NFL Draft Profile: Jartavius Martin, Safety, Illinois Fighting Illini
Jartavius Martin
Illinois Fighting Illini
#21
Pos: S
Ht: 5110
Wt: 194
Hand: 0958
Arm: 3118
Wing: 7738
40: 4.46
DOB: 4/17/2000
Hometown: Lehigh Acres, FL
High School: Lehigh Acres
Eligibility: 2023
One Liner:
Martin is a versatile defensive back with significant experience at outside corner and slot corner, but he’ll likely spend more time in deeper safety alignments at the NFL level.
Evaluation:
Martin spent the vast majority of 2021 operating in the slot. He saw more snaps in a traditional safety role in 2022, including work as a single-high safety. Martin is one of the most experienced defensive backs in the 2023 NFL Draft. He played over 2,500 career snaps on defense, plus more than 300 special teams snaps split between the kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. Martin began his college career as a cornerback, playing outside corner for his first two seasons before sliding into the slot. The redshirt senior is a sure tackler who wraps up. He’s a little undersized but appears to meet the league’s standard for arm length. Martin displays excellent balance and smooth movement skills. He has the speed to avoid being stacked by slot receivers and quickly gains depth in disguised coverages. The former three-star recruit takes proper angles from his deep safety role in run support and flows downhill with good speed. He’s quick to trigger on underneath routes and displays good range and closing speed to deal with threats in zone. Martin is at his best when he keeps his eyes in the backfield and reads the quarterback. As a slot defender, he performs best when operating in a half-turn instead of a backpedal. Martin is a tight end eraser in man coverage. He’s willing to bump receivers and be physical early in the route. While Martin doesn’t miss many tackles, he’s not a thumping hitter. He gets physically pushed around by tight ends during routes and in the run game. Martin’s hips show some segmentation when flipping, and his pad level is high during transitions. The Florida native appears flatfooted at times and slow to activate his feet. He lacks the range to play single-high safety in the NFL. In man coverage, Martin allows separation at the top of stems. He’s quick to declare his hips in man coverage, which occasionally gets him into trouble. Martin is a step slow reacting to switch releases and pick plays in man coverage. His stop-start agility is a step slow, and he struggles to accelerate back to top speed after gearing down. Martin is a good matchup for tight ends in the slot, but he appears unable to mirror and stay attached to wide receivers consistently. The versatile defender has a bad habit of getting grabby downfield, which will draw yellow flags in the pros.
Grade:
3rd Round
Background:
Martin was a three-star cornerback recruit from Lehigh Senior High School in Lehigh Acres, Fla., in the class of 2018. He was the No. 1,495 recruit, according to 247Sports. Martin didn’t receive a star rating from On3.com. He was an unranked two-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 74 grade out of 100. Martin committed to Illinois over Air Force, Central Michigan, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Iowa State, Southern Miss, and Tulane. As a high school senior, he totaled 87 tackles, an interception, and a fumble recovery. The previous year, Martin recorded 38 tackles and two interceptions. He was born on April 17, 2000. Martin peaked in his final collegiate season, earning Second-Team All-Big Ten honors from the media and Third-Team All-Big Ten honors from the conference’s coaches.
