NFL Draft
3/24/25
5 min read
Nick Martin 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Oklahoma State Cowboys LB
Height: 6001 (verified)
Weight: 222lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Junior
Pro Comparison: Isaiah McDuffie
Scouting Overview
Oklahoma State Cowboys linebacker Nick Martin projects as a space and chase linebacker at the pro level. He has dynamic athleticism and an explosive closing burst to hunt down the football, as evidenced by his production as a special teams dynamo.
Martin is still raw, however. He missed most of 2024 and left Oklahoma State as a redshirt junior with only one season in excess of 365 defensive snaps. This sets the stage for an active on-game day floor and the developmental upside of a player who could far outperform his draft status if everything clicks into place with more experience.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| LB | Nick Martin | Oklahoma State | 4.53 | 1.54 | 123 | 38 | 26 |
Positives
- Dynamic, explosive open-field athlete with a tremendous closing burst
- Violent tackler and finisher when able to wrap up or strike ball carriers and returners square
- Outstanding special teams resume in 2022 as a core contributor (60+ snaps in all four phases)
Negatives
- Instincts are inconsistent with his play processing and anticipation
- Is an undersized player who may excel beating blocks on special teams but is not built to thrive in traffic as an every-down backer
- May be restricted into blitz opportunities on obvious passing downs vs. being charged with playing in coverage
Background
Martin is from Texarkana, TX, and played high school football for Pleasant Grove HS. There, he was ranked as a 3-star recruit (247 Sports) who had a ton of Midwest attention before enrolling at Oklahoma State as a member of their 2021 recruiting class.
Martin played a half dozen snaps on special teams as a true freshman in 2021, redshirting before becoming a core special teams staple for the Cowboys in 2022. Martin played in all 13 games and logged nearly 300 special teams snaps in that single season before earning a starting role with Oklahoma State ahead of the 2023 season.
Martin was a tackling machine that season, posting 140 total tackles with six sacks and two interceptions as a redshirt sophomore. He was named First Team All-Big 12 for his play before returning in 2024. Martin missed approximately half of the season on account of a knee injury before leaving school with a year of eligibility left.
Martin accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl to culminate his college career.
Tale Of The Tape
Martin is a hell of an athlete who boasts the tools to become an impactful NFL linebacker with more seasoning and experience. His ability to chase down plays from far-reaching landmarks aids in his effort to collect monster tackle production and gives him the ability to be involved in plays all over the field.
The consistency of his tackle finishes and the efficiency of how he prowls real estate underscore just how good he can be, as he has a lot of room for added growth.
As a run defender, he does not showcase the same success and prowess attacking blocks while playing in the core as he does in the open field as a special teams coverage defender. Martin offers sufficient length, but he is undersized to anchor cleanly against vertical climbs when he’s playing in a true stack position.
The consistency of his reads compounds these challenges. His ability to assimilate into an NFL defense and make reliable and fast reads on play design and insertion into the front may require some time and patience based on his play as a one-and-a-half-year starter at Oklahoma State.
Martin has a career missed tackle rate of over 13 percent, so playing controlled through tackle challenges is going to be a big point of emphasis, especially given how well he fights into the action regardless of his alignment relative to the football's track. His urgency and preference to strike violently with his pads can do him a disservice at times.
The quickest pathway to Martin's playing on defense is to find opportunities as a WILL linebacker to play away from the point of attack, giving him more room to shoot and fit with burst. This will allow him to avoid the constant threat of climbing offensive linemen into his lap and beat the blocks he will face in space by defeating the opponent's angle.
In the passing game, Martin is much more dangerous and effective as a pressure player than he is as a coverage option. The feel in zone coverage isn’t quite rounded into form, and the discipline to mirror routes in man coverage requires more patience and trust in his technique.
He also needs more exposure to the little things that can cut down the menu of route threats an assignment can run based on alignment, split, and situation.
He has the juice to attack from the second level or potentially walk up onto the line of scrimmage and threaten the pocket, however. Teams looking for a potential spy or free rusher can get special opportunities for him early on, thanks to how sudden he is and the closing burst he offers.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Martin is a developmental linebacker who could see some opportunities on passing downs as a robber/spy/free defender underneath in special packages early on. Ideally, he’s given time to marinate and eventually allowed to play as a WILL on the backside and chase plays down.
Grade: 72.50/100.00, Fourth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 138
Position Rank: LB9
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