The Detroit Lions made a big signing on Thursday when they signed arguably one of the best nose tackles in the NFL DJ Reader. The former fifth round draft pick has had quite the career and is ready to help the Lions win the Super Bowl in 2024. But that’s not all he’s looking to do. He’s looking to be a leader as well.
Particularly to the young nose tackle Brodric Martin. The Lions took Martin in the third round of the 2023 draft after trading up to get him. Martin struggled in his rookie year and the Lions didn’t give him a ton of time to get out on the field. This year they’ve brought in good reinforcements to help. New defensive line coach Terrell Williams is a big one and Reader is the other big one. He said on Thursday that he looks forward to getting his hands on Martin.
“He’s a young pup who’s running around trying to figure things out so I can’t wait to get my hands on him. Just talk to him. Talk to him about ball how to play this position.” Reader said. “Especially that nose guard position. It’s a unique position. And there’s a right way to do it and there’s a wrong way to do it. And there’s just things you can learn that will help you out especially, I mean, you can be asked to take double teams on all the time. So hopefully I can help him a lot and I’m gonna be in his ear about it. I mean, whether he want to hear it or not, I’m gonna be in his ear and just trying to help him.”
You can see there’s a lot of potential in Martin. He has the size and athleticism you look for in a great nose tackle, he just needs help learning the position and fine tuning things. Reader and Williams together should be a very good opportunity for Martin. Let’s see what they can mold him into.