QB1 to the NFL, How Netflix could shape the NFL Draft

Season 1: Tate Martell, Quarterback, Miami (Ohio State)

Entering the first season of ‘QB1: Beyond The Lights,’ Tate Martell had to be at the top of the list for people to feature on the show. His fiery personality made for good TV while his play backed up the talk, being the No. 5 high school quarterback on 247Sports. While at Bishop-Gorman, Martell went undefeated over three seasons, becoming a three-time national champion in the process while establishing himself as one of the country’s premier dual-threat prospects.

However, that took a quick change of direction once Martell made his way to Columbus, Ohio after committing to Ohio State. In 2017, the Buckeyes chose to redshirt Martell due to having J.T. Barrett starting with Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow as backups. Barrett graduated after the season and Burrow transferred to LSU, leaving Haskins as the starter and Martell the backup.

However, the arrival of Justin Fields in 2018 led to the transfer of Martell to Miami after he saw six games of action in the scarlet and gray, completing 23 of 28 passes with a touchdown while adding two rushing touchdowns as well.

At Miami, it was more of the same for Martell, having a rough road at the start of his career that resulted in him going 1-for-1 on pass attempts over three games of action. Additionally, Martell added seven rushing yards on seven carries.

Despite his hype coming out of high school, Martell has fallen short of expectations. When he was asked to be on the show, there was no doubt he had a road paved to the NFL Draft, but things have changed. While the season of the show he was featured on was airing, he was riding the bench behind one of the more impressive quarterback rooms of the last few years. Since then, he has been stuck spinning his tires looking for traction to get him to the NFL Draft.