# Martin Emerson

Martin "MJ" Emerson Jr. (born September 27, 2000) is an American professional football cornerback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State.

## Early life

Emerson grew up in Pensacola, Florida and attended Pine Forest High School. As a senior, he had 91 tackles and two tackles for loss with four passes broken up, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. Emerson was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Mississippi State over offers from Miami, Oregon and Ole Miss.

## College career

Emerson played in all 13 of Mississippi State's games with five starts in his freshman season. As a sophomore, he had 72 total tackles and Southeastern Conference-high 11 pass breakups. Pro Football Focus rated Emerson the seventh-best cornerback in coverage in the nation and named him an honorable mention All-American.

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
| 6 ft 1+5⁄8 in (1.87 m) | 201 lb (91 kg) | 33+1⁄2 in (0.85 m) | 10+1⁄8 in (0.26 m) | 4.52 s | 1.59 s | 2.56 s | 4.14 s | 6.90 s | 32.0 in (0.81 m) | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) | 17 reps |
| Sources: ||||||||||||
The Cleveland Browns selected Emerson in the third round (68th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. The Browns acquired the 68th overall pick in a trade with the Houston Texans, receiving the 2022 third- (68th overall) and two fourth-round selections (108th and 124th overall) in exchange for a third round pick (44th overall) from the Houston Texans. He was the tenth cornerback drafted. The following day, the Browns traded cornerback Troy Hill to the Los Angeles Rams.
   "We do not strictly look at how many interceptions he had or how many pass breakups he had only, but you look at the full body of work, how he goes about covering, utilizing his instincts and all of the different components to being a DB."
On May 12, 2022, the Cleveland Browns signed Emerson to a four–year, $5.41 million rookie contract that includes an initial signing bonus of $1.15 million.
Throughout training camp, he competed to be the primary nickelback against A. J. Green and Greedy Williams. Following the departure of Troy Hill, defensive coordinator Joe Woods was tasked with replacing Hill at slot cornerback. In nickel packages, requiring five defensive backs, Woods elected to transition No. 2 starting cornerback Greg Newsome II to slot cornerback with Emerson covering as an outside cornerback. Head coach Kevin Stefanski named Emerson the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind starting cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II.
On September 11, 2022, Emerson made his professional regular season debut during the Cleveland Browns' season–opener at the Carolina Panthers and recorded five combined tackles (four solo) as the Browns won 26–24. He was named a starting cornerback heading into Week 6 after Denzel Ward sustained a concussion against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5. On October 16, 2022, Emerson earned his first career start and recorded six solo tackles and a season–high two pass deflections during a 15–38 loss to the New England Patriots. The following week, he recorded four solo tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Lamar Jackson for a seven-yard loss during a 20-23 loss at the Baltimore Ravens in Week 7.

## NFL career statistics

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | G | GS | Comb | Total | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD |
| 2022 | CLE | 17 | 6 | 63 | 51 | 12 | 1.0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | CLE | 16 | 12 | 59 | 45 | 14 | 0.0 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 33 | 18 | 122 | 96 | 26 | 1.0 | 29 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |