Brodric Martin was a surprising choice as a third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. While Martin was a familiar name in the draft analyst community, toiling as a nose tackle at Western Kentucky with 31 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2022 didn’t exactly earn a scouting spotlight. Heck, it didn’t even earn him a trip to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine in 2023.
Nevertheless, Lions GM Brad Holmes saw high-end potential in Martin. The flashes of brute power and long-armed strength were certainly there. Coach up Martin’s deficiencies in pad level and quickness off the snap, and Detroit might have something impressive.
Through the first two seasons in Detroit, it hasn’t worked. Martin needed time to adjust from life in C-USA to the NFL as a rookie, to get his body and his mind into professional shape. The de facto redshirt year was something the Lions coaching staff expected. Martin appeared in just three games and saw action on 28 snaps, registering three tackles.
Martin returned for his second training camp in better physical condition. A better diet and more focused weight room work had him looking more like the prospect Holmes believed in. His work during training camp was inconsistently promising; it became very clear Martin just doesn’t have the quickness or speed to ever be a pass rusher, but his ability to anchor when his pads are low and his quick eyes to find the ball were definitely something the Lions could work with.
An unfortunate knee injury in the final preseason game wiped out nearly all of Martin’s 2024 season. Two games, 25 more nondescript snaps at the end of the season–including a start against the Packers–now have the clock ticking on Martin as his third season approaches.
I went back and reviewed Martin’s snaps against the Packers in Detroit’s Week 14 win. He produced just one play that earned a plus rating, with four that earned minuses–all in run defense. Martin immediately raises up too high and doesn’t sink his hips or drive his feet to hold his ground.
The way Holmes spoke about Martin earlier this offseason indicates the GM knows it’s do-or-die time for his pet draft project. Flashing one day in camp, only to get pushed back to the fourth-team DL the next day because none of the flash points stuck, isn’t going to cut it anymore.
“We need to see more of the consistency of the flashes, and he just needs to be a consistent player,” Holmes said. “And he knows that. We’ve had transparent conversations, and so he knows that he needs to be a consistent player. He’s got all the ability, he’s got all the physical tools to be a consistent player.”
Holmes and the team took actions to back up those words. The Lions drafted Tyleik Williams in the first round and signed underappreciated Cardinals starter Roy Lopez as a free agent. Lopez is a straight nose tackle and vaults ahead of Martin on the depth chart at the 0/1 tech position, where veteran DJ Reader performed very well in his first year in Detroit, too. Given the more dynamic interior positional flexibility of guys like Levi Onwuzurike and Pat O’Connor, it appears Martin faces a real challenge to stick on the Lions’ 53-man roster in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit DT Brodric Martin facing critical training camp to keep his Lions career alive
Reporting by Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
