Packers Huddle

Freewheelingutey wrote: ↑

25 Apr 2020 14:43

He will fit in with the rest of the clowns we have at that position, at least everyone besides Kirksey.

Football IQ - He seems play development reasonably well and has shown a good feel for staying leveraged on multiple gaps or in the MOF in shallow zones and not bailing out to cost his defense. Disciplined play. Like what he offers in navigating the box, too — he excels in tight quarters combat.

Tackling - If he's able to catch you flush, he's going to put you on your back. Explosive hitting power in linear contact and will wallop opposing quarterbacks in the pocket as a blitzer. His finishing skills are tempered by his short area movement skills and mobility to effectively mirror.

Block Shedding - Not sure he's ever going to consistently stack and shed to cover multiple gaps but has heavy hands and pads, cracks horns with OL and stun before looking to rip through contact and continue pursuit. At his best down hill and if he's charged with winning laterally, he'll lose some of his pop and effectiveness.

Competitive Toughness - Appreciate his tone setting presence in the MOF. He's got some potent stuns of blockers and tackles alike, his functional play strength is where it needs to be to serve as a dirty work LB. His effort is admirable as well and he should be able to serve value on special teams coverage units as well.

Lateral Mobility - He's not super fluid and shows some tightness in his hips during zone drops or when trying to scrape and flow laterally. Not sure you'd want him to try to lean up for more mobility either, just let him trigger down hill and protect him with rangy LBs in the rest of the group if you want him on run D.

Coverage Skills - Little value here. He's smart enough to not chase routes in front of his face and has some reach at his disposal but he's very linear and doesn't have the same appeal when he's tasked with going anywhere other than forward. Wouldn't endorse a role matching up with backs or TEs or slot receivers in man.

Gap Shooting Ability - Some false steps rob him of ability to quickly drive down hill — he's more of a build up speed player and his quickness isn't where it needs to be to have him serve a high impact role here. There's good processing and he gains ground effectively out of his read steps but won't make a ton of splash plays on the other side of the LOS.

Feet/COD - Not his most appealing quality. He struggles when he has to plant and drive or push himself in any direction, even forward. Hip tightness robs him of steep range of motion in the lower half, which then in turn cuts down on his ability to transition quickly or take effective drop step.

Flexibility - He's a straight line player, first and foremost. Appreciate his even keeled approach to other reps and he won't overextend himself or play recklessly — but that just means that the range and dynamic play is watered down to only the most basic of reps as a finisher or as a blitzer.

First Step Explosiveness - While his transition out of read step isn't the most explosive, it doesn't take him long to really generate some power in short spaces once he's established his momentum out of his stance. Has ability to crash through late blocks or contact due to force produced, which comes in useful when triggering into A or B gaps.

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Best Trait - Competitive Toughness

Worst Trait - Flexibility

Best Film - Nebraska (2019)

Worst Film - Iowa (2019)

Red Flags - None

Player Summary - Kamal Martin projects as an inside linebacker in an odd front system, where he can play the role of a downhill thud linebacker and plug up gaps. Martin appears to lack the mobility and range to be a sufficient defender in space at the NFL level and as such, pairing him with another ILB and asking him to attack gaps down hill will keep him in his wheelhouse. This is a potential early down defender at the NFL level who should by no means be regularly on the field for 3rd and 6+.

Pros: Kamal aligns as a 4-3 OLB for the Gopher defense. He brings average reactive athleticism to the LB position. He has good length and a sufficient amount of range which helps him be effective when dropping in space against the pass. When he has to run in a straight line per se, he has shown the ability to be effective. As a rusher inside or when he has to carry a RB or TE up the seam. He also can influence passing windows with his good length when he is flexed out over a slot WR. He shows flashes of using his good length to stack and shed inside, and other times when he struggles to disengage. His play speed increases when the play has determined and he only has to run in a straight line, I.e. as a designed pass rusher or blitzer inside. He projects as a sufficient 4 phase special teams player that will need to carve out a role in this capacity to roster for an NFL team.

Cons: He doesn't play as violent or as deliberate as I’d like to see from my LBs. He shows some indecision and I’d like to see him be more consistent at playing downhill. He is not a dynamic athlete in space. He has average change of direction and lateral agility. As I mentioned, his play speed increases when the play has declared and he only has to pull the trigger and go. I have real questions about his mental quickness to process which seemingly slows him down even more. He is often fooled on misdirections and RPOs and struggles to locate the football at times. He diagnoses slow, but has some redeeming value in his straight line speed and range. As a man coverage player, he will struggle. I’d also like to see him more efficient as a tackler.

Updated: 01/03/2020

Player Bio
Martin earned first-team all-state and Minnesota Mr. Football finalist honors as a senior quarterback (877 passing yards) and defensive back (13 pass breakups) at Burnsville High School. He settled in at linebacker pretty quickly for the Gophers, however, starting once in 13 appearances as a true freshman (10 tackles, 0.5 sack, one interception). Martin started nine of 12 games played in both his sophomore (42 tackles, 6.5 for loss, two sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles) and junior (59 tackles, 3.5 for loss, two pass breakups) campaigns. He was suspended for the team's 2018 bowl game, though, as well as the 2019 season opener for violating team rules. Martin had a knee injury his senior year which limited him to eight games (seven starts), but he still managed to earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors with 66 tackles, 2.5 for loss, one sack, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

Overview
Angular linebacker with decent straight-line twitch who takes too long to diagnose and flow, making him a viable block for climbing linemen. He plays upright and a little stiff in his scrapes and doesn't find his run fits as efficiently as he needs to. He can gather and wrap as a tackler, but will struggle to finish elusive backs in the open field and he's unimpressive as a passing-down participant. Martin's lack of early play recognition and elusive flow to ball might push him outside as a 4-3 SAM option.
Strengths
Good upper-body turn to slip blocks
Triggers for adequate close-out burst to tackle
Late punch and slide to play off blocks
Will fill and spill runners into teammates' grasp
Unflinching and wide-eyed in the hole
Accurate target points to finish as tackler
Provides punt/kick coverage potential
Weaknesses
Slow to diagnose and flow allowing blockers to climb up to him
Doesn't play with enough knee bend
Content from second level with sparse downhill production
Lateral movement and change of direction is a little tight
Lacks feel for blocking schemes and optimal entry point
Plays under the block, taking himself out of contention
Coverage movement in space is a little labored

YoHoChecko wrote: ↑

25 Apr 2020 14:53

I definitely wanted a LB that can play against the run, but a guy who is neither athletic, nor does he make many plays "downhill" is not what I had in mind. Sounds like a guy who has great gap discipline to make the tackle after the short yardage first down has been converted.

I'll watch the highlights and tapes and stuff later tonight or tomorrow. But the write-ups are kind of brutal.