Packers pick #4A Blake Martinez Stanford LB

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You must have missed my original post where I was talking about coverage, which is the biggest area of weakness for us, TE's and RB's out of the backfield.

I am not saying he is not capable of playing the position at all, and i will admit he is fast enough that if he is really smart and has great instincts he could get it done, however only time will tell.

Ideally teams like to have a faster coverage linebacker than Martinez. It´s possible for him to excel in that assignment with his speed though as long as he has superb instincts.
 

Patriotplayer90

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. I've been spoiled by Ragland highlights. He was behind a talented line who could actually hold their blocks, while I saw them get to the second level on several of the plays in the Martinez tape I've seen.

I saw some good things, and some bad things. He actually looks really fluid in coverage. But I saw him unable finish a tackle or two and he seems to get off balance and fall often. Strange.

What I really liked was that he could hold his own and get off blocks at the line.
 

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I also don't think it was any coincidence that AR was in knee surgery the week after our last playoff game. Yes, There was something uncharacteristically off with his throws n personally I believe he was playing on an injured leg and it moreso distracted him at times.

This is possible, although you likely won't hear it from Aaron or the team. If he couldn't plant and drive , it would affect his throws. Two years ago, late in the season, Peyton went in the tank. Everyone thought he'd lost it. Turned out he had a quad injury and couldn't put weight on his plant leg.
 

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In his senior year, Martinez played almost 10% of his snaps in the slot or at strong safety, so that speaks fairly highly of his coverage ability.

Additionally, while teams may prefer an ILB with more speed, it's not as if Martinez is slow. He's in the 65th percentile in the 40, 77th percentile in the 20yd shuttle, 78th percentile in the 3-cone and the 70th percentile in the 10-yard split. CJ Mosley didn't time too much faster than Martinez and Mosley is pretty darn good in coverage. People get too enamored of the really fast ILBs who are great when they work out but far more often either can't tackle or never translate that speed into actual coverage ability.
 

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In his senior year, Martinez played almost 10% of his snaps in the slot or at strong safety, so that speaks fairly highly of his coverage ability.

Additionally, while teams may prefer an ILB with more speed, it's not as if Martinez is slow. He's in the 65th percentile in the 40, 77th percentile in the 20yd shuttle, 78th percentile in the 3-cone and the 70th percentile in the 10-yard split. CJ Mosley didn't time too much faster than Martinez and Mosley is pretty darn good in coverage. People get too enamored of the really fast ILBs who are great when they work out but far more often either can't tackle or never translate that speed into actual coverage ability.
A guy who can cover in addition to taking on linemen is a winner in my books.

FWIW, he looked better in his tape than what I saw of Jake Ryan. Ryan looks like a good athlete based on his combine scores, but it doesn't really show on the field. Martinez looks more natural in coverage, and gets off blocks better. I want to see some "thumping", but he didn't get near the opportunities that Ragland did due to going against a bunch of passing offenses and being surrounded by a much weaker cast. He looks solid, I can't say much more than that at this point.
 
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Thank you. The more I've studied him the more I think he was a fine pick at the bottom of the 4th and this confirms it again. also impressive is his strong upper body strength (22 reps X 225). With several top ILB prospects having short term medical concerns. I think he was one of the better 3 down Inside backers who can volley for an immediate impact.
This was a A-/B+ grade pick for TT at bottom of the 4th IMO.
While neither LB selection by us was a flashy pick that drew much attention, I'm Liking both LB selections for value in the opening hours of the 3rd day. Our Defense just got better IMO.
 
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In his senior year, Martinez played almost 10% of his snaps in the slot or at strong safety, so that speaks fairly highly of his coverage ability.

Additionally, while teams may prefer an ILB with more speed, it's not as if Martinez is slow. He's in the 65th percentile in the 40, 77th percentile in the 20yd shuttle, 78th percentile in the 3-cone and the 70th percentile in the 10-yard split. CJ Mosley didn't time too much faster than Martinez and Mosley is pretty darn good in coverage. People get too enamored of the really fast ILBs who are great when they work out but far more often either can't tackle or never translate that speed into actual coverage ability.

I agree that Martinez will be an improvement over the other inside linebackers currently on the Packers roster. He has sufficient speed and ability to change directions to cover running backs and tight ends.

With that being said I agree with Pete Dougherty that Thompson should have taken a gamble on Myles Jack.

http://www.packersnews.com/story/sp...kers-should-have-gambled-myles-jack/83968292/
 

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I'm telling you all, Blake is going to be a baller. It would be sweet if this is a Chris Borland like steal.
 

Pokerbrat2000

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Hard not to get a "little" excited about the guy when you read articles like this:

http://www.packers.com/news-and-eve...-to-play/81ef9c8d-d282-49e8-ad87-581e83283939
What he lacks in raw talent..against higher grades picks? He makes up for in heart. i like this kid and I think he'll give Barrington or Ryan a run for their $$ as a starter by playoffs. His tackling numbers last year are very impressive and his coverage skills sound better than any inside LB on our roster.
As always it's not always a direct translation in the NFL, but if he's also coachable his upside is big.
 

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He'll be starting at some point this year, I wouldn't be surprised opening day.
 
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He'll be starting at some point this year, I wouldn't be surprised opening day.

I expect him to get a lot of snaps in subpackages in 2016 but not ultimately turn into a starter next season.
 

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