Robert Martin, ladies and gentlemen!
Stats:
Hometown/High School: Montvale, NJ/St. Joseph Regional
Height/Weight: 6'5"/265 lbs.
Recruited By: Matt Limegrover
Starz n' Sheetz:
Starz: 3* 247, Rivals, Scout, NR ESPN
Sheetz: Penn State, Boston College, Duke, Kentucky, Maryland, NC State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Cinema:
The Tale:
OFFICIAL!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Zv4ztbEWSg
— Robert Martin (@RobertFMartin71) April 16, 2016
In addition to four-star Pittsburgh OL C.J. Thorpe, Penn State picked up a commitment from three-star New Jersey OL Robert Martin on Saturday afternoon. Martin was a bit of a surprise, as you can guess by the fact that he committed like 21 hours ago and we're just getting his story up now. Sorry about that y'all.
Anyway, Martin seems to have been on Penn State's radar going back to last summer when he attended camp at the school in June. The New Jersey native picked up an offer during an unofficial visit in February and pulled the trigger on Blue-White Saturday. It's a solid pickup for Franklin, as Martin is a good football player from a state that is always rich with talent. Plus read the note in the tweet up above. This dude really loves Penn State, which is always a big plus.
Martin's commitment gives Penn State six commits in the class of 2017. He joins Thorpe as the class' only offensive lineman, and with his and Thorpe's commitments, Penn State moved up to the No. 6 class in the conference and the No. 20 class in America.
The Outlook:
So first thing first, we need to figure out which position Martin is going to play. He can be a guard or a tackle at the next level, and I think we can all trust that Limegrover will figure out which position he will have the most success at as soon as he gets onto campus. Next, homie really needs a cheeseburger or 20. At 265 lbs., he is a relatively slim OL and the thinnest that Franklin has brought in since the 2014 class. The good news is that the two lighter OL in that class, Noah Beh and Chance Sorrell, came in at 260 and 263 pounds respectively and are both now 290+ pounds. This isn't as much of a concern as much as it is a warning that he's going to get very familiar with DP Dough once he gets onto campus.
Of course, we're going to wait a while before he plays, so if he goes through Franklin's ideal plan for linemen, he'll make his on-field debut in the 2019-2020.
Feel free to give Martin a follow on the Twitter machine right here: @RobertFMartin71. He's still tweeting about how much he loves Penn State, so show the dude some love.
Always dreamed of playing for Penn State, and now it's a reality!!
— Robert Martin (@RobertFMartin71) April 17, 2016
Welcome to Penn State, Robert!