2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Damien Martinez

Last Updated: 01/28/2025

Career Stats 

Summary  

After two electric years at Oregon State, Damien Martinez took his talents to Miami in hopes of continuing his ascension. It was not so much a continued ascension, but more a lateral move in the production department — even in an electric Miami offense. However, his 1,000-yard season was the first time a Hurricane topped 1,000 yards on the ground since 2016. His 1,206 scrimmage yards led the team, and his 10 rushing touchdowns were a career-high. 

Martinez stands on a solid 5-foot-11, 226-pound frame that allows him to absorb contact with little effect. He does not shy from contact and often has the lower pad level than defenders attempting to tackle him. This is good, considering he is a slightly upright runner, so if he fails to get his pad level down in time, he can be stuffed easily. Marrying this power game with good contact balance and surprising elusiveness makes him hard to bring down in the open field. One of his best traits is his patience behind the line of scrimmage, where he allows his blocks to set up before bursting through holes or off the tail of the pulling linemen. He couples this with an attacking mentality approaching the line of scrimmage and the ability to get small in the hole, allowing him to find creases many others would miss. 

Where he struggles behind the line of scrimmage is picking the right hole consistently. We also see a lack of bend and fluidity at times trying to hit the outside zone scheme runs. He appears stiff at times and takes a few too many steps to get to the corner but offsets it some with good acceleration through his transitions. He is best when he gets north-south sooner during the play. Improvement in these areas will have to happen if he hopes to be a mainstay in an NFL backfield.

When it comes to speed, he lacks the high-end track speed that the NFL covets. He makes up for this with tremendous acceleration and short-area quickness, which allows him to rip off chunk plays regularly. We also see him lacking in the passing game. He has average hands and can run basic routes, but he is not going to be on the forefront of defensive coordinators in this area. We also see him struggle to win during pass protection where he often whiffs or fails to anchor, resulting in pressure on the quarterback.

Strengths 

• Patient runner 
• Strong Acceleration 
• Getting small in the hole 
• Short area speed

Weakness 

• Inconsistent 
• Upright runner
• Pass protection  

Honors and Awards 

• Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (2022)
• 247Sports True Freshman All-America Team (2022)
• First team All-Pac-12 (2022,2023) 

 Athletic Testing 

• 40-yard dash: TBD
• Vertical: TBD
• Broad Jump: TBD
• Three-cone: TBD
• Shuttle: TBD
• Bench: TBD

NFL Role Prediction

• Early down committee back 

Scheme Fit

• Gap/Interior Zone

Fantasy Outlook 

Damien Martinez has a high fantasy ceiling if given a lead back role. He has displayed the ability to play all three downs at the college level but lacks some important traits to be a third-down player at the next level. With improvement here and the right landing spot, he could be fantasy gold, but it feels more likely he becomes an early-down player within a committee. This is not a death sentence, though. Think Brian Robinson Jr. or 2024 Tony Pollard. 

Player Comparisons 

• Javonte Williams 
• Rhamondre Stevenson 
• Brian Robinson Jr.