06-28-2022, 10:03 AM
Three-dimensional analysis on Martin:
Services: 247 composite #450 (#31 RB), On3 composite #447 (#31 RB), 247 #26 RB, On3 #22 RB, Rivals #14 all-purpose back (5.7 grade, same grade as Arlen Harris, Casey Filkins, Justus Woods, Trevor Speights, Delano Howell, Toby Gerhart), ESPN #28 RB
Offers: Stanford, Texas Tech, Air Force, Baylor, Colorado State, Kansas, Kansas State, Navy, New Mexico, SMU, UNLV, UTEP, UTSA
Production: As a junior against heinous competition (bottom four percent of all Shaw recruits, worst among running backs), Martin had 268 carries for 2737 yards (10.2 yards per carry) and 29 touchdowns (obviously all team lead) to go with 15 catches for 376 yards (25 yards per catch) and 6 touchdowns; he also had four kick returns for an average of 44.5 yards, two punt returns for an average of 28.5 yards, 5 tackles, an interception (off a tip) that he returned 20 yards, and 30 punts for an average of 36.4 yards (only four of them inside the 20 though). This domination merited Class 5A first team all-state in Texas (Collin Wright got honorable mention as a junior and senior, Jack Leyrer got first team as a senior, and Jimmy Wyrick got honorable mention as a senior) and District 1-5A DII MVP. In the pandemic-shortened sophomore season, he had 109 carries for 897 yards (8.2 yards per carry) and 9 touchdowns (team lead in each category) along with 6 catches for 50 yards (fourth); he had three kick returns for an average of 18.3 yards per return. As a freshman, he had 59 carries for 378 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns (third on the team in all of those categories) along with 5 catches for 56 yards (sixth) and 1 touchdown; he also had one kick return for 35 yards. He also threw a pass or two per year, presumably as trick plays and always successfully. In basketball, he was already a starter/sixth man type on varsity as a freshman and as a sophomore averaged 10.2 points (third but within half a point of first), 7.5 rebounds (first by a mile), 2.5 assists (second, 0.1 from first), 1.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks (tied for first) per game. As a junior he took a step back with 7.9 points (fourth), 6.8 rebounds (still first), 2.6 assists (second), and 1.5 steals (first) per game. He hasn't run track since freshman year (personal records of 12.11 in the 100, 25.26 in the 200, 5' 2 in the high jump, 17' 0 in the long jump, and 37' 10.5 in the triple jump), so it's probably best to judge his athleticism other ways, but those are not standout marks even for a freshman.
Fun news! We need offensive talent across the board in this class and it's good to get on the board with a solid running back. I find it disconcerting that running back recruiting the last few years has been more of the extremely high 3-star/low 4-star variety than bringing in guys who are super coveted (and I definitely would not call this offer list super coveted) but Martin is credible competition for Arlen Harris in the future pipeline. The obvious comparison for Martin based on production, level of competition, home state, recruiting profile, and to a somewhat lesser extent skill set is Trevor Speights. You don't see 259+ yard per game all-purpose guys every day, no matter the level of competition. Martin isn't quite the Texas legend Speights was and the pandemic-shortened season renders moot any sort of records discussions, but there's still another year left for Martin to make his mark. For what it's worth, Martin recently suffered a ding to his ranking on Rivals but in my estimation it's nowhere the evidence of plummeting stock I unfortunately observed with our other likely 2023 running back Sedrick Irvin, who at the moment has a similar recruiting profile to Martin but for whom there is evidence evaluators have become very wary following an awful junior season.
Martin's highlights are dominant, as one would expect based on the stats, though they have an odd quality to them. He dominates every play on the tape yet does so in a way that seems to lack speed or suddenness. A charitable read is he's one of those complete back types whose individual traits don't pop but whose combination of size, athleticism, versatility, and vision make him great. A less charitable read is that he looked like a man among boys because the competition stunk. Maxpreps certainly thought it was extremely woeful competition, and the highlights look like the opposing defenders don't know they're allowed to tackle him (Houdini is the best comparison I can come up with of Martin racking up enormous yards in situations where it doesn't seem like it's going to happen). In basketball, he is an all-around, defensive stalwart point guard who leads his team in rebounding despite being one of the shorter guys and makes three pointers regularly. Seems like a pretty encouraging athletic profile given the lack of same on the track, though the football highlights, freshman track times, and lack of big-time offers are enough for me to be definitive that this is not a standout athlete.
My bottom line is Martin looks like a worthy addition who will bolster competition. The running back room is looking like it's shaping up to be deep. I just worry we don't have a difference maker in the pipeline. Harris, Martin, and Irvin (assuming he commits) are recruits in the Speights/Scarlett mold. Maybe next year is the year for a stud recruit, though if this class has 2-3 running backs (remember Nolan Ray out there as well) that might decrease urgency for next year. Here's my hope: that the combination of offensive line recruiting (I have my reservations compared to our high standards but it's certainly been good by Pac-12 standards) and Heffernan coaching leads to good enough blocking that this kind of back really excels. We saw that with Taylor, Gaffney, Jones in 2020, and to a lesser extent Scarlett. That's got to be the hope. Tunnel Workers Union paving the way.
Services: 247 composite #450 (#31 RB), On3 composite #447 (#31 RB), 247 #26 RB, On3 #22 RB, Rivals #14 all-purpose back (5.7 grade, same grade as Arlen Harris, Casey Filkins, Justus Woods, Trevor Speights, Delano Howell, Toby Gerhart), ESPN #28 RB
Offers: Stanford, Texas Tech, Air Force, Baylor, Colorado State, Kansas, Kansas State, Navy, New Mexico, SMU, UNLV, UTEP, UTSA
Production: As a junior against heinous competition (bottom four percent of all Shaw recruits, worst among running backs), Martin had 268 carries for 2737 yards (10.2 yards per carry) and 29 touchdowns (obviously all team lead) to go with 15 catches for 376 yards (25 yards per catch) and 6 touchdowns; he also had four kick returns for an average of 44.5 yards, two punt returns for an average of 28.5 yards, 5 tackles, an interception (off a tip) that he returned 20 yards, and 30 punts for an average of 36.4 yards (only four of them inside the 20 though). This domination merited Class 5A first team all-state in Texas (Collin Wright got honorable mention as a junior and senior, Jack Leyrer got first team as a senior, and Jimmy Wyrick got honorable mention as a senior) and District 1-5A DII MVP. In the pandemic-shortened sophomore season, he had 109 carries for 897 yards (8.2 yards per carry) and 9 touchdowns (team lead in each category) along with 6 catches for 50 yards (fourth); he had three kick returns for an average of 18.3 yards per return. As a freshman, he had 59 carries for 378 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns (third on the team in all of those categories) along with 5 catches for 56 yards (sixth) and 1 touchdown; he also had one kick return for 35 yards. He also threw a pass or two per year, presumably as trick plays and always successfully. In basketball, he was already a starter/sixth man type on varsity as a freshman and as a sophomore averaged 10.2 points (third but within half a point of first), 7.5 rebounds (first by a mile), 2.5 assists (second, 0.1 from first), 1.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks (tied for first) per game. As a junior he took a step back with 7.9 points (fourth), 6.8 rebounds (still first), 2.6 assists (second), and 1.5 steals (first) per game. He hasn't run track since freshman year (personal records of 12.11 in the 100, 25.26 in the 200, 5' 2 in the high jump, 17' 0 in the long jump, and 37' 10.5 in the triple jump), so it's probably best to judge his athleticism other ways, but those are not standout marks even for a freshman.
Fun news! We need offensive talent across the board in this class and it's good to get on the board with a solid running back. I find it disconcerting that running back recruiting the last few years has been more of the extremely high 3-star/low 4-star variety than bringing in guys who are super coveted (and I definitely would not call this offer list super coveted) but Martin is credible competition for Arlen Harris in the future pipeline. The obvious comparison for Martin based on production, level of competition, home state, recruiting profile, and to a somewhat lesser extent skill set is Trevor Speights. You don't see 259+ yard per game all-purpose guys every day, no matter the level of competition. Martin isn't quite the Texas legend Speights was and the pandemic-shortened season renders moot any sort of records discussions, but there's still another year left for Martin to make his mark. For what it's worth, Martin recently suffered a ding to his ranking on Rivals but in my estimation it's nowhere the evidence of plummeting stock I unfortunately observed with our other likely 2023 running back Sedrick Irvin, who at the moment has a similar recruiting profile to Martin but for whom there is evidence evaluators have become very wary following an awful junior season.
Martin's highlights are dominant, as one would expect based on the stats, though they have an odd quality to them. He dominates every play on the tape yet does so in a way that seems to lack speed or suddenness. A charitable read is he's one of those complete back types whose individual traits don't pop but whose combination of size, athleticism, versatility, and vision make him great. A less charitable read is that he looked like a man among boys because the competition stunk. Maxpreps certainly thought it was extremely woeful competition, and the highlights look like the opposing defenders don't know they're allowed to tackle him (Houdini is the best comparison I can come up with of Martin racking up enormous yards in situations where it doesn't seem like it's going to happen). In basketball, he is an all-around, defensive stalwart point guard who leads his team in rebounding despite being one of the shorter guys and makes three pointers regularly. Seems like a pretty encouraging athletic profile given the lack of same on the track, though the football highlights, freshman track times, and lack of big-time offers are enough for me to be definitive that this is not a standout athlete.
My bottom line is Martin looks like a worthy addition who will bolster competition. The running back room is looking like it's shaping up to be deep. I just worry we don't have a difference maker in the pipeline. Harris, Martin, and Irvin (assuming he commits) are recruits in the Speights/Scarlett mold. Maybe next year is the year for a stud recruit, though if this class has 2-3 running backs (remember Nolan Ray out there as well) that might decrease urgency for next year. Here's my hope: that the combination of offensive line recruiting (I have my reservations compared to our high standards but it's certainly been good by Pac-12 standards) and Heffernan coaching leads to good enough blocking that this kind of back really excels. We saw that with Taylor, Gaffney, Jones in 2020, and to a lesser extent Scarlett. That's got to be the hope. Tunnel Workers Union paving the way.