Miami running back Damien Martinez is a unique archetype in the 2025 NFL Draft RB class, and his scouting report speaks of unexpected upside.
What does Martinez provide an offense with his skill set, and what is his ultimate ceiling? The Hurricanes’ runner isn’t without his limitations, but he fulfills his role very well.
Damien Martinez’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 5’11 7/8″
- Weight: 241 pounds
- Position: Running Back
- School: Miami (FL)
- Current Year: Junior
There was little fanfare when Martinez joined Jonathan Smith’s Oregon State Beavers as a three-star recruit in 2022. But just two years later, Martinez was one of the most coveted transfer recruits on the circuit, as he took his talents to Miami in the offseason of 2024.
What happened over that two-year span? Well, for starters, the 20-year-old Martinez became one of the Pac-12’s most productive rushers right out of the gate.
As a true freshman, Martinez amassed almost 1,000 yards. In 2023, he racked up 1,185 and nine scores, averaging over 6.0 yards per carry in both seasons.
Martinez acclimated immediately and looked like he belonged at the college football level. Now, at Miami, he’s aiming to truly elevate his 2025 NFL Draft scouting report into the ranks of the elite, along with quarterback Cam Ward.
Another look at that devastating run from Damien Martinez 💥 pic.twitter.com/FqZAb1ke5F
— Geo Milian (@GeoMilian) August 31, 2024
As of this update, Martinez has established himself as a consistent running presence in Miami’s rotation, though upstart Jordan Lyle has chipped away at his workload a bit.
After four games, Martinez leads the Hurricanes in carries with 40, on which he’s earned 190 yards and four touchdowns. The emergence of Ward’s dominant passing game has also thinned Martinez’s overall opportunities, but his traits as a volume RB still show up.
Martinez’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Boasts rare compact mass and carries 240 pounds as if 20 pounds lighter.
- Has superb explosiveness out of cuts and can plant and go on second-read runs.
- Relatively fluid for his size and has shown to swerve and weave through crowds.
- Moves with energetic foot speed, with which he can quickly set up and engineer cuts.
- Has snappy redirection ability and swivel freedom, through which he can channel burst.
- Smooth, agile second-level navigator who can juke and spin around surging threats.
- Can use his combined fluidity, spatial awareness, and feel to flow upfield in space.
- Initial and full-field vision both show up as strengths in different diagnostic situations.
- Possesses instinctive cutback ability and is quick to process and identify opportunities.
- Has the vision to divert inside and sift through congestion when the outside is blocked.
- Can effectively process early-contact threats and adjust his pace to slide past attackers.
- Is incredibly difficult to take down on first contact with his mass, density, and leg churn.
- Uber-tenacious, physical runner who can lower his shoulder and levy brutal stiff-arms.
- In a limited sample, flashes the ability to take short screens and generate RAC yards.
- At the very least, is a willing pass protector whose size and mass translate well.
Weaknesses
- Visibly lacks elite long speed, which can impact his ability to reach the boundary.
- Despite fluidity, doesn’t quite have the flexibility to make successive sharp transitions.
- Slight hip stiffness derived from frame can cause delays on sharp lateral transitions.
- Agility and fluidity are more potent working vertically and not as much when offsetting.
- On occasion, is too passive and patient, and drifts behind the line on wide-zone runs.
- Sometimes defers to congestion early in reps, when wide cutback lanes are open.
- At times, runs too upright when punching through lanes, inhibiting leg drive.
- Isn’t a high-volume or proven receiving threat, with just 15 career receptions.
- Doesn’t have a vast route tree and can bring better energy selling on option plays.
- Sometimes merely seeks to chip and obstruct in pass protection, failing to sustain.
- Needs to improve his pad level and hip-leverage maintenance as a pass protector.
- Doesn’t always bring and load his base on extensions, allowing defenders to pry past.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Martinez grades out as a top-100 prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. He could be in the mix for early-to-mid Day 2 capital. On passing downs, Martinez’s value remains unclear, but he’s one of the more proven commodities within the volume-back archetype in 2025.
At almost 6’0″, 241 pounds, Martinez has elite size, with very little bad weight on his frame. He’s a hyper-dense brawler who combines tenacious physicality and contact balance with smooth, gliding second-level mobility and searing post-transition explosiveness.
Martinez isn’t just a reckless homing missile, either. He has a great foundation of vision and creative instincts, which he can use to both identify early cutback lanes and swim through congestion by feeling out nearby defenders and creating leverage advantages for himself.
At the moment, Martinez’s utility as a three-down back is his biggest question mark. While he’s a willing pass blocker, his technique still needs a great deal of improvement, and he doesn’t have much proven versatility as a pass catcher. That has, in turn, yielded little volume.
Nevertheless, as an offensive engine in zone-heavy run schemes, Martinez has an enthralling mix of size, explosiveness, fluidity, creative freedom, vision, and finishing physicality. He can be a strong early-down back right out of the gate, and developmental three-down potential is present.
