Damien Martinez was the leading rusher and one of the best players on a stacked Miami offense, but how does his full NFL scouting report look?
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Overview, Film Analysis, And 2025 Scouting Report Of Miami RB Damien Martinez
Measurables:
6’0”
217 lbs
Player Background:
A Top-40 running back recruit in the nation, Damien Martinez committed to Oregon State to begin his collegiate career. He was rated as a three-star prospect out of Lewisville HS in Texas and a Top-75 player in the state. He hit the ground running in his freshman year, starting five of his thirteen games. His season finished agonizingly close to the 1,000-yard mark, ending with 982 yards and seven scores on 6.1 yards per carry. He also caught four passes for 61 total yards.
Martinez started all 12 of the team’s games in his sophomore campaign, again performing as one of the top backs in the nation. He crossed the 1,100-yard threshold, tacking on nine scores on 6.1 YPC and tallying 126 receiving yards. He entered the transfer portal as the second-best RB available, ending up at Miami. His lone season with the Hurricanes was another solid one, accumulating 1,206 total yards with 10 TDs.
Accolades:
All-Pac 12 First Team (2022)
Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Of The Year (2022)
Freshman All-America First Team (2022)
All-Pac 12 First Team (2023)
All-ACC Honorable Mention (2024)
Strengths/Pros:
Starting with the obvious, Martinez plays with consistent, high-level physicality throughout plays. His contact balance is fantastic, holding his ground through tackles and continuing his forward momentum. He takes hits extremely well, driving his legs through defenders and seldom being an easy tackle. He’s able to get rotational with his upper body through contact and is an absolute fighter. He rips his way through defenses for as long as humanly possible and almost always grinds out extra yardage.
What average fans won’t expect is his suddenness and sharp movement skills. He drops into his hips quickly to scan the field and shoot through gaps. Martinez’s compact lateral movements are sharp, working through much smaller gaps than most backs his size. His feet are deceptively quick, stopping and going smoothly and flying past the line of scrimmage. His overall spatial awareness is impressive, and he’s a savvy leaking route runner. He also lays great force as a pass blocker in the backfield.
Weaknesses/Cons:
As most people who watched Miami games in 2024 know, Martinez simply isn’t a massive breakaway threat. His open-field acceleration leaves much room to be desired, and his top-end speed is far from elite. He gets hawked down relatively quickly and mainly lives in the 15-20 yard range on his chunk plays. It also comes into play when he gets caught up at the line, rarely able to successfully bounce runs to the sideline.
Martinez tends to drift toward the line too often early in the play, getting caught up and not allowing his patience to help him. He needs to be more decisive with his force after the snap and will sometimes try to overanalyze in situations that don’t require it. He’s an incredibly raw pass blocker and will heavily struggle at times. His hand placement is rough, he takes too much time to attack, and he will overset too often and get moved off balance. His receiving skills are inconsistent, having his occasional spurts but not much else.
Potential Team Fits:
NFL Projection:
Many label him as a role-specific power back, but his tape shows much more than that. Martinez has the potential to be a legitimately effective high-dosage RB and could easily become a multi-year starter. He won’t be a consistent home run threat, but his strength, size, and compact agility form a fantastic profile. He’s an ideal fit for teams with a good offensive line and a desire to cheaply improve the RB position, but would be an instant impact player for a large chunk of teams.
Prospect Grade:
Mid to Late 3rd Round
Film Exposures:
2024 vs. Iowa State
2024 vs. Florida State
2024 vs. Florida
Main Image: Kirby Lee – USA Today Sports