Here's something I never thought I would say in my entire life. I think Detroit Lions fans are a little spoiled with draft picks. Since Brad Holmes became the general manager for the Lions he's made 23 draft picks. Most of those picks have either become starters or have become players that get a significant amount of playing time.
So it's understandable that after a while, you become accustom to that just being the status quo and anything other than that is a failure. But that's just not how this all works. Back in April when I was still with Pride of Detroit, I wrote about how fans should temper their expectations of draft picks going forward due to the Lions being a good team now.
The general idea behind that piece was that since the Lions are good now, they have the opportunity to both draft players that can make an impact right away and draft players that they can take their time with and won't have to shove out onto the field right away like they did in 2021 and 2022.
Obviously they drafted the good players. Sam LaPorta is having one of the greatest rookie tight end seasons in NFL history, Jahmyr Gibbs is a weapon, Brian Branch is already a legit nickel corner in the NFL and Jack Campbell is pretty good when he plays his own position. They also showed that they can draft players they want to take their time with.
Brodric Martin is that guy. The Lions traded up to the third-round to drafted Martin out of Western Kentucky. I totally understand how that could register in your head that he's a secret superstar and that since he got picked so high and traded up for, the only possible outcome is that he starts and/or plays every game. That's not happening.
It's not because he's a draft bust. That's not what is happening here. It's because Martin is a very raw project with a pretty high ceiling and he's just not ready yet.
Martin has all the stuff you're looking for in a body and athleticism profile. He's 6-foot-5 and 331 pounds. He's a mountain of a man, but doesn't move like one. His quick twitch ability and is hands are what really show up on tape.
He also eats up space really well and is able to open up gaps for rushers.
The thing is that he's just not ready to play the NFL game every week and that's ok because, like I've been saying for a while now, this team is not a finished product yet. Just becasue they're 9-3 and things are going well this year, that doesn't mean this is the end point and it's do or die this year. The build continues for this team and the expectation is that they'll be even better next year.
Along with that build goes the build of Brodric Martin. He should be ready to contribute a lot more in 2024 and you'll start to see the play from him that got him picked so high. But right now, he's really raw and the Lions have always know that.
I know that some fans might bring up the idea that it's ok to be critical of Brad Holmes on some things and they're right. Levi Onwuzurkie, James Mitchell and Jermar Jefferson haven't worked out very well during their time here. The Lions also didn't do enough to generate a pass rush this offseason. Martin is just not something to criticize because this has always been the thing with him. He's a project and the upside is worth the time it will take.
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