What's Up with the New Transfer at Wide Receiver? Martin is a Proven Threat

Oklahoma State has a sensational running back, maybe the best in college football. They have one of the best wide receivers. The quarterback seems to be more developed. The slots are a threat, but this component was missing still.

STILLWATER -- It is great to have Chuba Hubbard running the football and Tylan Wallace back healthy and ready to pick up where he left off destroying corners and secondaries. In order to max out the talents that Hubbard and Wallace bring to the offense the trigger at quarterback in Spencer Sanders has to develop off his first season as the starter and get better. By all accounts it appears that Sanders has picked on the coaching from quarterback tutor Tim Rattay. 

To further max out on the spectacular abilities of Hubbard and Wallace you need to have a good offensive line. Losing starting guard Bryce Bray last week didn't help, but the Cowboys and offensive line coach Charlie Dickey have worked hard to recruit and build some numbers and talent, even if the depth is younger. 

New offensive coordinator but veteran contributor to the Cowboys explosive offense, Kasey Dunn knew he has Dillon Stoner and Landon Wolf at the slot. Now you can add freshman speedster Brennan Presley to that cast as well. Speaking of speed, Dunn knew he had Braydon Johnson, who can be a stretch the field receiver playing the "X" opposite Wallace at the "Z".

The lone piece that Dunn was looking to add to the Cowboys offensive tool belt was a "post up" receiver for short yardage and goal line. Think quick slants and especially fades. You don't have to be 6-4 or taller. Justin Blackmon did just fine with those routes, but he was exceptional. Honestly, Tylan Wallace does well with them too. Dunn was hoping to have a tall receiver and LSU transfer Dee Anderson at 6-6, 225-pounds looked to be that guy coming in.

“Dee is definitely going to make an impact this year,” Dunn said back during fall camp. “Braydon and Dee are competing for that X spot right now. Tylan [Wallace] is shoring up that Z, and Dillon [Stoner] is inside along with Landon [Wolf]. I feel really good with where we are as a receiving corps right now. Those guys have been fantastic.”

Now, following fall camp and less than three weeks from the Sept. 12 opener with Tulsa most of those guys are fantastic. Anderson reportedly has missed a lot of practice time and may be showing the rust of having missed last season when LSU won the national championship. Anderson was left out of the mix when Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron said Anderson was not doing what was expected in conditioning and strength training. 

Mark my words, Dunn is a coach that lays out high expectations and pushes to see his players meet them. If they don't, then he'll look for someone else to step up. I have no doubt that Kasey Dunn was very familiar with Tay Martin. It would be hard not to be as Martin has distinguished himself every season with the Cougars and Dunn has lots of connections back in that region. Not to mention that Martin is originally from Houma, La. 

In fact, according to the Spokesman Review in Spokane, Wash. and first reported locally by Scott Wright in The Oklahoman, Martin was looking to get closer to home in Louisiana and his one-year-old daughter Reign.

He wrote on Twitter that his decision to go in the Portal and transfer had nothing to do with Washington State but everything to do with getting close to his daughter and make good on his responsibility of being a father.

Oklahoma State did not offer, but surely they evaluated him. His best offers were Washington State, Tulane, Toledo, Southern Miss, Virginia, and East Carolina. 

In his three seasons at Washington State, he combined for 143 receptions for 1,615-yards and 18 touchdowns. His touchdown resume' is littered with post up moves and catches over opposing defensive backs. He is exactly what Dunn is looking for. 

Mike Leach, the former WSU head coach, declared Martin could be the best receiver on the team by the end of his rookie year (2017) — and if the rangy, athletic wideout wasn’t that, he wasn’t far from it.

Leach was hard on Martin, but Martin admitted it helped him when he remerged after a slump in his junior season with a four reception for 76-yards and a touchdown performance against Stanford. Leach had played Martin sparingly against Arizona State in sending a message.

“Yeah, it was. It for sure was,” Martin said. “Stuff happens. You just gotta support the team as much as you can. Just hope for the best. Keep your head up and just keep going.”

With Washington State and the Pac-12 not playing football, Martin has gone all the way to Stillwater and Oklahoma State to polish off his college career. Oh, and to help this team as much as he can.