What Brodric Martin Must Show Aaron Glenn to Play More

Brodric Martin has an opportunity to play more final month of season.

The Detroit Lions invested a third-round draft pick on a player they felt needed to develop more, prior to carving out a permanent role along the defensive line. 

Brodric Martin has only appeared in one game -- on Monday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders -- during his rookie season. 

"It's a learning curve," defensive line coach John Scott Jr. explained to reporters earlier this season. "You're seeing different linemen and alignment, and it's different and you're learning a whole lot of new stuff. You've got to absorb all of that."

Martin has been a healthy scratch for the majority of his first campaign in Motown.

Against Las Vegas, the rookie defensive lineman played 11 snaps, and recorded a solo tackle in Detroit's 26-14 win at Ford Field. 

Detroit's coaching staff has repeatedly expressed that the talented defensive tackle needed to improve upon several fundamental aspects of playing the position, including pad level and footwork. 

With Alim McNeill out for at least the next month of the season, Martin has an opportunity to showcase how he has progressed the last three months. 

“Man, just coming from where he did in college and understand exactly how he has to play in this league. The one thing I think that he had an issue with early is just being able to use his hands and understand how to use his hands," said Aaron Glenn. "And man, I tell him in practice, he’s doing a really good job of that."

Detroit's defensive coordinator also expressed one specific ability he expects defensive linemen to excel at in the NFL. 

"I mean, before practice, after practice, those are the things that Brodric is doing a really good job of to get himself on the field," said Glenn. "And then, other than that, man, I’m a big believer in D-linemen being able to have lateral agility, and he’s working his butt off trying to work on those things, too.”