Wouldn't be the first time a 4th round LB'er played well in the NFL.
We're all hopeful he can come in & pick it up quickly & play well.
P.S. Completely different players but Desmond Bishop was a 6th round draft choice.
Harry Carson will forever be the best 4th round LB ever selected. 9 pro bowls. Think of all the teams that passed on him repeatedly.
The draft is a crapshoot.
My favorite thing about Bakhtiari might be that he pursued off-field music interest in funny Acapella rather than terrible rap.
Packers rookie Blake Martinez off to impressive start
With each passing day, Martinez looks less and less like a placeholder for Sam Barrington and more and more like a legitimate candidate to be an opening-day starter as a rookie -- something not even Clay Matthews did.
Thanks for posting that. I have hopes for Martinez to at least push Barrington.
I hear Martinez already has a bust in the Hall of fame.
Reason to avoid articles about minicamps. This guy hasn’t hit a single person yet and they are already gushing about him. Dumb!
The article is an interesting read, if for no other reason than it's amusing to see the contrast between the writer's efforts to build excitement about Martinez's impressiveness and the tempered quotes from Packer players and coaches. Completely fabricated excitement by the writer. That said, I'm excited to hear Martinez's Hall of Fame speech. I wonder if he will thank his family and God.
Amazing that he gets inducted at the same time as Bert. Two Packers in one class? OK, one and a half.
So far the best thing he has brought to Packerland is his mother
Good comments.
Let's see what happens when they get the pads on.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." - cuqui
Dr._Bob posted:Will she be at the HOF ceremony?
Packing my bags. Canton, here I come.
Blake Martinez brings 'warrior mentality' to Packers' defense
Leads the team in tackles and is playing well.
#Packers LB Blake Martinez cashed in on the NFL player performance pay bonuses, pulling in an extra $384,390.54. It was the 14th highest payout among all NFL players.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) March 14, 2018
Since everyone is grousing about Martinez let's revisit this shall we?
He's not a coverage LB and he never was. He isn't a world beater but he has definitely played above what most expected. He's a plugger and solid at the line. He also plays pretty damn well sideline to sideline.
They drafted Burks for a reason but the guy is frickin' invisible. Has he even been on the field besides ST? I don't know, he's a ghost. Along side Martinez you have a UDFA slab of beef who isn't going to do dick for coverage.
You can't fill all your holes . . . so there is an obvious weakness at ILB. That's why this looks like a different defense if Savage or Amos aren't in the game. So quit pissing and moaning, the guy is who he is and he's been pretty damn solid.
Where is the great Ty Summers? That kid is supposed to have sick speed.
Henry posted:Since everyone is grousing about Martinez let's revisit this shall we?
He's not a coverage LB and he never was. He isn't a world beater but he has definitely played above what most expected. He's a plugger and solid at the line. He also plays pretty damn well sideline to sideline.
They drafted Burks for a reason but the guy is frickin' invisible. Has he even been on the field besides ST? I don't know, he's a ghost. Along side Martinez you have a UDFA slab of beef who isn't going to do dick for coverage.
You can't fill all your holes . . . so there is an obvious weakness at ILB. That's why this looks like a different defense if Savage or Amos aren't in the game. So quit pissing and moaning, the guy is who he is and he's been pretty damn solid.
Where is the great Ty Summers? That kid is supposed to have sick speed.
ILB is one of the toughest spots to find a 3 down player. You need a guy that can cover RBs in the flat, run down the seam with a TE like Travis Kelce, and take on a 330 pound guard and stop the run. Guys that run sub 4.5 that are 240 pounds aren't really plentiful.
Martinez was picked near the end of the 4th round. He is as good or better than you could expect. He doesn't make stupid mistakes. He does make a lot of tackles 6-8 yards downfield, but at least he makes those tackles that prevent those plays from completely rupturing. He's basically AJ Hawk. The problem for Hawk was that he was the 5th overall pick in the draft and, at that spot, you expect something closer to Brian Urlacher.
Yeah I have no beef that Martinez can't hang with Kelce and I DEFINITELY think we're getting value out of him. I don't think he's AJ Hawk, I think he's meant to be the Desmond Bishop of the defense. He needs to be paired with a better ILB with speed and recognition who can clean things up while the DL and Mart occupy blockers and clog lanes. He struggles shedding OL and he guesses wrong more than I would like, but I think he's our best ILB and deserves to be on the field at least on 1st and 2nd down.
ILBs are often only as good as the guys in front of them allow them to be.
I wonder how dinged up Kenny Clark is right now. He started the season looking like he was ascending to Aaron Donald territory but has been pretty quiet since. Is it the double teaming or is he physically limited (or both).
Martinez is not good. He is Hawk waiting for a Bishop to show up. He is easily the weakest link in the defensive chain and anyone thinking it’s going to get better is dead wrong because teams will do everything possible to isolate him and attack him relentlessly.
The fact Martinez is even a concern discussion today is exactly because GB has a functional secondary now and Martinez has become the hole in the defense that can be exploited.
He's miscast in the role he's in now because he's our best LB. They're asking him to be a 3down LB and he's just not that. Bishop wasn't that either. They're thumpers who occupy blockers and clog lanes. The fact that Burks can't get on the field is a monumental disappointment.
MichiganPacker2 posted:ILBs are often only as good as the guys in front of them allow them to be.
I wonder how dinged up Kenny Clark is right now. He started the season looking like he was ascending to Aaron Donald territory but has been pretty quiet since. Is it the double teaming or is he physically limited (or both).
I think Clark has been playing hurt for about 5 games. He went down with some sort of leg issue early, mayb the MN game? He's played through it but the guy is so quiet you'd never hear a peep out of him.
He doesn't look nearly as explosive as he did so I think something's up. He does look to be getting a little better though. He did make some nice moves v KC last night.
And I think Burks is limited as well. Although he did knock the dogshit out of a KO returner last night. I'm glad he did that.
And on Martine. He's a smart try hard player. He's just too short and stubby to be really great. He needs Preston Smith's arms and Burks height.
Martinez wants $6 million a year next year. Should the Packers sign him?
Some Blake Martinez stats heard on the radio today:
Ranks 33rd among ILB's per PFF of ILB's who have played at least 50 percent of snaps.
He's minus 6 against the run which ranks 40th
In pass coverage overall, he ranks 20th among ILB's.
He is credited with I QB Sack and 1 QB hurry.
When targeted, in coverage, he has 27 completions out of 31 targets.
8 missed tackles (which isn't horrible).
He has 125 yards after contact given up with a long of 16
This is brutal.: 87.1 percent of targets against Martinez are completed, that's 10th worst in the league.
Oh, and I have no doubt angry bald man is well aware of the above. I just don't know that there's a hell of a lot he can do about it.
Bishop was above average in coverage. Is my thinking here based on Bishop picking off Minny Brett Favre and housing it for 32 yards driving my opinion? Of course it is.
The fact is Bishop was good enough in coverage that Dom didn’t have to run over support zone to protect Bishop.
Baldy has to run cover zone for Martinez in coverage because he’s giving up an easy 7 without a safety net.
Ray Nitschke isn't walking through the door anytime soon. He's in there because he's the best they have right now.
So Dylan Moses blows his ACL out before Alabama plays a game this year and I’m thinking he’s going to drop to the end of round 1 because he’s “damaged goods” and 90% of GMs are dumbasses and he’ll be there at 32.
But Dylan is going to work and will run a 4.40 40 and put up 35 on the bench at the combine and go away before the 5th pick in the draft and fuck all of it.
“He’s the best they have” is putting a painted target on Martinez for offenses to go after. And it’s going to get worse.
You can't manufacture a guy out of thin air.
And you can’t bitch about the defense when a safety has to run cover in zone because of a coverage liability at ILB. Let’s call it what it is. It’s 11 V 9 on defense because Martinez is a coverage target whenever he’s on the field and he needs help.
24hrs to the trade deadline. Who is out there at ILB?
ChilliJon posted:Bishop was above average in coverage. Is my thinking here based on Bishop picking off Minny Brett Favre and housing it for 32 yards driving my opinion? Of course it is.
The fact is Bishop was good enough in coverage that Dom didn’t have to run over support zone to protect Bishop.
Baldy has to run cover zone for Martinez in coverage because he’s giving up an easy 7 without a safety net.
Bishop was not good in coverage. PFF, for what it's worth, rated him as the 37th best ILB in coverage in the NFL in 2012 which actually sounds correct. He was a thumper who had above average instincts and was strong enough to finish tackles. I see a lot of similarities with Martinez, he's a high football IQ, but he's miscast as the lead guy who gets tasked with covering TEs and backs. Bishop wasn't the lead guy and probably would have similar results to Mart if the roles were reversed. They're a piece of the puzzle that allows guys like Luke Keuchly and Bobby Wagner and Eric Kendricks and others to stay clean and attack the ball.
DH13 posted:24hrs to the trade deadline. Who is out there at ILB?
Now that's a desperation move I might get behind. No idea though.
Boris posted:Ray Nitschke isn't walking through the door anytime soon. He's in there because he's the best they have right now.
That's the same argument that was used to support AJ Hawk around here for years.
The stats above point out that you can't get much worse so why not let Burks or Summers have a go at it?
Boris posted:You can't manufacture a guy out of thin air.
Sure you can. It's called fantasy football. As for Burks and Summers, they might be worse than Martinez. Didn't think of that did you 'ded?
Pistol GB posted:DH13 posted:24hrs to the trade deadline. Who is out there at ILB?
Now that's a desperation move I might get behind. No idea though.
Now this really pisses me off. "Desperation Move".
First off. There is nothing wrong about trying to improve a roster via a trade with value. Ever.
You have so fully entrenched yourself in "We're fine at WR" that you've come to the point that any trade is desperation. You are covering an argument with shortsiighted bullshit.
If a trade is there with value. Make it. And for fuck sakes sakes it won't be out of Desperation.
BrainDed posted:Boris posted:Ray Nitschke isn't walking through the door anytime soon. He's in there because he's the best they have right now.
That's the same argument that was used to support AJ Hawk around here for years.
The stats above point out that you can't get much worse so why not let Burks or Summers have a go at it?
I think we’re all wondering why they aren’t out there in the first place. Martinez is who he is. If you could pair him with oh, anyone, he doesn’t become as big a liability. 6 million? No. Is he completely horrible? Not when he doesn’t have to play 3 downs because there is NOBODY behind him. I would take scrub depth at the trade deadline. Can’t bitch up a storm if there is no alternative. The pissing and moaning about Hawk is stupid and comparing the situation is even more dumbass considering how much Gorge had to drop on defense in the first place. Draft ILB and WR in April but the chances of Martinez going anywhere is remote because there is no one else.
ammo posted:Boris posted:You can't manufacture a guy out of thin air.
Sure you can. It's called fantasy football. As for Burks and Summers, they might be worse than Martinez. Didn't think of that did you 'ded?
Yeah they likely would be. We LOVE ABM and his performance thus far, but for some reason when it comes to deciding playing time then he's making a mistake not benching Martinez? ABM is playing his best ILB, that's not to say Martinez is great, but there's really no solution beyond that. It's telling that Burks didn't play a single snap on defense against KC even though his skill set is supposed to be ideal to combat athletic players like Kelce.
Cowherds show is spending a good deal of the day putting down the Packers defense. Dilfer and Bucky Brooks are botn on board saying they are opportunistic but wont stop a good Qb come play off time. I dont necessarily disagree. I would like to watch them stop someone in the middle of the field. 3rd and long for the opposition is feeling a lot more like Capers defense than what we hoped. Dilfer was really putting Petines overall defense down saying they have always relied too much on turnovers. While a WR would be nice, maybe a Golden Tate or someone of that ilk, a coverage LB would be nicer. I dont know if anyone out there that is a difference maker is really available.