The pre-draft saga of Manti Te’o is finally over.
The San Diego Chargers traded up to select the former Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman finalist with the 38th overall pick on Friday.
Te’o was initially tabbed as a probable top-10 prospect back in January, but the combination of his highly publicized fake girlfriend incident and his poor performance in the national championship game and at the combine caused him to slip all the way to the second round. He was the third linebacker to come off the board after Jarvis Jones (17th to Pittsburgh) and Alec Ogletree (30th to St. Louis), both of Georgia.
In the trade for Te’o, the Chargers sent their second-round (45th overall) and fourth-round (110th) picks to the Cardinals in exchange for Arizona’s second-round selection. San Diego also chose Alabama guard D.J. Fluker 11th overall on Thursday.
