Bam Martin-Scott, LB, South Carolina
Size:
Height: 6021
Weight: 231
Arm: 32”
Hand: 8 ¾”
Accomplishments:
All-SEC Honorable Mention (2024)
“Bam Martin-Scott is a high-energy linebacker who is willing to throw his body around wherever he is on the field.”
Strengths:
Coverage upside
Speed
Blitz ability
Pursuit
Concerns:
Natural instincts
Gets caught on blocks
Change of direction
Locating the football
Film Analysis:
Bam Martin-Scott was a late bloomer as a high school football player at Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He didn’t see much playing time until he was a senior and could not do enough to earn a rating out of high school. He started his collegiate football journey at Dodge City Community College, earning honorable mention honors as a freshman in 2019, but COVID-19 took away the 2020 season.
Martin-Scott transferred to South Carolina for the 2021 season, where he would finish his college career. For his first two seasons, he was predominantly a player on special teams and started to earn playing time in 2023. Over his last two seasons at South Carolina, Martin-Scott played in 23 games with nine starts and made 105 tackles (66 solo), 13 tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
Mostly seeing the field in a reduced role, Martin-Scott plays a high-energy brand of football, and his pursuit of the football is rarely matched on the field. Against the run, he struggles to locate the football with misdirection, but when he sees it, he flies to it recklessly, in a good way. He triggers downhill quickly against pullers and delivers powerful strikes with his hands to create space to cut underneath or around blocks. Reading out plays is still a work in progress for him, and he can be hesitant in the second level when locating the football. He’s willing to make mistakes at a fast pace, and that’s the kind of energy NFL coaches will love to work with. He's more consistent when he tackles around the midsection, but too often, he will dive around ball-carriers' ankles and miss tackles. His work against the run is more of a work in progress and could take a few years to see any improvement made on that front.
Martin-Scott is more comfortable as a man coverage backer against running backs and tight ends. He has the speed to carry tight ends up the field and match running backs to the flat and on-wheel routes. His talents are better focused on one purpose, whether it’s man coverage, blitzing, or triggering downhill against pullers. The less he has to second-guess, the better his reps turn out. Zone coverage was a mixed bag for Martin-Scott, where he’d leave his zone responsibility with the quarterback movements but also show a willingness to dislodge receivers who come into his area and get proper depth in his drops. He’s a very reactionary player and can overreact to play fakes, pump fakes, and misdirection, and he doesn’t have the stop-and-start ability to quickly make up for a lapse in judgment. He brings flashes of pass rush ability with upside as a blitzer into A gaps with his quick trigger downhill.
Bam Martin-Scott plays with a hot motor and has more than enough special teams experience to compete for an NFL roster spot. He projects as a reserve linebacker with passing-down upside who can make a name for himself on special teams.
Prospect Projection: Day 3 — Role Specific Contributor
Written By: Daniel Harms
Exposures: Clemson (2024), Vanderbilt (2024), Ole Miss (2024), LSU (2024)
