this is the time we encourage them to get all the information and then we can make a decision.”
Te’o led the Irish this season with tackles (113), tackles-for-loss (13) and sacks (4.5). Eifert caught 57 passes for 713 yards and five touchdowns and is a finalist for the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end.
Te’o seemingly has the tougher call. He is the No. 13 overall prospect according to both ESPN Draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. and ESPN Scouts Inc. Still, inside linebackers are not usually drafted high and Te’o will be competing with Boston College’s Luke Kuechly and Arizona State’s Vontaze Burfict for top slotting at that position.
Kelly, meanwhile, acknowledged that he’ll offer his best sales pitch to keep both stars aboard.
“Oh, absolutely,” Kelly said. “We want them to be part of the program if they want to be part of the program. We’re not going to hold a kid back if their heart is set on moving on. It’s too hard to be a Notre Dame student and not have your heart in it. We’ll provide them with all the resources we have, but we certainly want these two young men back as well.”
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