2023 NFL Draft Player Profiles: Kansas State QB Adrian Martinez

From now until the 2023 NFL Draft, we will to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today we’ll be profiling Kansas State quarterback Adrian Martinez.

#9 ADRIAN MARTINEZ, QUARTERBACK, KANSAS STATE (JR.) 6016, 221 LBS.

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MEASURABLES

THE GOOD

— Nice ball placement when operating in the short-medium passing range
— Mobility to both extend plays and pick up yardage with his legs
— Keeps eyes downfield on rollouts and does a solid job making throws on the run
— When comfortable in the pocket he can stand in a chaotic crowd and deliver a strike
— Thick frame, can take contact well
— Nice footwork in a clean pocket, can maneuver to re-adjust and deliver across the field with urgency
— Throws with good touch on over-the-shoulder passes
— Processes well with good set-up speed to hit on throws
— Flashes full-field vision/processing as a decision maker

THE BAD

— Arm strength lacks a bit; ball dies out when trying to throw too far downfield
— Comes up too high in his throwing mechanics, losing drive in his feet and misfiring the football with bad ball placement
— Floats too many passes that result in opportunities for defenders
— Takes a lot of contact as a scrambler, not the best history injury-wise
— Can get a bit rushed in his throws when dealing with pressure resulting in misfires

BIO

— Birthday is January 7th, 2000 (23 years old)
— Consensus 4-star recruit out of Fresno, California, ranked as high as 98th nationally by Rivals.com
— Helped Kansas State secure first Big 12 championship since 2012
— Played five seasons of college football, four at Nebraska before transferring to Kansas State
— Earned his Bachelor’s Degree in management from Nebraska
— 47 career starts (38 at Nebraska, 9 at Kansas State)
— Named a 2022 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
— Was selected with the 15th-overall pick of the 2022 USFL Draft by the New Jersey Generals

TAPE BREAKDOWN

In Week 2 against Missouri, Martinez has a few snaps that showcase some strong flashes for his projection to the NFL. In the two back-to-back plays below Martinez shows great pocket poise. In the first snap, Martinez works forward in the pocket while scanning across the field. He does a nice job of delivering a strike to the left side of the field, even with a defender in front of him leaving him to deliver the pass at a weird angle. On the next snap, he’s faced with a similar situation when he climbs the pocket. He can’t find an open receiver and ultimately scrambles forward to pick up the first down.

Martinez continued to showcase his ability to create with his legs as he took a designed QB run on the outside and followed his blocks. He didn’t have to do too much other than be fast, but with his 220-pound frame and 40-time reported in the 4.5s, Martinez has the speed and physicality as a runner to produce at the next level.

Martinez has some nice ability as a processor as display here against Missouri. He is either heavily reading the opposite side of the field or just trying to deceive the Missouri defense. Either way, he re-positions his feet and throws a nice pass with excellent touch and placement on the wheel route to Deuce Vaughn for a big-time pickup.

If you weren’t already sold on Martinez’s scrambling ability, here is another great play against the Texas Longhorns. Martinez scans for his receivers and navigates his way through a very tight pocket. He breaks into the second level for a great pick up on the ground. His ability to stay composed in order to pick up yards efficiently on the ground will help immensely for his early time in the NFL.

Here is a nice example of Martinez’s anticipation as a passer, as he lets the play develop and hits an easy toss over the middle for Vaughn. He could’ve put a little more juice on the ball to lead Vaughn, but overall he is ready to make the throw immediately after #41 continues to drift left. It’s a wide-open throw, but Martinez is delivering the pass before it becomes so, which is a good sign of anticipation.

Here are the limits that Martinez has. Once he starts to operate downfield, he gets sporadic with his accuracy and doesn’t offer the same velocity of other QBs. Here is an open post route developing that if he throws a good ball could easily turn into 6. Instead he puts the ball too far out and misses his target resulting in an incomplete pass.

Shortly after the above play, Martinez shows just what he brings as a mobile QB. He notices the pocket starting to break down, so he begins to work left in hopes of scrambling. However, he keeps his eyes downfield to see a wide-open Malik Knowles crossing the field. He quickly sets up and delivers the throw for a nice completion. Ideally, the ball is more accurate, but with him having to set up and throw as quickly as he did and off-momentum it’s excusable. It didn’t stop the play from breaking for a huge pickup after the catch.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows against the Longhorns. Martinez had an awful throw here in which he sees the dig route but doesn’t pick up on Jaylan Ford breaking off of his coverage. Ford reads Martinez’s eyes and picks off the football. The ball came out a bit slow as well. which hurts. I can’t quite tell if #95 got his hand on the ball.

Later on in the game, Martinez had another run worth seeing, as he steps up in the pocket but sees the defender about to crash in the middle. Martinez decides to turn the play into a scramble and follows behind his blocker and breaks a tackle to get into space and picks up the first down. His contact balance and speed are a game-changer to help the offense.

Middle-of-the-field reads are often the best indicator of a quarterbacks’ processing ability as they try to make the jump to the NFL. Martinez shows a nice ability to anticipate this throw to his tight end by reading the linebacker (#2) and making his decision based on which route he picks up. The linebacker chooses the route in front of him, and Martinez takes advantage of the space for the dig route over the top.

Martinez does a great job working around the crashing defender. Unfortunately, he resets to throw a terrible pass that is easily intercepted if not for a great hit made by his WR. There was plenty of pressure, and that didn’t stop after getting away from the first defender. But Martinez clearly has some arm limitations that hinder his ability to be in contention with some of the top names in this class, and likely limit his overall ceiling as a quarterback.

I wanted to save this play for last, because it’s without a doubt Martinez’s best play from my review. After a play-action set up, Martinez works extremely well to evade a crashing defender, but then quickly sets back up to hit an open receiver crossing the field. The receiver has plenty of space, but the maneuverability by Martinez to get out of the sack then get himself set back up to deliver the throw is very impressive. It will make him plenty of money if he can routinely do so at the next level.

CONCLUSION

Martinez has plenty of traits that should help him continue his football career at the professional level. With his size, processing, efficiency, and mobility, I think there should be plenty of teams interested in acquiring him, whether it be during the draft or in the UDFA process following.

The QB class and opinion seem to be quite mixed for the consensus opinion, so Martinez could be in consideration with other late-round options such as Clayton Tune (Houston), Jake Haener (Fresno State), Jaren Hall (BYU), Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA), Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Aidan O’Connell (Purdue), and others. My pro comparison is former Steelers QB Bruce Gradkowski.

Martinez seems like a safer option to step into a QB room and work himself into becoming a serviceable backup. The Pittsburgh Steelers could easily be in the market for such a player, and Martinez fits their kind of mold they tend to look for in backup options.

Projection: Late Day 3

Depot Draft Grade: 6.5 – End of Roster/ Practice Squad (6th Round)

Games Watched: vs Missouri (2022), vs Texas (2022), at Oklahoma (2022)