From The Film Room: Tyler Martin

Tyler Martin has been crushing people and making plays on offense since he was in middle school.

Michigan's 2022 class grew by one with the commitment of Acton (Mass.) Buckingham Browne & Nichols inside linebacker Tyler Martin. The 6-3, 238-pounder is considered the No. 10 inside linebacker and No. 271 player overall nationally by the 247 Sports Composite.

Strengths

Martin is a thumper — plain and simple. As a rising junior who is already around 240 pounds, he has no problem contacting anyone and has been playing that way for several years already. 

He's a throwback inside linebacker because of his bulk and size and he's also very instinctive in there. When you watch his tape, you can see him dissecting plays, reacting quickly and arriving at ball carriers with bad intentions.

He's also a sure tackler. Not only does he bring the wood when he hits, he usually wraps up and does a good job fundamentally. He has a tendency to lunge at times but it's controlled and he does a good job of hitting his target and staying engaged through the ground.

Lastly, Martin possesses a lot of versatility for someone built like he is. He's big and bulky but he runs well and shows good ball skills when lined up on offense. He puts all of his skills and traits together to become a very complete football player that could realistically get a look at a couple different positions at Michigan a la Ben Mason.

Areas Of Improvement

Martin isn't an elite athlete. He's definitely skilled and able for his size but he's not going to be the fastest or twitchiest linebacker in the room at Michigan. Because of that, covering players and making plays against elite athletes in space could be a problem for him.

His size could end up being a strength or a weakness depending on what Michigan wants to do with him. If he's north of 250 pounds by the time he finishes high school, he may grow out of the linebacker position. If Michigan would like him to stay in that 240-245-pound range, he could reshape his body a bit and turn into a musclebound rock in the middle of a defense. Depending on where he's at physically will determine exactly what he needs to work on for the rest of his prep career and once he's in Ann Arbor.

The Bottom Line

Here's the deal — I like Martin a lot but he's not the kind of player I'd recruit in today's college football. He's a throwback and possesses a ton of qualities I'd want in a football player — he's tough, fundamentally sound, mean on the field, hard working and big and strong. However, he's not going to be the fastest linebacker in the position group and I'm not sure he has a lot of ceiling left. Because of that, I'm inclined to like a different type of athlete. 

For Martin, it's all about what he's asked to do once at Michigan. Don Brown loves him and he doesn't miss very often. If he's got a specific plan for him, whether that's as a true linebacker or perhaps some hybrid position that can also play with his hand in the dirt, then we'll have to see how it plays out. If he's only going to play linebacker, which will include playing in space and making plays in the open field, I think he'll struggle.