First of all, thank you for sharing all of your hard work. Secondly, I would try and encourage you not to take it personally if some board members are defensive of an administration that just delivered us one of the more joyful seasons of our lifetime.
I think we all assumed that given the state of the roster this draft would be about filling the pipeline with talented understudies. Instead we opted to finish out the roster. Given the state of our roster these finishing pieces were mostly in low value positions. That as much as the player’s themselves has led to the overdraft narrative.
As for Martin himself I’m not all that familiar with him. I always wanted to add a war daddy nose type of player but Jerrod Clark was the guy I generally gravitated towards. @thats2 knowing that Xi wanted a war daddy brought up Martin who he thought was significantly better at anchoring. Then you add in the arm length, the way he naturally holds that much length, his lack of access to high end coaching and perhaps most importantly the why he’d want to be great and you can certainly see how he was a guy that our scouts had conviction. Perhaps not as much about what he has been but instead who he will be.
It’s crazy. Any criticism of Holmes and you immediately get jumped on by a portion of posters here.
Holmes isn’t infallible, he has made mistakes and he will make more mistakes. On paper (and this is just an opinion), this pick looks like a clunker. Gave up pretty much all of their Day 3 picks (high ones too) to pick the type of player that is always found in late rounds and in UDFA. It doesn’t mean he won’t pan out and I’m rooting for the kid but this one is a bit of a headscratcher.
My only question on this pick as I can see what they liked, is how much they gave up to get him. Granted I have no idea what other teams were looking at him but it seemed he was deemed a sixth or even a seventh round pick. If, IF, that is accurate than I think he would still be there in the fourth or even the fifth round.
Overall I like who they added and can see how most of them will contribute from day one whether starting, rotation piece or ST.
It’s clear that they like his upside which is why they gave up all the picks to take him but this type of player has a very low success rate, it’s like needle in a haystack chance here. One can point to James Houston and say “Trust in Holmes” but Houston had great tape and high level traits, you can see it pop off on the film and production to match the traits. Of course nobody saw Houston turning out like he did outside of Holmes perhaps but you can see his path to success on film, this kid looks like the definition of a plug.
I hope it works out but I’d much prefer to have the 4th and two 5ths today, MUCH prefer that. Oh well, hope for the best.
Buggs had 9.5 sacks in his senior year alone at… Alabama against the best competition. Martin has pretty much an empty statline against much lesser competition. How many NT’s with miminal production from small schools have been successful in the NFL?
Yeah, they might have a similar physical profile but production matters. This is a complete shot in the dark by the staff. I would have been fine if they just took him at 122 but to give up 3 fairly high Day 3 picks for him is puzzling IMO but they like him so we’ll see.
I have a feeling that this year is a redshirt for him. If so, won’t really know until '24
I am a Trust In Holmes guy but it also seems his process is to take shots rather than safe picks so there will be a lot of variance with that strategy.
I am fine with half the teams picks disappointing if the other half becomes multiyear starters and stars. That’s the trajectory the first two drafts.
Buggs was a 31 length armed 300 pounder with 12/100th slower 10 yard split than Martin apparently showed at his pro day. Buggs has added a bunch of weight to become a useful piece but I don’t believe he even filled the same role while in college.
I’ve also read in his scouting report that he gets off run blocks well. A nose that holds his ground and sheds blocks is a valuable asset. No running back wants to look up and see a 340lb man unblocked right in front of him.
I just don’t see this on his tape. He gets locked up and seems to have very limited moves to disengage. Hand usage is almost non-existent from what I’ve seen. Seems to struggle with leverage because he plays upright, which really limits his bullrush. He has the physical tools, but I think he needs a ton of work. Gonna be on the coaches to refine his game and get the most out of him.
I really just struggle with him as a third round pick. Especially when they gave up as much as they did for him.
