What makes Ivey so coveted by college teams?
Florida-based offensive lineman Martez Ivey is widely considered one of the top tackle prospects in the nation. Ivey, who is currently playing at Apopka High School in Apopka, Fla., carries a composite five-star rating, and his 6'6, 280-lb. frame makes him a no-doubt tackle at the next level. Ivey received five-star grades from 247 Sports and Scout, with the latter ranking him as the nation's top tackle prospect in February 2014. Rivals and ESPN are not so bullish, giving Ivey a four-star ranking.
As of February, Ivey held offers from 16 top programs, including Florida, Florida State, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Miami, and Clemson.
Ivey is available on Twitter at @tezivey.
What makes Ivey so good? Athleticism and the potential to add size. Ivey is very athletic, and he has good quickness off the football with quick acceleration. He can pull and quickly turn the corner. He also shows the ability to bend quite well.
And he does all of that with an extremely impressive frame. Ivey should clearly be able to play when he's north of 300 pounds, as he is currently a quite trim 275-ish pounds, with long arms, big hands and a decent base.
In the run game, Ivey shows good power for his size, snapping his hips into the defender. He does have too much of a tendency to lunge, however, which gets him in trouble with his balance. That could improve as he gains more upper body strength, improving his punch. And I think part of this is related to his stance, as he plays in a very run-oriented Wing-T offense, sometimes even lining up at guard. His stance has a lot of weight on his front hand, and is not the typical tackle stance. This did improve as a junior.
While I believe Ivey will be a good pass protector at the college level, that is almost entirely based on his size, length and light feet. He simply doesn't have much film of pass protecting to evaluate.
I like Ivey's tenacity, and though he might not have quite the feel for the game of some other elite tackles, he did improve a lot physically and on the field from his sophomore to his junior year. I believe he has a chance to be a multi-year starter for a major conference school.