Should Quan Martin be the Commanders long term FS?

Breaking down the play of FS Quan Martin ahead of a critical third year

One player flying completely under the radar for the Washington Commanders this past season and throughout the offseason has been free safety Quan Martin. With all the issues in the secondary, particularly at cornerback last season, the Commanders focused their attention on fixing the cornerback position. They traded for Marshon Lattimore during the season, signed Jonathan Jones during free agency and then drafted Trey Amos in the second round. They also lost starting strong safety Jeremy Chinn in free agency, replacing him with Will Harris.

With all that happening in the secondary, Martin has been overlooked. But he’s entering a critical third year in his rookie contract. This time next year, he’ll be eligible for an early extension, so this season could be huge for his career in Washington. He could cement himself as a foundational piece of Dan Quinn’s defense, or potentially become a piece that needs to be replaced long term.

So how did Martin play last season and what can the Commanders expect out of him going forward? Before the season, Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. heaped praise on Martin throughout the offseason, highlighting his ball skills and tackling ability frequently. In a defense that wants to play aggressively and take the ball away, those are two fundamental traits for any defensive back in this system.

The praise wasn’t just hot air either, Martin backed up what Quinn and Whitt had said during the season. Martin’s ball skills were on display in the playoffs against the Lions.

After a false start backed up the Lions, they faced a second and 14 situation. They work out of an empty formation, trying to spread the defense out and uncover what Washington wants to do. The Commanders respond by running one of their most used zone coverages this season but with a slight twist. They call a Tampa-2 scheme, but they add an eighth defender dropping into coverage to plug the underneath hole.

Martin initially lines up as the deep safety in the middle of the field, but rotates back to a deep half after the snap. He gains a lot of depth, perhaps even too much as he gets five yards deeper than any other defender. That leaves a window underneath for the curl route to find a hole and sit down. The receiver gets knocked off his path by cornerback Marshon Lattimore, getting a physical jam at the line of scrimmage to disrupt the timing of his route. That timing disruption appears to have a big impact on the quarterback, who takes multiple hitch steps as he waits for the route to open up and then sails the throw over the receiver’s head.

Martin is in position over the top of the route and as the ball sails over the receiver’s head, Martin is there to take advantage. He intercepts the pass and then immediately goes to work trying to return it. The return was overshadowed by the block from Frankie Luvu on quarterback Jared Goff, but it was a great return from Martin. He avoided the first receiver and then broke free of a tackle from the second. The Commanders do a great job then creating a path for him, with Johnny Newton and Frankie Luvu sealing off the rest of the Lions inside as Martin works his way to the end zone to complete the pick-6

It’d be great to see Martin get a few more opportunities this coming season to showcase his ball skills, because he does have the traits to create turnovers. He has the quickness to break on routes underneath and close quickly on receivers.

This time we see Martin in a two-deep safety look pre-snap. At the snap of the ball, both Martin and fellow safety Jeremy Chinn hold their positions rather than gaining depth. You can see Martin reading the quarterback and letting the quarterback lead him to the ball. The slot receiver to the left of the offensive formation breaks inside and finds a hole in the zone coverage over the middle of the field, but Martin reads the quarterback and drives down on the route as the ball is being thrown.

Now ideally, Martin would have picked up on the read just a tick sooner and broke on the ball as the quarterback began his throwing motion, rather than as the ball was being released. That beat difference was the difference between Martin arriving at the same time as the ball or just slightly after it. But despite that, you can see the quickness with which Martin is able to close on the route and make a strong tackle immediately after the ball arrives. That tackle part is key because the ball is caught just short of the first down marker, but Martin makes the stop immediately, preventing the receiver from picking up the first down conversion.

Tackling is a key component of any defense, but particularly a Dan Quinn defense. The style that Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. played in Dallas was aggressive and involved a lot of man coverage. When you play with so much man coverage, defensive backs need to be able to tackle because they don’t have multiple other defenders nearby to help assist with a tackle as they do in zone coverage. A missed tackle in man coverage can lead to big yards after the catch. Quinn spent his entire first offseason in charge of the Commanders praising Martin’s tackling ability and it showed up routinely throughout the season.