Terrell Manning Declares For NFL Draft

by Akula Wolf on Jan 3, 2012 4:49 PM EST

Terrell Manning ended the suspense on Tuesday, as he reportedly declared for the 2012 NFL draft and signed with an agent even though he'd yet to hear back from the NFL Draft Advisory Board about his potential draft status.

Manning, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, has hired an agent which means he can't return for his final season. Some online draft sites project Manning to be a mid-round pick, in the fourth or fifth rounds.

Looking at a couple of draft sites, it looks as though Terrell Manning is generally considered to be one of the top 15 outside linebacker prospects in this year's draft class.

#10 OLB (NFL Draft Geek)

#13 OLB, proj. 4-5 rd. pick. (WalterFootball.com)

#11 OLB (NFL Draft Scout)

I don't know how dependable those sites are but this at least provides some idea of where Manning could land in the draft. He'd have been a big part of NC State's defense in 2012 and perhaps improved his draft stock in the process, but I certainly don't fault him for going pro now--for one thing, he's already suffered two knee injuries (the one in HS was pretty serious, if I recall correctly). And just from a general health perspective, the fewer football games between a player and the NFL, the better.

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Comments

well crap

I can’t blame Terrell, however. Best of luck in the pros. I’m not going to be one of these guys that screams “STAY IN COLLEGE, KID” because to be honest I would probably do the same thing, especially since any given play in football can be your last.

I suspect the NFL meat market will have a concern about durability, but otherwise all the on the field stuff is solid and would only get marginally better with another year in college. It’s a little disappointing he signed before getting an eval from the draft advisory board. Hopefully its because he has good intel from a league source and not because an agent is puffing him up with lies.

by ginger avenger on Jan 3, 2012 5:02 PM EST reply actions