Nick Martin, C, Notre Dame: 2016 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Examining Notre Dame center Nick Martin, a 2016 NFL Draft prospect who is one of the best at his position. Will he be a top 50 selection? Top 64?

Vitals

Name: Nick Martin

Ht: 6-4

Wt: 302 pounds

Class: Senior

Hometown: Indianapolis, IN

Prospect Video (from Draft Breakdown)

Most Translatable NFL Traits

Football IQ/Intangibles

If there’s one thing that’s apparent about Nick Martin, it’s that he’s got a veteran football IQ already at this point in his playing career, and NFL teams are going to absolutely love it. The two-year team captain who started every game he played in since 2013 has a ton of experience, makes all the calls on the line, and has the type of leadership qualities that will allow him to be a quick learner and contributor on an NFL team.

His football IQ is evident when he’s out there on the field, as he’s so technically sound and good in setting up his technique quickly off the snap. He’s obviously well-coached, but that takes a football player who is willing to let himself be well-coached. There aren’t many technical errors when you watch Martin play football.

His ability to make calls at the line, his starting experience, and his intangible qualities will give NFL teams peace of mind when they are thinking about pulling the trigger on him come draft weekend.

Finisher’s Mentality

You need a center who is able to get out in space and make plays, you need someone who is going to be able to get into his pass block set really quickly, but you also need a grinder who is going to be able to finish someone off in the running game.

Case in point:

The type of finish we see here against the Ohio State defender is the type of play that NFL scouts are drooling over. It’s unrealistic to expect it on a play by play basis, but Martin certainly has the strength to make it happen regularly as well as the leverage in his quick set, wide base to be able to put defenders in the ground with regularity.

Area for Improvement

Pulls/2nd level blocking

I don’t think Martin is ‘unathletic’ but I think he struggles a bit on pulls and making blocks at the second level of defense. There were times in the game against Temple where he struggled to identify and get his hands on defenders at the second level, particularly Temple’s stud linebacker Tyler Matakevich. Martin also struggled at times getting a good position when trying to pull block and make plays outside of his box at the center position.

I think there were probably some outliers here, but this was something I noticed that could be the biggest knock on his game at this point, and probably the reason why teams will stay away from him when considering using a first round draft pick on a center.

Biggest Red Flag

Major knee injury (2013)

He didn’t miss any time with it, but a major knee injury knocked Martin out from late-November to the end of the 2013 season, and will be thoroughly checked in the pre-draft process by NFL medical staffs.