When the New York Giants signed former Green Bay Packer Blake Martinez to a three-year, $30 million deal this off-season, most were perplexed by the decision. With options like Cory Littleton still available, signing Martinez came as a surprise, but the way the Giants plan to use him fits the mold.
Evidently, the Giants are replacing Alec Ogletree with Martinez, two players that have questionable coverage skills. Ogletree posted an 83% completion rate against and three touchdowns allowed in 2019. That doesn’t even factor in his 16% missed tackle rate. Blake Martinez landed an 83.8% completion rate against with two touchdowns allowed. He posted a 10.4% missed tackle rate.
Clearly, both of these players are poor in coverage, despite the Packers utilizing Martinez in a mesh-zone scheme that didn’t allow him to trail opposing tight ends and pass catchers. Nonetheless, the former Packer represents a fantastic clean up linebacker who can rack up tackles.
The Giants are getting a patient linebacker in Martinez, who brings intelligence and experience to a position that has failed to live up to expectations in recent years. Ogletree was a disaster at times in coverage and stopping the run. Martinez can diagnose offensive plays quickly and remain patient to mitigate large gains.
He did state that Green Bay’s defense did not value the linebacker position or the player he’s capable of being. The Giants see him in an expanded role on defense and believe he can produce even more than his 155 combined tackles with Green Bay in 2019.
“Going through the process, I just thought about what kind of fit [would be best] for myself, individually, my play style and those types of things,†Martinez said during a Tuesday appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.†“Obviously, looking at the potential places I could go to, New York just jumped off the tape for me. Just seeing the guys that are on the team, the young talent across the board, obviously a new head coach [Joe Judge].
“Then my old inside linebacker coach [Patrick Graham] is now the defensive coordinator. Everything kind of just paired together easily. I was just super excited that I had the chance to go be a Giant.â€
Martinez has 522 total tackles in his career, averaging about nine per game. He’s also capable of rushing the passer in unpredictable sets, something new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will utilize heavily moving forward. Graham blitzed 41% of the time on third downs in 2019 with the Miami Dolphins. Having worked with Graham as his linebackers coach in Green Bay, Martinez has experience that will hopefully translate over to New York. It is important to note that Martinez had some of his best seasons with Graham as his coach.
The Giants desperately needed an upgrade over Ogletree, and while Martinez might not scream elite, he can get the job done, especially against the run.