ESPN Reveals Sleeper Pick for BYU Cougars

We're less than eight weeks away from BYU football returning to action for the 2025 season. 

For the Cougars' rushing attack, this is expected to be a year for tremendous growth in the Big 12. For the second consecutive season, BYU didn’t use the Transfer Portal to fill in the offensive backfield. And there's one player who will be relied upon heavily with Jake Retzlaff exiting the program. 

LJ Martin enters his third season at Provo and finished as BYU’s leading rusher in the previous two years. Despite taking the lead, there's a higher ceiling for the Cougars ground game. It's one of the major reasons why ESPN's Kyle Bonagura says Martin is a sleeper pick going into the season. Here's his analysis on BYU's current situation:   

"After rushing for 518 and 718 yards in the past two seasons, Martin has steadily become a key player for BYU, but he hasn't quite broken out nationally. He already figured to see his role grow as a junior in 2025, but with quarterback Jake Retzlaff set to transfer, Martin could be relied on more heavily -- especially early in the season as the QB situation gets settled. Martin had a pair of 100-yard rushing games last season and finished with a strong performance in the bowl win against Colorado, with 88 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns."

Martin is 1,156 yards from cracking into the career Top 10 rushing leaders in BYU history. He'll try to use momentum from last year's Alamo Bowl victory as a motivation in 2025. It will be Jay Hill's game planning ability front and center again this year. While Martin is only one part of that effort, he will be vital to the Cougars success. 

BYU opens the 2025 football season at home against Portland State on Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. ET.