{"id":86189,"date":"2020-04-20T21:52:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T01:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=86189"},"modified":"2020-04-20T21:55:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T01:55:15","slug":"kamal-martin-2020-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/20\/kamal-martin-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Kamal Martin 2020 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Kamal Martin Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position: <\/strong>Linebacker<br \/>\n<strong>Height: <\/strong>6\u2019-3\u201d<br \/>\n<strong>Weight: <\/strong>240 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School: <\/strong>Minnesota<\/p>\n<h2>Kamal Martin 2020 NFL Draft Profile<\/h2>\n<p>After four years with the Minnesota Gophers, linebacker <strong>Kamal Martin<\/strong> is taking his talents to the NFL level. The versatile defensive chess piece spent the majority of the season playing in an off-ball roll, and had his best season to date. Seeing the field for 484 snaps, Martin ended his season with 40 tackles, 18 assists, and 10 missed tackles.<\/p>\n<p>Martin initially joined the collegiate ranks as a three-star prospect. Martin\u2019s versatility was evident from a young age, as the Minnesota native played quarterback, linebacker, and safety while in high school. He originally committed to his home-state school, and it took the Gophers a while to figure out how to best use his skills. Martin spent his true freshman season as an ineffective edge defender before transitioning to a linebacker role as a sophomore.<\/p>\n<p>The move paid off, as Martin put together a strong season in 2017. Appearing in a career-high 631 snaps, Martin recorded 28 tackles, nine assists, and four missed tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, he spent 150 snaps rushing the passer and 156 snaps dropping back into coverage. Martin transitioned to more of a coverage role in 2018, recording 42 tackles, 15 assists, and 15 missed tackles as a junior.<\/p>\n<h3>Strengths<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Played a variety of roles during his time in college;<\/li>\n<li>Looks like a decent athlete on film;<\/li>\n<li>Can drop into coverage and doesn\u2019t look completely out of place in the slot;<\/li>\n<li>NFL build with 95<sup>th<\/sup> percentile wingspan and 80<sup>th<\/sup> percentile height;<\/li>\n<li>Has the raw potential to turn into a defensive chesspiece.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Athleticism has not translated to consistent on-field play;<\/li>\n<li>Jack of all trades, master of none;<\/li>\n<li>Poor tackling fundamentals dating back throughout his collegiate tenure;<\/li>\n<li>Below-average ball skills and awareness;<\/li>\n<li>Slow processing speed when diagnosing blocking patterns;<\/li>\n<li>Indecision on running plays makes him easily blockable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LangHa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harvey Langi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/giants\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Giants<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Jets<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/redskins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Redskins<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection: <\/strong>7<sup>th<\/sup> Round\/UDFA<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line on Kamal Martin<\/h3>\n<p>Kamal Martin is an intriguing late-round option for a team that\u2019s ok with waiting a few years to develop a player. Based on raw tools alone, Martin has the ability to contribute at the professional level. While he didn\u2019t receive an NFL Combine invite, his tape shows flashes of pro-level athleticism and all-around talent. Minnesota used him in a variety of roles throughout his time on the field and he showed some flashes in coverage, as an off-ball linebacker, and as a middle linebacker. Theoretically, he could turn into a solid player with the right coaching.<\/p>\n<p>Martin has the tools, but he\u2019s a long ways away from knowing how to effectively use them. He hasn\u2019t been anything more than pedestrian during his time on the field, despite being more athletic than just about anyone he lined up against. His ability to move into the slot is intriguing, but his lack of ball skills ensure that he\u2019ll be roasted there at the NFL level. He takes too long to diagnose plays and blocking patterns and is a below-average tackler. The potential is there, but ultimately he\u2019s a long-term project that probably won\u2019t pan out at the professional level.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"Dcxtl8-_RjhqxBxcy_OUrw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1189775414\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Dcxtl8-_RjhqxBxcy_OUrw',sig:'j_mb5e8tzXEZQ9PSgpCUBmPcc7qcrqyI0D4OoHuNafA=',w:'594px',h:'402px',items:'1189775414',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After four seasons at Minnesota, linebacker Kamal Martin is taking his game to the professional level in the 2020 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":86190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[5273,61,6457,40],"class_list":["post-86189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2020-nfl-draft","tag-football","tag-kamal-martin","tag-nfl"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}