Where Marcus Martin Wins
First and foremost, Martin, a former starter at left guard for the Trojans, has rare explosion off the snap for a center. He is rarely beat to the point of attack and he uses this to his advantage more times than not. He can use his tremendous length (34 inches!) combined with his explosion to instantly get into defenders frames to move them off the ball. He also crosses defensive tackles' faces with ease as well, and can execute reach blocks.
Some players are only vertically explosive, but Martin shows foot quickness and athleticism post snap as well. He climbs to the second level with rare quickness and fluidity, often catching linebackers off guard. In the screen game, he needs to improve his vision, but he shows the ability to be a heat seeking missile type blocker in space. For a center, his movement skills are rare, despite having very strange results at his pro day.
In pass protection, Martin can mirror with ease and shows the ability to utilize his length and be able to lock defenders out. He has a thick and flexible lower body that gives him the ability to absorb and redirect in both the run and pass game.
Where Marcus Martin Needs To Improve
As a whole, Martin is inconsistent in almost all areas. As a run blocker, he exhibits rare traits but does not always use these traits cohesively to execute blocks. He can be slow to bring either his hands, his feet, or sometimes both, into blocks. His balance is underwhelming as he was on the ground too often.
Despite showing rare movement skills to the second level his overall execution there is lacking as well. He takes poor angles, though he has the ability to recover, and is too out of control at the point of attack, trying to almost ram the linebacker with a head of steam instead of simply sealing them off.
Martin also needs to improve his spatial awareness, as he appeared to not always know exactly where he was on the field in relation to the defense. He struggles to consistently get proper depth in his pass protection sets and I am not sure why, if it is a vision or a patience issue or whatever, but it needs to be fixed as it can leave the entire interior offensive line vulnerable. He is also still growing at the position and has his ups/downs in terms of recognition of blitzs and stunts
Overall Impression
As an offensive lineman, Martin is probably top-three in terms of potential with Greg Robinson and Xavier Su'a-Filo. As of right now, he demonstrates a few rare traits but also shows he is still going through growing pains not only as a center but simply as a lineman. In the end, I do think coaching and physical traits will win and he becomes a solid starter.
Grade: 1st Round