'I'm speaking it into existence': Seahawks' Martin aiming for 12 sacks in 2019

Seahawks defensive end Jacob Martin tells SeattlePI that his goal is to get 12 sacks in his second NFL season. Seahawks defensive end Jacob Martin tells SeattlePI that his goal is to get 12 sacks in his second NFL season. Photo: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press Photo: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close 'I'm speaking it into existence': Seahawks' Martin aiming for 12 sacks in 2019 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

When Jacob Martin gets up every morning, he sees what he's trying to accomplish.

The reminders light up his phone screen at 7 a.m. They're his goals, but they read like affirmations; since his college days, the Seahawks' second-year defensive end has been making a conscious effort to write them out.

One message reads, 'You're the baddest **** in the world.' So Martin will say that out loud to himself – that he's the baddest **** in the world – multiple times.

Another reminder pertains specifically to football.

'Go get 12 sacks this season,' it says. So he'll read that aloud, too.

There's nothing hopeful about the statement to Martin. It serves as a command to make it happen.

"It's like, 'I will,'" Martin told SeattlePI of the phrasing of his lofty goal. "It's not a wish. It will (happen). I'm speaking it into existence."

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With Frank Clark in Kansas City and Jarran Reed suspended to start the season, the pass rush is the Seahawks' biggest uncertainty entering 2019. Martin is the edge player on Seattle's roster that appears most poised for a breakout year; most capable of filling the void in a big way. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll expects his role on defense to grow in year two, and Martin expects more from himself than a year ago, too.

The Temple product set out to get six sacks as a rookie, and fell short. He wants to record 12 sacks as a sophomore, and he fully expects to reach that.

A summer of world-class mentorship and focusing on his body has given him the belief that he'll hit his goal this time.

"Double digits is something that I think is very possible," Martin said. "A lot of people put out those outrageous goals out there, and they won't achieve them. This is something that is very achievable for me."

Photo: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

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Martin was just trying to make the team last year. A sixth-round draft pick out of a small Division I college, and undersized for his position, Martin had no guarantees.

Then he turned into the Seahawks' most promising young pass rusher.

After playing predominantly special teams to start 2018, the 6-foot-2 Martin carved a role for himself on the defense from mid-season onward. The rise in his play coincided with the Seahawks' playoff push late in the year. Martin had three sacks and two forced fumbles in the last seven games of the regular season. He was the first Seahawks rookie since Frank Clark in 2015 to have at least three sacks.

Entering his sophomore season, Martin has been studying how he can become more effective with his rush. It's turning a little sooner on his attack, he said. Taking one less step with his rush. And widening out his rush at the top of the pursuit. He's been going over the small details of what makes an effective pass rusher with the Seahawks' defensive-line coaches.

"Of course, there's going to be a little bit of swagger, a little bit of confidence, but not too much where I'm complacent," Martin said of the difference between year one and two. "At the end of the day, I'm not just competing against the guys on this team. I'm competing with the guys around the league."

He learned from the NFL's best earlier this summer.

Martin was invited to Von Miller's esteemed pass rush summit in Las Vegas. At the June gathering, he picked the brains of the likes of reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell and retired legend DeMarcus Ware. Clark was there, too.

But it wasn't just about Martin, as a young player, getting taught. The summit proved to be a brotherhood of pass rushers willing to share their secrets with one another. The message was, 'This is how we need to dominate the NFL.' Martin left the event knowing he has a network he can tap into ahead of every game about facing any offensive tackle in the league.

"I know I can always hit those guys up," Martin said.

And after last spring was dedicated to the pre-draft process – Martin felt like he'd been training to be a track athlete – he was happy to focus on a football-specific regimen this offseason. He worked out with his brother Josh, a linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, in California, doing jiu-jitsu – combative, high-intensity work that was less taxing on his joints.

Martin is heavier, too. He ended his rookie season at 226 pounds. He said he's now up to 248. He credited the weight gain to eating eight meals a day: four main ones, four snacks. He'll work with the team's training staff to monitor his caloric intake in the upcoming season to avoid losing weight like he did as a rookie, what concerned Carroll last year.

"I think he's more serious about making a statement of where he fits into this team," Carroll said in May. "I've seen him making some corrections of younger guys, just helping them out. That wasn't in his mind last year. He had a very nice season for us last season, and we're counting on a lot more out of him ... He should be a really big part of it. "

Photo: GENNA MARTIN, SEATTLEPI.COM Seahawks defensive lineman Jacob Martin (59) strips the ball from...

The Seahawks pass rush entering 2019, at this point, remains a huge question mark. Clark (13.0 sacks) and Reed (10.5) together accounted for 54.6% of Seattle's sack production last season. Clark is now with the Super Bowl-contending Chiefs, and Reed can't play until Week 7.

Defensive end Ziggy Ansah, who signed with the Seahawks in free agency, is a double-digit sack threat when healthy. Though optimism is high he can be ready by Week 1 of the regular season, he's yet to participate fully in a training camp practice.

The rest of the pass-rushing group is a mixed bag. Cassius Marsh and Quinton Jefferson, the primary starters at five-technique early in training camp, have 15.5 sacks in eight NFL seasons between them. Rasheem Green was a non-factor on defense as a rookie last season. First-round pick L.J. Collier hasn't played a down in the NFL.

Barkevious Mingo and second-year pro Shaquem Griffin, both of whom were non-factors as quarterback disruptors in 2018, are being looked at as edge rushers in training camp to factor in the mix, too.

"It's just another opportunity, somebody's gotta do it," Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright said of the pass-rush hole. "Somebody's gotta step up, and so we'll see. Whoever wants it, the floor is theirs. You can go take it, and so it's all up to the guys that are out here."

Martin wants to be counted on. He said he will rise to the occasion. He doesn't feel pressure.

Now he needs to go out on the field and prove it.

"I'm hungry," Martin said. "I'm still not where I want to be. And I won't stop until I'm at where I want to be."

So every day, at 7 a.m., he's speaking it into existence.

Ben Arthur covers the Seahawks and other local sports for the SeattlePI. He can be reached by email at benjaminarthur@seattlepi.com. Follow him on twitter at @benyarthur.