The last wide receiver to make the Detroit Lions’ 53-man roster could be someone that almost nobody expected.
Undrafted UFL standout Tay Martin has gotten great marks in training camp and may well earn a spot on the team.
"(Martin) makes plays every day,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “He's intriguing on offense, but he makes special teams plays every day, and that's important to us.”
If the Lions carry six receivers, it’ll increase Martin’s chances, but let’s assume they only keep five here to allow flexibility with Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph’s spots.
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Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa and Greg Dortch are all locks. That would likely pit Martin against second-year player Dominic Lovett.
Like Campbell talked about, that No. 5 spot will come down to who can help on special teams more. Lovett made the team last year as a seventh round pick and played 15% of the teams’ snaps there. He didn’t make an impact on special teams, not recording any tackles on the season.
Injuries to Kendrick Law and Cedrick WIlson have cleared the path a little bit more for him, but Martin has still managed to separate himself.
If Martin is indeed a playmaker on special teams, it could put him over Lovett. Especially if Lovett continues to struggle with the drops that have reportedly been an issue in camp.
The Lions signed Martin from the UFL’s Columbus Aviators. He ranked third in the league in receptions with 42 and seventh in receiving yards with 483. Even in the UFL, he recorded four special teams tackles.
“I kind of always had that physical edge to me, that physical side to me. On (special) teams, you've got to be physical," Martin said via the Detroit News. "Each play is just who wants it more. It's a whole lot of effort and just being where you need to be."
Martin caught one pass for 11 yards in Detroit’s most recent preseason game against the Washington Commanders. He also laid down a key block on a 50-yard touchdown run by quarterback Josh Dobbs.
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In Detroit’s preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, Martin was Detroit’s highest-graded special teamer and had a 78.3 run blocking grade per PFF.
He’s doing the little things for a team that has historically valued them highly. It’s making it hard to not at least see the Washington State and Oklahoma State product as a practice squad guy.
“Man, he does all the dirty work,” Campbell said after the Commanders game. “He's pretty smart, and there again, special teams, he created another penalty. I mean he just continues to do good things, man, as a receiver and special teams. So yeah, I think it's hard to ignore him."
NFL roster cutdowns are due Sunday, the day after Detroit’s final preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. We’ll soon see if Martin has done enough to earn a spot on the team.
"We're gonna have to let go of some guys that are going to be able to go to other rosters and make some waves,” Campbell said. That could happen, that's real, that's hard to do. This is gonna be hard, man, on Sunday."
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