Last week, the Jets picked up former Falcons TE Martrez Milner on waivers from the Giants. Here’s some more detail about who he is…

Career Arc: In the 2007 NFL draft, the former Georgia Bulldog Milner was drafted in the fourth round by the Atlanta Falcons. He played in eight games and caught nine passes for 50 yards, including one 15 yard gain and even made two starts for the Falcons, as well as contributing on special teams. In 2008, he was slow to recover from leg and ankle injuries and did not really fit into Atlanta’s scheme because they had asked him to become more of a blocker. He was therefore cut and ended up spending the year on the Giants’ practice squad. The Jets picked him up last week after the Giants – who had seven tight ends on their roster, including Kevin Boss, a key contributor in the 2007 Superbowl run and Travis Beckum, the 100th pick in the 2009 draft and a guy with possible first round talent, but coming off a horrific leg injury.

Measurables: Standing 6′4″ and weighing 260 pounds, Milner is considerably bigger than Dustin Keller and will be able to use his bigger size to his advantage when blocking, even though this is an area which still requires work (see below). However, he is an athlete first and foremost with a 4.62 forty time at his Pro Day and a 34 inch vertical and 19 bench press reps at the Combine. He played both TE and DE in high school and also played basketball.

Injuries: Other than the injuries which contributed to him losing his job in Atlanta, Milner has also had the following issues: Turf Toe (2005), Right Wrist Fracture (2005), Back Spasms (2004).

Blocking ability: As always, opinion is divided on how good or bad he is as a blocker. Pick an opinion:
- “He does a good job blocking” (UGa OC/OL Coach Nick Callaway, 2006).
- “As a blocker, he needs to learn to use his size and agility to get more movement at the point of attack” (Rivals, 2006)
- “He is not a great blocker at this point and will have to improve in this area.” (Footballsfuture.com, 2007)
- “[He] is a poor blocker.” (Comcast Fantasy Sports, 2008)

Hands: Here’s the major issue with Milner. At Georgia, he would make the most incredible leaping, diving, falling, athletic one-handed catch with two men draped all over him and then two plays later, drop a ball right at him when wide open (and then on the play after that, drop the next one too). Whether it was concentration, technique or discipline that caused these errors, you would hope that the highlight reel grabs he made would indicate that this could be corrected (and maybe already has, with a couple of years of NFL coaching). If there was a Martrez Milner highlight reel on youtube two years ago, you’d have all known about him – alas, I looked and couldn’t find one.

Miscellaneous: His agent is Bus “Favre’s agent” Cook…He played a lot of special teams at UGa, so may have a shot to contribute there…He was benched in 2006 due to dropped passes, injuries and penalties.

Finally, here are some exclusive scouting notes I took on Milner during the 2006 season:

- 9/1 v Western Kentucky: Dropped a pass in the endzone in blowout win
- 9/23 v Colorado: Beat his man on a post route for 20 yard game winning TD catch in fourth quarter … Finished with 4 catches for 63 yards, including a key first down catch, a low grab and a first down grab down the sideline … Fumbled once, but recovered it himself … Mental error after TD (ran off the field, leaving ten men) meant team had to waste timeout on PAT while still trailing
- 10/14 v Vanderbilt: 22 yard TD catch on post-corner route … Finished with 6 catches for 67 yards including a diving catch downfield as QB rolled out, a strong grab turning upfield for extra yards and good concentration on a tipped pass for 15 on a curl route … Badly dropped a diving catch in the endzone … Shaken up in the fourth … Georgia lost by two in upset
- 10/28 v Florida: Had missed previous game with toe injury … Called for a hold … Made a third down catch downfield … 16 yard catch on the run … Tried to catch floating pass one-handed and dropped it … Dropped a pass over the middle in the fourth and then another one two plays later … Georgia lost by 7
- 11/11 v Auburn: Third down conversion on well-timed out pattern … Short diving grab … Leaping grab on touch pass downfield … Finished with 41 yards on 3 catches
- 11/24 v Georgia Tech: 3 catches for 33 yards including low grab as he just got hands under the ball and replay confirmed the catch … Also caught pass on quick out and carried DB to marker for a first down.

From thejetsblog.com. Please read the complete article and let us know what you think below.