Illini Martez Wilson Drafted By New Orleans Saints In Third Round

Martez Wilson came to Illinois with heaps of expectations, and in his first season was part of an Illini team that went to the Rose Bowl. for the next two years though, injuries, including a major neck injury in his third year, kept Martez from really progressing to much.

Last year though, as a redshirt junior, Martez took over at middle linebacker and became one of the focal points of a resurgent Illinois defense.Tez led the Illini in tackles and was finally the dependable and disruptive linebacker that college scouts thought he could be four years ago. Martez is still a very raw talent, very fast, very big and a powerful hitter at 6'4" 250lbs, but with a season or two of seasoning he will probably be a natural inside linebacker for the Saints defense.

A lot of us here in Champaign will still be wondering how much earlier in the Draft Tez' could have gone if he had stuck around for another season in college, demonstrating to pro scouts his injuries and under-performances are behind him, but a third round pickup is nothing to sneeze at and I can't blame the guy  for wanting to fulfill his lifelong dream and play football professionally.

Good luck Tez, enjoy the Big Easy.