Former Seahawks Draft Pick Has Become One Of The Nfl’s Unlikely Sack Leaders

One of the few bright spots on yet another very bad Tennessee Titans team is a former Seattle Seahawks pass rusher.

Jacob Martin, a 2018 sixth-round pick who was famously part of the Jadeveon Clowney trade just prior to the 2019 regular season, has hung around in the NFL for nearly a decade. He’s been a rotational pass rusher with the Seahawks, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders, and now he finds himself in Nashville for his ninth season.

It’s also his best season to date; one that has him as one of the NFL’s best at sacking the quarterback.

After taking Joe Burrow down not once, not twice, but three times in Tennessee’s wild 43-36 overtime loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, Martin has already reached a career-high 6.5 sacks through eight games. Only T.J. Watt, Will Anderson, Chase Young, and Greg Rousseau have more sacks than Martin.

At 30 years old, Martin appears to be the definition of a late bloomer. He had 5.5 sacks last season with the Commanders, and as a starter on the Titans he’s putting up very impressive numbers under Robert Saleh. Martin leads the Titans with 21 pressures, his 7 quick pressures (which is a pressure within 2.5 seconds) puts him on pace to match if not surpass his previous career high of 16. He already has 14 QB hits, which is only four fewer than all of last season, and his tackles for loss is already at a career high. The only thing to note is his pressure rate of 11.4% is modest, but he’s turning his pressures into sacks, and his one-year, $9 million contract looks like it’ll parlay into a bigger deal next offseason… an offseason in which Seattle will likely be overhauling its edge rush unit.

Meanwhile, fellow former Seahawk Boye Mafe recorded a strip-sack of Cam Ward in the same game, bringing his total to 5.5 on the season for the Bengals. His first season in Cincinnati is looking like one of the best of his career, and the Bengals should be in good shape to return to the playoffs given their remaining schedule.

Good for both of them!