[Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette]

The sinuous path of Oliver Martin’s recruitment has reached its end with Martin’s Michigan pledge last evening. Martin seemed like he might commit to Michigan at any time this past fall; after appearing to be a Notre Dame lean, 247’s Crystal Ball moved in favor of Michigan before moving back to Notre Dame and finally ending solidly in favor of Michigan. Crootin! With all the buzz around his name, I decided to look for a full game to scout. Thanks to Friday Night Lights’ youtube account, we’re able to take a look at the 4A state title game.

It’s still better to have a full game than a highlight tape to scout, but there are times—as happened here—where there are extenuating circumstances that limit a player’s productivity. Dowling bracketed Martin all game, and it wasn’t until late in the second half that West would try to duplicate the one successful target they had in the second quarter by having Martin run deep ins. On top of that, Dowling’s pass rush was too much for West HS; their QB often found himself scrambling away from one or two un/partially-blocked defenders and flipping the ball to a nearby safety valve. Even so, there were impressive parts of Martin’s game worth noting.

[Note: Martin’s typically lined up at the bottom of the screen. The easiest way to spot him, though, is to find the guy in the knee-high white socks.]

[Hit THE JUMP for Martin’s scouting report]

As I look through my notes, the thing that came up most often was what a great route runner Martin is. His double moves threw off defenders and he did an excellent job getting in and out of his breaks. At 1:32 he breaks down as if he’s going to run an out, then takes off on a fly route. He does the same thing at 3:26 and again leaves the corner a step behind. He runs a great curl at 3:58, but the throw was so late that the corner had time to get a hand in front and break it up. If you’re into crisp cuts, check out the routes he runs at 4:11, 4:22 (ouch), and 6:42 (in which he leaves a safety miles away).

The tired stereotype of a receiver who runs his routes with precisions includes the implicit assumption that he has cultivated that set of skills because he isn’t fast enough to just fly by the opposition; that’s not true for Martin. The best example of Martin at top speed is at the 2:00 mark, where the defender has outside leverage on Martin and can do nothing more than watch him speed past. He does it again at 4:51, this time getting inside both the corner and safety.

Martin did a nice job when the ball did eventually come his way. He catches a well-placed ball on an in at 2:17, showing good field awareness as it relates to placement of defenders by turning and lowering his pads in an attempt to squeeze through converging players. Seeing his QB in trouble, he works his way back to a desperation toss at 5:02 and almost makes an incredible one-handed grab. West HS’s OC seemed to realize that running Martin on an in from the outside when they lined up in trips to his side resulted in Martin being open over the middle every time. The third time in a row West did this resulted in a Martin reception on a ball that was a little low and behind.

When not running a route, Martin’s blocking was a mixed bag. He came out of the gate strong (see 1:09), but there were a couple of times where he tried to get a piece of someone in a manner that could have been flagged for a block in the back (1:18). Some blocks were bad (3:15) and some were pretty good (6:35). I think he’ll be a serviceable blocker if he adds some strength and works on technique (as any freshman would have to), but his route-running and hands are much higher on his list of strengths.

Martin was also very involved on special teams. Another example of his speed comes at 00:34, a play where Martin waits a second for his blocks to get established, hits the hole, and is gone. If you’re wondering why there are extra points sprinkled throughout the highlight film it’s because Martin is West’s holder and, uh, he held the snaps down. There were no snaps that he had a problem with. (Note to self: read up on scouting holders. Actually, find out if there’s anything out there to read on scouting holders.)

Harbaugh and Hamilton and Drevno and whoever else might help coach receivers next season have a nice piece of clay to mold. Martin’s sure-handedness, speed, and technical skill make him a great fit for the slot, particularly if the staff carries through with their purported increase in utilization of spread concepts.