Blake Martinez wasn’t drafted to be a starter right away, but after an impressive first year, he took on a larger role in 2017. After a solid sophomore campaign, what can we expect from the rising star in 2018?

Blake Martinez is the soon-to-be heart and soul of the Green Bay Packers‘ defense. Per Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Martinez said he’s the favorite to be the next signal caller on defense, a role that formerly belonged to the now departed Morgan Burnett.

The signal caller plays a crucial role, being the only person who receives the defensive play call from the sidelines. They’re in charge of communicating the call to the rest of the defense, making sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be and even adjusting calls on their own account. You might recognize them as having a green dot on the back of their helmet.

Martinez will be receiving plays from new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine who will feed those messages to Martinez through a mobile headset inside his helmet. In an interview during the Packers Tailgate Tour, Martinez said the following:

“It’s just making sure I’m a vocal point out there. I know I was adding things in throughout (last) season. Whenever we were in the huddle, I would say stuff before I called the play and kind of had those things in my repertoire to make sure guys were either motivated or on the right cue whenever they needed some type of — I don’t know — guidance in any way, shape or form.”

Martinez also said he’ll be studying long hours this summer as training camp approaches. His goal is to learn the ins and outs of all 11 positions on the field and the exact duties each position requires.

A look back on Martinez’s first two seasons

According to Pro Football Focus, Martinez was the 23rd best linebacker in the NFL last season. On a scale of 0-100 he had a grade of 80.2, which falls into the “above average” tier. He started all 16 games and was the NFL co-leader in tackles with 144.

Surprisingly, Martinez wasn’t even the highest graded inside linebacker on his own team though. Jake Ryan, Martinez’s counterpart, graded out at 82.1 and was ranked 18th best in the league. However, Ryan had a smaller sample size than Martinez.

The PFF grading system is widely considered a reliable method of measuring a player’s performance. That being said, it’s still up to the audience to decipher whether a player performs at a high level. For instance, many experts tout ‘the eye test’, which is used to describe how some players just pop off the screen at times.

In summary, PFF isn’t a tell-all way of knowing how talented a player is, but it certainly helps in judging their capabilities.

Blake Martinez was effective against the run when given a chance as a rookie pic.twitter.com/s0f2TCLREE — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) July 11, 2017

One of Martinez’s greatest strengths is his ability to defend the run. Going back to his rookie season, he had the highest run stop percentage among all rookie linebackers at 9.9 percent. This means Martinez made a run stop on 9.9 percent of run plays. For reference, former Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Korey Toomer had the highest overall run stop percentage (among linebackers) at 14.1 percent, in 2016.

In year two Martinez made large strides in the run game, achieving a run stop percentage of 14.9 through week 5 of 2017. Up to that point, he made a league-high 16 run stops. PFF is still running through all the game tape to compile complete totals for the 2017 season.

Blake Martinez has been awesome this year pic.twitter.com/HNAviMlZvE — PFF GB Packers (@PFF_GreenBay) October 10, 2017

Defending the run isn’t the only thing Martinez excels at. Coming out of college, he was the highest graded linebacker in coverage. During his first season, he allowed the second-lowest catch rate among all rookie linebackers at 73 percent. In other words, Martinez allowed receivers to catch the ball only 73 percent of the time.

Washington's Su'a Cravens had a strong debut season in 2016. pic.twitter.com/mSQ4hO1qXt — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) May 21, 2017

Evaluating based on ‘the eye test’

All of these statistics are impressive, but what does the eye test say?

Martinez is a classic thumper who relies on his instincts and technique over speed and quickness. In a world where many teams are moving toward acquiring hybrid-type players (i.e. Deion Jones, Deone Bucannon), Martinez remains the prototypical, old school, hard-nosed linebacker.

In the play below, Martinez shows off his great instincts and patience – almost as if he has a magnet in his brain that attracts him to the football.

Great patience here by 50. Avoids all the traffic going right, holds his ground and keeps left. Burnett does a nice job of eating up two blockers to free up Martinez. Result: 1 yard gain for the Lions. #Packers pic.twitter.com/307UVDyLLL — Joe Kipp (@JuhKipp) April 11, 2018

Something he could improve is his ability to cover athletic tight ends. Martinez struggles with quick receivers, particularly in man to man coverage. This is due to his lack of speed; at the NFL combine, he ran a 4.71 forty yard dash. Of course, linebackers don’t typically excel man coverage, but Martinez can be a liability on occasion.

He does fairly well in zone coverage though, despite the fact the responsibilities are much different than man to man. He has a great feel for reading a quarterback’s eyes, and even baits throws on occasion. Below is another example of his stellar instincts that show up on tape:

@Big__Blake50 shows great instincts in zone coverage. Throw is a bit late, but a great play nonetheless. Should’ve been an INT #Packers pic.twitter.com/zYnPSXOTJV — Joe Kipp (@JuhKipp) April 11, 2018

Finally, he shows great play recognition from time to time. This is due to his dedication in the film room, where he spends anywhere from four to five hours a day watching film. What he lacks in athleticism, he makes up for in refined technical ability. Again, we see his ‘see ball, get ball’ mentality, in the play below:

Outstanding play recognition by @Big__Blake50. Identifies the play and shoots the gap before it even had a chance to develop. Result: 3 yard loss for the Vikings. #Packers pic.twitter.com/ObEDx1kd9V — Joe Kipp (@JuhKipp) April 11, 2018

Martinez isn’t a perfect player, but he has the tools and technical ability to be great. He’s improved each year he’s been in the league and is set to take over as one of the unquestioned leaders on defense. Not to mention year three is the typical time when players emerge as breakout stars.

So what can we expect from him in year three? Surrounded by a new defensive coordinator, a new leadership role, and another offseason under his belt, the sky is the limit and it’s up to one person to reach it: Blake Martinez.