Iowa Football: Oliver Martin will flourish in Hawkeyes’ offense

Oliver Martin has decided to transfer from Michigan back home to play for Kirk Ferentz and Iowa football. He’s going to flourish in the Hawkeyes’ offense.

For Michigan, losing Oliver Martin hurt, but the Wolverines have so much depth at the position that it may not have that big of an effect on the team’s outlook in 2019. The Iowa-native decided to transfer back home to play for Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes, which will be the best decision for him, adjusting to an offense that fits him better.

Sure, there are going to be Iowa fans who are still upset about Martin spurning them for Michigan back in 2017, but they have to be forgiving because he was a kid who thought he was making the best decision and it turned out to not be what he expected.

Doubters are still going to be present, but all that noise will soon disappear when Martin takes the field and proves his worth to the fans.

Martin may have just a handful of catches in his career, but he’s joining a team that could use his services, especially since Brandon Smith and Ihmir Smith-Marsette will be seniors next season and neither has really shown enough to be worthy of guaranteed spots as starters.

The Michigan-transfer is an athletic 6-1, 200-pounder from Iowa City who has great hands and a strong body and he’s going to be a perfect fit in an Iowa offense that utilizes more tight ends than most, but with the right receiver, the offense can be more balanced than expected — many just assume the Hawkeyes run 90 percent of the time.

Ferentz got himself a steal with Martin and he’s going to be a star in Iowa City whereas he’d struggle to crack the starting rotation in Ann Arbor. If he applies and gets some sort of hardship waiver, he’ll have three years remaining and if not, he’ll have two years, starting in 2020.