Jartavius Martin is one of those players that popped in the 2022 season and surprised a lot of folks with his versatility and ability to play just about anywhere on the back end. Martin has started games at cornerback, nickel, and safety, and played in a scheme with Brett Bielema that allowed him to play position-less on the back end. 

Martin can sure up some of his coverage discipline, but outside of that I don’t see a whole lot that he can get better at. His frame is going to limit his tackling ability, so I don’t think that improves. It’s really all in his discipline in coverage, which will make him a good role player in the league for the next decade. 

Illinois Safety Jartavius Martin has excellent coverage skills. He can line up man to man in the slot or cover large amounts of space in deep center. pic.twitter.com/UA7UtXrZSk

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) January 27, 2023

Has done a solid job over his career with staying healthy. 

Jartavius Martin’s scouting report

Athletic Ability (40)

Speed/Athleticism: 15

• Speed (8/10) – Very good athlete. Looks great moving around in the open field. Very solid speed – should be among the fastest in his position group. 
• Lateral Quickness (4/5) – Moves very well laterally. Looks like a solid defender in zone/read situations. Has solid acceleration off of such instances. 

Strength: 15 

• Upper Body Strength (2/5) – Lacks some upper body strength that would make him an efficient defender. 
• Lower Body Strength (3/5) – Average lower body strength. Shows some explosive ability but not a whole lot of it. 
• Brute Power (2/5) – Not much of a brute. 

Hip Flexibility: 10 

• Change of Direction (3.5/5) – Has a decent change of direction ability. Good, fluid hips. 
• Body Control (3/5) – Decent body control. Average in general, doesn’t really stand out.  

Defender Ability (30)

Tackling/Pursuit: 20

• Tackling Ability (5/8) – Decent tackler, not a great wrap up tackler. Can get players to the ground, but doesn’t stand out in any real way. Missed tackle percentage over the last two years was right around 5%. 
• Space Defending (3.5/6) – Decent space defender. Angles can be bad sometimes, closing ability isn’t great either. 
• Pursuit Angles (3.5/6) – Tends to slightly over-pursue to the boundary – something that might hurt him in the NFL. Can get caught cheating too far and move himself out of the play. 

Blitz Ability: 10 

• Blitz Timing (2/5) – Didn’t really blitz much at Illinois. Mostly a coverage player.  Has two career sacks, accumulated over the last two seasons. 
• Instincts (3/5) – I don’t see a ton of instincts from Martin. Very rangy. Moves himself into plays after the catch to chase plays down decently well. 

Coverage Ability (25)

Man Coverage: 10 

• Coverage Technique (5/7) – Surprisingly quick and mobile in man coverage situations. Really showed a lot of this in the Senior Bowl. Needs to be more disciplined, will peel off of his assignments sometimes when he doesn’t need to. 
• Physicality (1.5/3) – Decent physicality through a rep. 

Zone Coverage: 10 

• Coverage Technique (5/7) – Tends to be just a tad bit early when attacking the receiver, has to time that up better. Played a lot of deep coverage in 2022 with Illinois. 
• Recognition (2/3) – Average recognition, picks up on scheme and play calls every once in a while. 

Press Coverage: 5 

• Press Ability (3.5/5) – Solid long arm press ability. Does a good job jamming. Recovery when he’s beat off the jam is another story. 

Overall: (66) – 7th/UDFA