QB Justyn Martin looks at Jayden Daniels comparison as he raves about ASU
Justyn Martin was just a freshman the first time he met Herm Edwards.
His former coach at Gardena (CA) Junipero Serra High introduced the 2022 quarterback during a school combine. It was an informal meeting, but the ASU head coach complimented Martin on his size and his athleticism after catching a few passes at receiver.
“It was great, especially at that time because I hadn’t had college attention like that,” Martin said.
The pair came across each other again this February. After transferring away from Serra in January, Martin participated in an early-morning weightlifting session at his new school, Inglewood High, with Edwards in attendance.
Soon after, the four-star pro-style quarterback phoned Edwards for a wide-ranging conversation that ended with the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder notching his fourth of what has become ten offers.
“I was shocked. The whole day for me, I was just happy,” Martin recalled. “(Herm) said he had watched my film and was talking to me about leadership and how you always need to embrace the role.
“He was also talking about the comparison between Jayden and me (ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels). He was saying how Jayden came in as a freshman and how ASU isn’t afraid to start freshmen. Basically, if you can play, you can play. And Jayden embraced the leadership role, stepped up and earned his spot even though he was a freshman.”
The comparison to Daniels is an easy one to make. Southern California quarterbacks. Dynamic play-making ability. And, frame-wise, they’re separated by just one inch and 10 pounds -- though Martin expects to be 225 pounds by December. On the field, it’s a bit different. Daniels was always the prototypical dual-threat option, never afraid to break contain and take chances with his athleticism.
Martin thinks he can get there. For now, he’s considered a pro-style quarterback because 1.) He can sling the ball 75 yards on the fly, 2.) He’s only played in two high school games so far and didn’t really use his legs.
“I think that my size and athleticism and speed is what separates me,” Martin said. “I’m a bigger kid; I’m a taller kid, I can throw the ball far, I can throw it accurately, and I can also move.”
But even if he enters college as the coveted dual-threat quarterback he expects to be, Martin knows next-level success -- the kind Daniels enjoyed last year -- requires a mental skillset he’s still working towards.
“I would love to sit down and talk with him,” Martin said of Daniels. “I would just ask him, ‘How did you grasp the mental side of the game at such a high and quick rate?’”
Even if that meeting with Daniels doesn’t come immediately, Martin’s primary recruiter in Tempe can surely provide some of the details. Last season, Trey Anderson worked side-by-side with Daniels and ASU’s quarterbacks in his role as an offensive analyst.
Now, he can share that experience with Martin.
“I talk with Trey a lot, and we’re just talking about the school, the setting, and the plans -- like what I’m weighing. It’s very interactive. It’s consistent, too, which I like,” Martin said. “Not many schools are consistent. They’ll call here or there, but ASU is consistent in what they do and talk to me on a weekly basis.”
The constant communication has resonated with Martin. Asked what schools were recruiting him the hardest, he admitted that ASU, Michigan State, and Nebraska are leading the charge.
Coincidentally, those three schools reside in either the Pac-12 and Big 10 and will not play football in 2020. If the ACC, Big 12 and SEC go ahead with a fall season, some have questioned if they, too, will swoop in and make headway with recruits across the country. Because his commitment is a ways away, Martin admitted the Pac-12, and Big 10’s postponement won’t have an impact on his recruitment.
“But when the dead period is over, it would help to get out campuses, talk with coaching staffs and learn that school’s offense and how they work and function,” Martin said, before describing what he looks for in a school:
“I like when the coach actually shows he believes in me and that he’s committed to me, too. That’s one thing. I like to throw, so I look for like a pass-first offense, and I don’t want to be held back to just sitting in the pocket. I want to have the freedom to move around and do what I do. Basically, a playstyle that fits me.”
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