Starkville - Mississippi State continues to beef up its offensive line through the transfer portal.
The Bulldogs have already landed commitments from North Texas center Ethan Miner and Memphis left tackle Makylan Pounders, and on Tuesday they received a pledge from versatile LSU offensive lineman Marlon Martinez.
Martinez, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound senior, has played left guard, center and right guard during his four seasons in Death Valley. After primarily playing on special teams in 2020, he appeared in nine games on the offensive line in 2021, making three starts at right guard and allowing just one sack in 171 pass blocking reps.
As junior in 2022, Martinez appeared in five games on the offensive line, starting one at center. He allowed zero sacks in 78 pass blocking snaps and had a 70.4 PFF grade along with a 85.1 pass blocking grade.
This past season, Martinez played sparingly at left guard, center and right guard, playing 75 snaps and surrendering zero sacks in 29 pass blocking snaps.
As a three-star recruit in the 2020 class, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native starred at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He ranked as the #93 prospect in Florida and the #63 offensive tackle in the country, and chose LSU over offers from Auburn. Florida, Florida State and Georgia among many others.
Martinez joins a Mississippi State offensive line seeking to replace a majority of its production. Nick Jones, Kameron Jones, Cole Smith and Kwatrivous Johnson all exhausted their final year of eligibility while Steven Losoya transferred to Vanderbilt. Left tackle Percy Lewis is the only returning starter.
Mississippi State has now added nine players through the transfer portal. The complete list is posted below:
Baylor QB Blake Shapen
North Carolina DL Kedrick Bingley-Jones
North Texas C Ethan Miner
Memphis OT Makylan Pounders
Memphis DB Traveon Wright
Vanderbilt TE Justin Ball
Buffalo TE Cameron Ball
Purdue DL Sulaiman Kpaka
LSU OL Marlon Martinez
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