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Linemen dominate early NFL draft selections

NEW YORK — Short on glam, slim on glitter and no sign of Manti Te’o, the NFL draft was still a solid B-plus.

As in Big, as in Brawn, as in Bulk, as in Beefy.

We’re talking a scale-busting 600 pounds at the outset Thursday night with offensive tackles Eric Fisher of Central Michigan and Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M.

The first seven picks were all linemen: four on offense, three on defense.

“That’s a lot of love for the big boys up front, which we usually don’t get,” Fisher said.

None of the teams making the first 32 selections went for Te’o, not even Minnesota, which had three first-round picks. The All-America linebacker’s poor performance in Notre Dame’s loss to Alabama in the national championship game surely was a factor. Still to be determined is how much the fake girlfriend hoax cost him.

Unlike the last few years when bumper crops of quarterbacks reigned, this was pure muscle, and lots of it.

Actually, not a single QB was selected until Florida State’s EJ Manuel went to Buffalo at No. 16 — the lowest since 2000, when Chad Pennington went 18th to the Jets.

No running backs were chosen, either.

As for Te’o, he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds at the NFL combine, slow for a linebacker. He improved at Notre Dame’s pro day, but not nearly enough.

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