clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2013 NFL Draft: Martin Mayhew discusses Sam Martin pick

Here's a look at what the Detroit Lions' Martin Mayhew had to say about his pick of Sam Martin on Saturday.

USA TODAY Sports

Below is a recap of what Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew had to say about his pick of punter Sam Martin on Saturday. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

Opening statement: "We've added two guys now. Sam Martin and Corey Fuller. Sam is a punter at Appalachian State, we've been on him for a while, been talking about him, had him in for a visit a while back. He's a guy that punts, he kicks off, he holds, he's done PATs and field goals so he's a very versatile guy. Really good kid. I spent some time with him when he was here in the building and he'll come in and have the opportunity to compete to be our starting punter."

On it being unusual to take a punter in the fifth round: "Another punter went in the fifth round too. We like him and we had a grade on him and we felt like that was the appropriate time to take him and he's got a great opportunity to make our team and to be our starting punter."

On being a different punter his senior year than he was in previous years: "I know he punted great his senior year and he's got versatility which was big to us. We started looking at him when we weren't sure if Jason (Hanson) was coming back or if Jason was going to kick off for us. We were looking at punters who could kick off for us and also punt. So he kind of got in the mix that way. Talking about the fifth round, if you've got a late fifth round pick and the punters typically go in the sixth round, that might be the right time to take them before somebody else does. That's how we felt about Sam.

More from POD:

Track the Lions' picks in our draft StoryStream

Presenting the Lions' 2013 draft class

2013 Lions undrafted free agent tracker

Follow all of the Lions' draft news

Pride of Detroit Direct

Sign up now for a 7-day free trial of Pride of Detroit Direct, with exclusive updates from Jeremy Reisman on the ground at Allen Park, instant reactions after each game, and in-depth Lions analysis from film expert Jon Ledyard.