Here’s something I never thought I would say in my entire life. I think Detroit Lions fans are a little spoiled with draft picks. Since Brad Holmes became the general manager for the Lions he’s made 23 draft picks. Most of those picks have either become starters or have become players that get a significant amount of playing time.
So it’s understandable that after a while, you become accustom to that just being the status quo and anything other than that is a failure. But that’s just not how this all works. Back in April when I was still with Pride of Detroit, I wrote about how fans should temper their expectations of draft picks going forward due to the Lions being a good team now.
The general idea behind that piece was that since the Lions are good now, they have the opportunity to both draft players that can make an impact right away and draft players that they can take their time with and won’t have to shove out onto the field right away like they did in 2021 and 2022.
Obviously they drafted the good players. Sam LaPorta is having one of the greatest rookie tight end seasons in NFL history, Jahmyr Gibbs is a weapon, Brian Branch is already a legit nickel corner in the NFL and Jack Campbell is pretty good when he plays his own position. They also showed that they can draft players they want to take their time with.
Brodric Martin is that guy. The Lions traded up to the third-round to drafted Martin out of Western Kentucky. I totally understand how that could register in your head that he’s a secret superstar and that since he got picked so high and traded up for, the only possible outcome is that he starts and/or plays every game. That’s not happening.
It’s not because he’s a draft bust. That’s not what is happening here. It’s because Martin is a very raw project with a pretty high ceiling and he’s just not ready yet.
Martin has all the stuff you’re looking for in a body and athleticism profile. He’s 6-foot-5 and 331 pounds. He’s a mountain of a man, but doesn’t move like one. His quick twitch ability and is hands are what really show up on tape.