Sherrod Martin FS/CB Troy

[Sloth]

Quick question for someone a little more knowledgeable. I'm reading that Martin is a FS that projects to CB in the pros. Why wasn't he playing CB at Troy if that was the case? Isn't it usually the other way around, with a slower CB (not saying Martin is slow) projecting towards FS?

[Mr. Scot]

Moving Godfrey to CB and martin to saftey is just a horrible idea, did it cross your mind that we might be replacing ken lucas????

I think we replace ken Lucas with Richard Marshall. Then we replace Richard Marshall (at nickel) with Martin.

[dexterpyro]

I think we really like his vesatility...He can play both

[monstercat]

The bottom line, is that the Panthers obviously think that Martin fits their scheme better than Smith. It's hard to argue much with the results that Meeks has gotten with his pass defenses.

[SuperMan]

Is Al Davis making our pics now?

All jokes aside, hopefully this is a guy the front office believes can be a replacement for Ken Lucas. Maybe this is the Larry Fitzgerald stopper that we could've used in January.

just Putting gamble on him and even a little pass rush would have done that.

[outlaw4]

Given the potential versatility of playing him as a corner, safety (and also playing on special teams), this pick makes some kind of sense. Our team tends to gush over guys with high character and/or can contribute in more than just their position.

[PanthersfaninSC63]

Ive heard that his Troy coaches say he's better then Leodis McKelvin the guy that went 11th overall last year

[SmootsDaddy89]

He's going to get knocked down some because it IS Troy, because he did have that one major injury, and because he is a FS, but he's projected at CB. Who knows how we'll use him. I personally think he's going to be our CB.

[Snake]

He might be taking a back seat behind Godfrey allowing CJ Wilson to move to CB. I still dont like the pick.

[rayzor]

never thought much about this guy. interesting pick. not what i would have thought here.

i did some digging around and found some interesting things that i read.

the one thing that stuck out to me when i was reading about this guy was meeks and his 'piranha' defense. the guy is all over the place and has a good nose for the ball. he has really good size and is very quick. plus he is known for being a really hard hitter (i imagine fox loves that part).

he was also known for being a really good gunner on punts so he should be solid special teams for us as well.

still have mixed feelings but i'm more optimistic about this pick than pessimistic. bears were looking pretty hard at him and were probably looking for him at their pick in the 3rd.

[Delhommey]

Good tacklers are more necessary in the Tampa 2 than good cover guys.

Meeks did pretty good picking CB's in Indy.

[OneBadassCat]

So will he be competing for CB? I like our starters at the safety spots.

[Woodie]

Here's what a couple of sites say.

http://www.draftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/cb/Sherrod-Martin.php

Terrific athlete...Good height...Great speed and acceleration...Smooth with fluid hips...Very physical...An excellent tackler...Will deliver the big hit...Active and aggressive...Very good range...Nice hands and ball skills...Very productive...Tough and will play through pain...Offers some versatility... Solid intangibles ...Is still improving and has upside.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2009/draft/players/12899.html

Athletic defensive back who can be used at safety or cornerback. Breaks down well, fluid pedaling in reverse and displays a good break to the throw out of his plant. Covers a lot of area in centerfield, fast-moving sideline-to-sideline and displays overall quickness in his game. Takes good angles to the action, quick closing on the ball, and is relatively instinctive. Plays with a good degree of suddenness flashing on the scene. Works well with cornerbacks, picks up centerfield assignments, and displays good ball skills.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2009/profiles/sherrod-martin?id=71383

Good height and has a wiry, strong frame. ... Flies around the field. ... Gets to the opposite sideline in a hurry. ... His speed and coverage skills take away opponents' deep routes, allowing the defensive line to wreak havoc. ... Can work through trash and find the ball. ... Has nice length to wrap up in the open field. ... Despite his height, Martin has the low, smooth backpedal necessary to play corner. ... Has speed to blitz effectively from 10 yards out or close quickly on inside runs. ... Used as a gunner on punt returns.

Sounds like a pretty solid pick to me. And to all those people that wanted someone else, just because you heard their names a lot does not mean they were the better prospect. And Martin was rated as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick, so he was not a reach at all. He apparently has all the skills to warrant a much higher pick, but had an injury earlier in his career that dropped him. However, that injury was a couple of years ago, and he has not had any trouble with it since. And Troy has a very solid history of developing excellent NFL talent (Osi Umenyiora, DeMarcus Ware and Leodis McKelvin), so coming from that school, no matter how small it may be, is not a bad thing.

[DaveThePanther2008]

never thought much about this guy. interesting pick. not what i would have thought here.

i did some digging around and found some interesting things that i read.

the one thing that stuck out to me when i was reading about this guy was meeks and his 'piranha' defense. the guy is all over the place and has a good nose for the ball. he has really good size and is very quick. plus he is known for being a really hard hitter (i imagine fox loves that part).

he was also known for being a really good gunner on punts so he should be solid special teams for us as well.

still have mixed feelings but i'm more optimistic about this pick than pessimistic. bears were looking pretty hard at him and were probably looking for him at their pick in the 3rd.

This is what I was looking for. Some insight into why we picked him not why we didn't pick someone else.

Here's what a couple of sites say.

http://www.draftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/cb/Sherrod-Martin.php

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2009/draft/players/12899.html

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2009/profiles/sherrod-martin?id=71383

Sounds like a pretty solid pick to me. And to all those people that wanted someone else, just because you heard their names a lot does not mean they were the better prospect. And Martin was rated as a late 2nd/early 3rd round pick, so he was not a reach at all. He apparently has all the skills to warrant a much higher pick, but had an injury earlier in his career that dropped him. However, that injury was a couple of years ago, and he has not had any trouble with it since. And Troy has a very solid history of developing excellent NFL talent (Osi Umenyiora, DeMarcus Ware and Leodis McKelvin), so coming from that school, no matter how small it may be, is not a bad thing.

Thanks to you also. This is good stuff and makes me feel much more content about the pick.

Thanks RAYZOR and Woodie.

I could care less what school that these players went to. Too many big named players turn out to be garbage. And guys like this slip through our hands because they didn't go you FOOTBALL U.

I can say this in the past 2 years we have 16 of 17 draft picks still on our roster. Many starting or providing us solid contribution. I don't think the Front Office would sign off on this guy if they thought he wasn't worth a 2nd round pick for. Both our picks seem to be MEEKS type of players. We trashed Trgovac out the door don't expect Meeks to utilize every player he had. He will want some of his own talent.

I am content for now.

A funny note. I work overseas so I was streaming this draft. Had a great stream and the audio was good. I actually woke up in time (430ish am) for this pick. They were questioning this pick and Brian Billieck (i think) Started and sentence before he actually check the stats and put his foot in his mouth mid-sentence. He said "Carolina has a solid defense (slight pause) rated at 18th, slightly below middle" Sounded like Yogi Berra.

Go Panthers

Go Panthers