After days of rumors about whether he would stay or go, Michigan football wide receiver Oliver Martin put his name in the transfer portal this week.
When there are rumblings that a player is unhappy in college football, it seems like only a matter of time before their name ends up in the transfer portal. For Michigan football wide receiver Oliver Martin, that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday.
Martin, who came to Michigan football as a four-star recruit in the 2017 class and caught 11 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown last season, has put his name in the portal according to the Detroit Free Press, which cites a University of Michigan spokesman.
While it’s disappointing that Martin is exploring his options and will almost certainly leave the program, it’s not a surprise. With Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black and Nico Collins all back, as well as the addition of Mike Sainristil, a dynamic freshman who passed Martin on the depth chart, Martin is clearly worried about his role on the team and he should be.
Ronnie Bell, a freshman last season, caught eight passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns, so Martin had a fight on his hands just to be in the top five and that doesn’t even take into account four-star incoming freshmen wideouts Cornelius Johnson and Giles Jackson.
Obviously, no program ever wants to lose a four-star recruit that could still turn out to be a good player. Martin showed signs of development last season after sitting out in 2017 and under the direction of Josh Gattis, it seems like there will be more opportunities in the passing game in general.
Yet, a strong spring from Sainristil really cemented him among the top four wide receivers and with Bell and the others posing a threat, Martin looks to be headed elsewhere, possibly Iowa, his home state.
That move would certainly rub some Michigan football fans the wrong way, however, he would have to sit out the entire 2019 season. Some fans get upset about transfers regardless of where the player might end up, but, at this point, it’s just par for the course.
If guys aren’t getting a chance to play, most of the time, they will go somewhere else, just like the loser of the Dylan McCaffrey–Joe Milton battle is a strong candidate to transfer, which is why landing four-star signal callers like Cade McNamara, JD Johnson, and J.J. McCarthy was important.
It would have been preferable to see Martin stay and compete. The 6-foot-1 receiver could have helped the Wolverines in 2019 and seeing him leave isn’t positive. But it’s not a significant loss either and in today’s world of college football, expect more of these moves, not less.