Prospect Profiles: Doug Martin

Prospect Profiles: Doug Martin

April 8th, 2012

Jeremy Fuchs

Posted in 2012 NFL Draft, Prospect Profiles

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DOUG MARTIN, RB, BOISE STATE

TRIANGLE NUMBERS: 5-9, 223, 4.55

SCOUTING REPORTS:

NFP:

A thick, compact back who is built low to the ground, runs behinds his pads and is a tough guy to wrap on. Martin exhibits a good initial first step when asked to press the line of scrimmage. He isn’t a dynamic straight-line athlete, but he plays faster than he times because of his ability to reach top end speed quickly. He is quicker than fast, showcasing impressive lateral fluidity and balance with the footwork to pick his way through traffic, maintain balance and make defenders miss. He’s consistently able to side-step/break would be tacklers in tight areas. He creates a significant amount of yards through contact because of pad level, balance and overall lower body strength. However, he possesses the short area quickness to plant his foot in the ground at full speed, change directions and accelerate up the field. He possesses a good feel in tight areas, and is natural setting up blocks and running between the tackles. He displays a “plus” burst out of his breaks and can instantly separate from defenders in the open field. Martin likes to finish runs, drop his pad level well into contact and consistently makes himself small, allowing him to knife his way through tight holes and really run his legs through any type of contact. He’s effective on the perimeter as well, setting up blocks pressing the edge and making his way toward daylight. Again, he lacks big time straight-line speed in the open field and isn’t a dynamic power back who can simply push the pile at the next level and run through tackles. However, he plays more powerful than his 5-9 frame would indicate because he runs with such good leverage.

Martin looks natural in blitz pick-up as well and slides his feet well laterally, is patient into contact and can anchor with success. He’s comfortable out of the backfield as well plucking the football and isn’t going to create one-on-one, but is effective in the screen game.

Impression: Martin isn’t a dynamic size/speed back, but there aren’t many negatives to his game as a back. He plays fast, runs low, is natural through the line of scrimmage and has a skill set somewhat similar to former Alabama RB Mark Ingram last year. He might fall a bit because he doesn’t run overly well, but he has the skill set to start in the league.

NFL’s Future:

Inside Running: Doug Martin is a short back with a thick lower body. He runs with a low center of gravity and is tough to wrap up. Between his center of gravity and balance, Martin is a tough runner between the tackles. Martin often gains extra yards because his legs are always churning and moving the pile.

Outside Running: Martin won’t be breaking many 80-yard runs. He doesn’t possess the second gear to hit the homerun. What’s impressive about him is his ability to move laterally without losing much speed. He won’t time well in the 40 yard dash but he should be impressive in the cones. He has a great burst.

Hands: Martin didn’t catch a ton of passes at Boise but he’s got fairly average hands. He won’t be a liability in the pass game but he’s not a guy that will make a ton of plays.

Blocking/Durability: Martin has all the tools to be a solid blocker in the NFL. His instincts are really good in picking up blitzes, he just needs work on technique. Martin has never suffered any major or nagging injuries in his career. Durability shouldn’t be a concern at the next level as he looks like he can carry the football 20-25 times a game with ease.

Bottom Line: Doug Martin is one of my favorite RB prospects in this draft. His intangibles are through the roof. He’s a Ray Rice type prospect that could wind up a steal if he slides out of the second round. He lacks top end athleticism at the position but makes up for it with good vision and instincts.

Buffalo Bills Draft:

Strengths:

Bowling ball style runner, who has a thick lower half and allows himself to bounce off of defenders in a pinball manner…he has a surprising burst…shows good acceleration through the hole…plays with a great balance and run through arm tackles…defenders must wrap him up in order to take him to the turf…has good agility that allows him to have suddenness laterally…really drives his legs through contact, routinely falling forward for an extra yard or two…does a good job running behind his pads and will get low heading into contact in an effort to run over the defender…gets skinny through the hole.

Weaknesses:

Questions about his ability to ever take a play the distance will cause him to drop a little…he doesn’t have the open field speed to pull away from defenders…his size also puts severe limitations on his power rushing as well…isn’t the most fluid athletically speaking, seems to struggle when trying to make defenders miss in the open field…loses lots of momentum and wastes motion when trying to make you miss…another back like Polk who does everything well but nothing great…his size and lack of speed will hurt him though.

VIDEO:

[pro-player width='530' height='253' type='video']http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONBzZDKI7IY[/pro-player]

GiantsGab Thoughts:

Doug Martin is a smaller, but thick running back prospect. Bowling ball. Hard to bring him down. Uses his legs to get more yards. Can push a pile. Good blocker. Does not have great speed. Is really only an inside runner. Won’t break big runs outside. But Martin is the type of back who make a great complement to Ahmad Bradshaw. Is a good inside runner and would replace Brandon Jacobs. Martin is probably a 2nd round pick on talent, but a 1st round pick in actuality. I have some issues with drafting a runner in the first. You can find backs anywhere, it seems. Bradshaw was 7th round. Jacobs was 4th round. Arian Foster was undrafted. So while I like Martin’s skill set, I don’t like his value. I’ve seen him go as high as 21. But if he’s there at 32, you think about it, but I think you pass. In the 2nd round, it’s perfect. But first round is way too high for a back whose skill set you can get later.

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