The San Francisco 49ers stayed on the defensive side of the ball with their first of two third-round selections in the 2025 NFL Draft by choosing linebacker Nick Martin of Oklahoma State at pick 75 overall.

Martin isn't a player that every draft analyst rated very highly. But the 49ers thought differently and may have grabbed a late riser in the process. Here's a look at what to know about Martin as he begins his NFL career.


Not scared off


Martin wasn't expected by many to go in Round 3 after entering the NFL Draft as a junior. He was generally ranked as a Day 3 pick, with ESPN listing him as the No. 185 overall prospect and NFL.com ranking him as a Round 4 selection.

Martin missed most of the 2024 season with a knee injury, plus he's undersized for a linebacker (5-11 1/2, 221 pounds). But he burst onto the scene with a huge 2023 season (140 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six sacks, First-team All-Big 12) and has gained a reputation for flying to the ball and being a hitter.

"Dre Greenlaw departed to Denver in free agency, leaving a hole in San Francisco's defense that had to be filled in this draft," wrote Matt Miller of ESPN.com. "Martin is a classic 49ers' linebacker, with his ability to flow from sideline-to-sideline and make plays in space. With Robert Saleh's eye for talent at linebacker, you have to be excited about what the coaches and scouts saw from Martin. He could start opposite the league's best in Fred Warner."

One analyst who did call the possibility of Martin going in Round 3 was ESPN's Mel Kiper.

"He's climbing my board quickly," Kiper wrote earlier in April. "I think I will have him in the LB4/LB5 range when all is said and done."


Kyle Crabbs of The 33rd Team wrote, "Martin is a hell of an athlete who boasts the tools to become an impactful NFL linebacker with more seasoning and experience. His ability to chase down plays from far-reaching landmarks aids in his effort to collect monster tackle production and gives him the ability to be involved in plays all over the field.

Sounds a bit like Greenlaw, who was a fifth-round find for the 49ers in 2019.

Combine warrior


The 49ers undoubtedly liked what they saw from Martin at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, which showed he was recovered from the injury that kept him out for much of the season.

Martin ran a 4.53 40-yard dash (1.54-second 10-yard split) with a 38-inch vertical jump, a 10 foot-3-inch broad jump, and 26 bench press reps of 225 pounds.

That performance was good enough to rank him with the fifth-best athleticism score among linebackers by NFL.com.


Overlooked no more


Martin wasn't highly recruited in 2021 coming out of Pleasant Grove High School in Texarkana, Texas, where he was a teammate of defensive end Landon Jackson, who was selected just before Martin at pick 72 by the Buffalo Bills. Martin's size once again came into play, but that didn't bother Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy.

"He's violent and he plays with great speed," Gundy said in 2023, per The Oklahoman. "That's why we liked him. He was undersized, which kept him from being really heavily recruited in my opinion. He's grown into his own, but he keeps those characteristics.

"He loves to play football. He likes to practice. He cares about his team. He's tough and he can run. Those are good things for defensive guys."

Martin's high school coach, Josh Gibson, told The Oklahoman that Martin wound up in exactly the right place.

"People were worried about his size," Gibson said in 2023. "Ultimately, to me, he ended up where he needed to. Oklahoma State pulls less five-stars than Texas, A&M and Oklahoma, but has just as much success as those schools. I've always felt like Oklahoma State will take three-stars that play like four- and five-stars and then beat you with those guys.


"They play with a chip on their shoulder. That's who Nick Martin is, a player that will hurt you physically."

A fitting nickname


According to The Oklahoman, Martin was given the nickname "The Missle" in 2023 -- a fitting one considering his type of play.

"We call him the Heat-Seeking Missile," Gibson said. "You turn on the film and you see nothing short of that. You may even see a rocket, I don't know. He's a dog and he's gonna continue to make plays like that."

Watch Martin in action below:




A different type of personality


Martin may be a ferocious player on the field, but he appears to be somewhat of a goofball off of it. According to The Oklahoman, Martin had over 10 pairs of animal slippers at Oklahoma State, one of which (a pair of wolf slippers) he wore to Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas.

"You see the shoes, man, I look at 'em and that's Nick in a nutshell," OSU linebacker Collin Oliver told The Oklahoman in 2024. "He's an amazing dude, a great character. It's cool that people see more than just football. That's Nick. That's the way he is 100% of the time."

Martin told The Oklahoman, "I'm pretty weird. I'd say it comes from my influences, what I like. If I like it, I do it."

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