Blake Martinez (born January 9, 1994) is an inside linebacker for the Packers. He attended high school in Oro Valley, Arizona before continuing his football career at Stanford on a scholarship. At Stanford, he was a two-year starter at linebacker for the Cardinal, where he was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 team in 2015.
Martinez had a breakout season his junior year at Stanford where he started 13 games. In three of those games, he had over ten tackles. In arguably his best game of the season, he intercepted back-to-back passes that had been thrown by quarterback Jared Goff, the first overall draft pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. That ended Goff’s school record for most consecutive attempts without an interception. Blake finished the year with a team-leading 102 tackles.
In his final season with the Cardinal, Martinez played in 14 games and finished with a team-high 141 tackles (75 solo), 1.5 sacks, and six pass breakups. His efforts earned him being named to the All-Pac-12 first team.
Martinez was drafted by the Packers in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft and saw extensive play as a rookie, staring nine games.
He made his first career NFL start and professional regular season debut in the season-opener at the Jaguars and recorded six combined tackles in the 27–23 victory. On October 20, 2016, he recorded five combined tackles, two pass break ups, and made his first career interception in a 26–10 win against the Bears. In Week 10, Martinez recorded a season-high ten combined tackles against the Titans. He missed three games (Week 12–14) after suffering an MCL sprain during the Packers’ Week 11, finishing his rookie campaign with a total of 69 combined tackles (47 solo), four pass deflections, a sack, and an interception in 13 games.
Martinez entered the 2017 season as a starter for Green Bay and went on to record 144 combined tackles (96 solo), eight pass deflections, one sack, and one interception in 16 games, starting all 16. His 144 combined tackles tied for first in the NFL, He also led the team in tackles and was second on the team with 979 defensive snaps. Highlights included a season-high 16 combined tackles against the Saints and 15 combined tackles, a broken pass and an interception against the Steelers.
Martinez retained his starting role as an inside linebacker in 2018. In Week 5, he recorded five combined tackles and made a season-high two sacks against the Lions. On October 15, 2018, Martinez recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles (nine solo) as the Packers defeated the 49ers. And in Week 14, Martinez tied his season-high of 12 combined tackles (11 solo) in a 34-20 victory against the Falcons. Overall in 2018, Martinez started all 16 games and recorded 144 combined tackles (91 solo), five sacks, and three pass deflections. He finished with the second most tackles among all NFL players that season.
In his first three seasons, Martinez has started 41 games, totaled 357 tackles, 7 sacks, 15 pass deflections and 2 interceptions.
For the 2019 season, Blake is projected to continue his dominant linebacking performance under Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine.
See Career Stats