By now this news is over a month old, so apologies if this was posted already, but I saw this on a 49ers board...interesting stuff: Ball speed (Radar Gun) Ingle Martin: 61 mph Jay Cutler: 60 mph Brodie Croyle: 58 mph Tavaris Jackson: 57 mph If you want to see it in a more "official" setting, the numbers for the combine are here: http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/9269912 I haven't seen any film of Martin, but the more I read about him, the more he sounds like, as one website dubbed him, "the poor man's Jay Cutler"--a strong arm, great athletic ability, gambler's mentality, etc. I've seen his name pop up in a few mocks around here, and it seems like he's an interesting developmental prospect to look into on the 2nd day...has anyone seen him play?
Brodie Croyle threw the ball the farthest in some competition at the end of the year so MPH isn't the only barometer of arm strength.
The whole arm strength question is a sticky issue, like Rambo said, the straight line velocity and distance are two things that could be very different. I know it's the most cliche line ever, but I'll say it anyway, more important than arm strength is the ability to throw an accurate deep ball, and to connect on the base routes. That said, Ingle Martin does have a lot of physical tools, and I think he'll find himself a nice spot in the 4th round to some smart team willing to develop him. He was never given a real chance to be the guy at Florida, so he went to Furman and really dominated, I was lucky enough to catch one of his playoff games. Before that, my only memory of him was the short time he played against Miami when he was still a Gator a few years back. He does have a very good arm, and can move around a bit, he's got talent. Past the first 6-7 guys, you get to the point where a kid like him who had a terrific combine will really start making their move.
Yeah, the thread title is a bit misleading, since "arm strength" is really a combination of different things, straight-line velocity being only one of them. I just thought it was an interesting stat. But especially if we trade down from #4 (meaning we'd be more or less out of the running for a 1st round QB), Martin might be a good choice to bring in and develop a bit.
