Yes, that’s right. Green Bay Packers second-year linebacker Blake Martinez led the NFL in tackles. Or at least he tied with Cleveland Browns linebacker (and Badger great) Joe Schobert for the lead.
Martinez finished with 144 tackles. I repeatedly said Martinez should be in the Pro Bowl during the season. Of course, that didn’t happen.
Along with defensive lineman Kenny Clark, Martinez showed the biggest second-year improvement of any Packers player.
Dude was pumped about leading the league in tackles.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdY-ExGBVe7/
Interestingly, looking at that partial list, only one-third of the players will actually be playing in the playoffs. I’d bet Blake would trade some tackles for an effective offense that kept their defense off the field so much.
Regardless, the future finally looks bright for the Packers at inside linebacker.
When you have one of the worst situational defenses in the league and can’t get off the field, you get plenty of opportunity.
But….he came a long way from when he was benched last season. So kudos to that.
Good for him. Considering his defensive coordinator AND position coach were just fired says a whole lot about his game.
That just means he will end up in McCarthy’s dog house for sneezing during a meeting and will become forgotten for 2018.