Ravens UDFA Defying Odds to Make Roster Push

"He keeps making big plays, and that's something that is accounted for, for sure," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "I think he played sound as well; he did things the right way. He's played just like that [throughout] the whole camp."

With his NFL fate hanging in the balance heading into the Ravens' preseason finale on Saturday, Martin made the absolute most of his last opportunity in live action to make a case to still be on the team come 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday when final cuts across the league must be made and finalized.

"I just go out there [and] embrace every opportunity I get," Martin said. "That's not really my call, to see if I've done enough. If I did, I did. If I didn't, I didn't."

Against the Washington Commanders in the annual 'Battle of the Beltway', the dynamic nickel corner made impressive plays on both defense and special teams, with the most notable of them all being his first career pick-six at any level of the sport.

"Doing it in the last preseason game to end off my last preseason as a rookie; it was just a special moment," Martin said. "Just celebrating with the team, that just made it even better. The rookies here, we have such a great bond. [It's cool to see] how happy we [are] for each other. I couldn't be happier."

The Ravens offense had already established a double-digit lead before the Commanders had even scored their first points of the game when Martin came off his receiver he was covering to jump the hitch route intended for the perimeter target, then proceeded to waltz into the endzone to put his team up 24-3.

"It's a play that we've been going through all week, so I kind of figured," Martin said. "[I was] mainly just reading the quarterback's eyes. The quarterback told me everything I needed to know since we were in a zone defense. I just executed a play, and he threw it right to me, so I was grateful for that."

That highly instinctual play wasn't the only one Martin made on defense in that game or the only one that has resulted in points for the Ravens this preseason. He made five total tackles, including four solos and two for a loss, to go along with a pass breakup against the Commanders.

"I always talk to my dad, he always says visualize [yourself] making plays and I visualized it last night," Martin said. "I didn't visualize the [tackle for loss], but I did visualize the [interception]. I didn't know how it was going to come. It kind of came in a different way in my mind, but at the end of the day, it still came with a pick-six."

In Week 2 of the preseason, he scored the Ravens' first points of the game against the Dallas Cowboys on a sack for safety just one play after setting it up with a tackle for a five-yard loss in the backfield. He finished that game with three solo tackles, including another for a loss and a quarterback hit.

"I feel like I've just been able to show the player that I've been, in my opinion, since high school," Martin said. "I've been the same player since high school [and] since college. [I feel like I have been able to show] my savviness, my competitive edge [and the] chip on my shoulder. I've been the same player ever since high school, and now, it's starting to be seen in a bigger light. So, that's been all that I've been showing since the start of training camp."

As impressed as he was with Martin's big play on defense, Harbaugh was even more blown away with the perfectly executed vice block he made on special teams during a punt return. With the Ravens' starting secondary set in stone, including five former first-rounders and three multi-time Pro Bowlers, being able to contribute in the third phase of the game is especially important for a player like Martin, as that is where he'd be seeing the bulk of his snaps in the regular season, barring injury.

"You have to find a way to impact the team somehow," Martin said. "Going into camp, a lot of teams know who is going to be out there, so you have to find a way to impact the team somehow, and I've been playing special teams since, like I said, high school and college. Even when I was starting in college, I never took on the role of just playing defense. I embrace special teams, so coming here to play special team has been nothing new to me."

Martin feels right at home with the Ravens as is one of several players from the same area of South Florida, including Pro Bowlers Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers.

"They love the Florida boys here," Martin said. "Back at home, they say, 'Broward County raised us'... They brought me in, and they've b een treating me like family ever since. I've been enjoying it."

As an NFL legacy whose father Emanuel Martin played defensive back for five years in the league with the Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills and had a two-year stint in the CFL, he is looking to be another Ravens’ second-generation success story and leans heavily on him for guidance.

"I talk to him before every game [and] I talk to him after every game," Martin said. "He has been a huge influence on me. He's been in my corner. He's my No. 1 supporter. I couldn't ask for a better father."

The ability to beat the odds to make an NFL roster runs in the family, as his father went undrafted out of Alabama State in 1992. Martin's top competition for one of the final roster spots include a handful of players from similar unheralded backgrounds as undrafted free agents, such as third-year outside linebacker Malik Hamm, second-year safety Beau Brade and fellow rookies, linebacker Jay Higgins and safety Reuben Lowery III.

"Wherever the ball falls, that's where it's going to fall. I just focus on me. I know if I do what I have to do, then things [are] going to play out in my favor. If I make the 53 [-man roster], I make the 53 [-man roster]. It's not something that's on my mind these last couple of days."