SI All-American Candidate Cole Martin Highlights and Evaluation
Prospect: Cole Martin
Status: SI All-American candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds
Position: Running Back/Linebacker
School: Cottonwood (Idaho) Prairie High School
Projected Position: Linebacker
Frame: Built upper body with long legs he uses to his advantage (stride). Room for another 25 pounds depending on where he ends up.
Athleticism: Really fast for 190 pounds. Long strider with minimal wasted steps. Good acceleration and good use of off-ball hand to ward off tacklers. His upper body looks stiff at times. He’s got some clean jump cuts, too.
Instincts: Upright running style lets him see defense as a whole as opposed to just who is in front of him. Brings the wood with him on defense. Plays sideline to sideline and sometimes covers both out routes on flood concepts.
Polish: Not sure if he’ll have the same success in 11-man football at running as he does playing 8-man. He’s clearly got speed at a decent size, and he’s shown an ability to make linebacker type plays. Might even fit as a strong safety in some schemes.
Bottom Line: Cole Martin sticks out like a sore thumb in Idaho 8-man football. He’s running by everybody, catching our eyes in doing so. Projecting him at linebacker is a safe call, and we’d love to see him with the ball in his hands in an 11-man team. Maybe Y-back, but that’s a waste of his speed. If he adds 20 more pounds he could make a career out of neutralizing tight ends and running backs in college.