WorldWide Rams Draft Profile: Martez Carter, RB, Grambling St

Ed “Pi Double i” Henderson

WorldWide Rams

Who is the 5-foot-7-205 pound, Martez Coleman?
​​Carter is the epitome of Tarik Cohen, and I would argue the fact that he’s just as good as Cohen, because of his strength and power. Earned the nickname, “Mr. Excitement”, by his fans, because of his exciting play-making skills. His senior year in high school, he was deemed ineligible to play football, and after he graduated, he went on to play basketball at Wylie College, in Texas. Wylie’s head coach left the college and accepted the same position at Mississippi Valley State. Broderick Fobbs, the head coach at Grambling State, advised Carter to walk on to Grambling. Initially, Carter played defensive back, until they saw how dangerous he was as a return specialist. His sophomore season, he was converted to running back and kick returner. As for myself, I was fortunate enough to have seen Carter play at the annual Bayou Classic, a rival game that’s played at the Mercedes Benz Dome in New Orleans, La. The annual game is played against Southern University, where both teams bands have a music battle to kick off the weekend. This game was featured with two exciting backs, current Rams practice squad player Leonard Tillery, who rushed 26 times for 234 yards, and Carter rushed 10 times for 118 yards with two touchdowns. Nothing was far better on watching Carter take a handoff up the middle and run it 66 yards for a touchdown. 

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Martez Carter Highlights

Strengths
Carter has great explosiveness, with jump cuts, and the ability to accelerate out of his cuts. The shifty runner that will outrun the defender. Stout in size, with powerful lower center gravity. Difficult to tackle, and can get below pad level as the power through tacklers. Crushes defenders when he blocks, and good awareness of picking up the blitz. Have good hands, and act as a receiver. Has the speed to take any play the distance. Great return specialist. Carter has great patience, and his burst allows him to get out into open field. Carter has very good hands and is a natural receiver, ability to run routes of a passing tree. He also has the ability to go the distance with both the kickoff and punt returns.

Weakness
Lacks size, not wise decision making, and struggles to be elusive in the open field. Tends to dance too much with stutter-steps when approaching the line of scrimmage. Will avoid viable running lanes to bounce the run outside. Ball security needs, had issues putting the ball on the ground. 
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​Is he a fit for the Rams?
Ideally, the Rams are already deep with a crowded backfield of running backs on the team's depth chart. Currently, on the 53-man active roster, they have Todd Gurley, Malcolm Brown, Tavon Austin, Justin Davis, and Leonard Tillery to conclude. Tillery is currently on the team's practice squad. The 2017 NFL Draft included one other running back from the HBCU (Historically Black College University), drafted early was North Carolina A&T Tarik Cohen, who currently is on the Chicago Bears active roster. If Carter can open some eyes early in camp, he can potentially become a practice squad player if not pushing for a spot on special teams. He has a long hill to climb, but we have to remain optimistic if he can get the job done. If he does not perform well at the 2018 NFL Combine or his pro day, he will have a long wait on hearing his name called at the 2018 NFL Draft. 

Draft Prediction
7th-UDFA 

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NFL Comparison
Tarik Cohen, Chicago Bears

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