From now until the 2025 NFL Draft, we hope to scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Miami RB Damien Martinez.
#6 DAMIEN MARTINEZ/RB MIAMI (FLA.) – 5111, 226 POUNDS
-2025 Senior Bowl Participant
MEASUREMENTS
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Damien Martinez | 5111/226 | 8 1/2 | 32 | 77 1/2 |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
THE GOOD
– Well-built and dense frame that is ready to hold up to NFL rigors
– Great play strength as a runner, difficult to bring down with arm tackles or one-on-one in the open field
– Solid lateral agility with decisive cuts behind the line of scrimmage
– Always finishes his runs falling forward; delivers the hits rather than taking them
– Great vision both behind the line of scrimmage and in the open field
– Good body control through holes, runs right off the hips of his blockers with great angles
– Patient behind the line of scrimmage with very little wasted movement
– Phenomenal leg drive to move piles and gain yards after contact the hard way
– Good contact balance
THE BAD
– Lacks long speed and a second gear
– Burst is just adequate for the NFL
– Pass protection needs work, tends to lunge and whiff
– Inconsistent hands as a pass catcher out of the backfield
– Won’t be able to consistently get around the edge in a wide-zone or toss scheme
BIO
– Just turned 21 in January
– A three-star prospect out of Lewisville HS in Lewisville, Texas
– Spent two seasons at Oregon State prior to transferring to Miami for his final year
– Ran behind first-round OT Taliese Fuaga and the Joe Moore semifinalist OL at Oregon State for two seasons
– Made an immediate impact as a true freshman All-American selection in 2022
– In 38 games, he rushed for 3,169 yards and 26 TDs on 514 carries (6.2 avg.); also had 32 receptions for 391 yards
– Participated in Pop Tart Bowl in his final college season with 179 yards on 14 carries, making Miami bowl game history
– All-ACC honorable mention in 2024
– First-team All-Pac 12 in 2022, 2023
– Arrested for suspicion of DUI in 2023
– Experienced in zone schemes at Oregon State
– Ran track and field in high school with a 11.37 PR in the 100m
– No notable injury history
TAPE BREAKDOWN
The first thing that needs to be understood about Martinez, and what defines his game best, is his power. He is difficult to bring down as tacklers bounce right off him, and he will keep his legs churning to earn yards after contact the difficult way (while making it look easy).
He isn’t going to be a runner who gets the edge or kicks it into second gear to hit a home run with his long speed.
That being said, Martinez makes up for it with solid lateral agility to make decisive cuts. He has solid patience behind the line of scrimmage and then has enough wiggle and change of direction to bait linebackers up before bouncing outside or cutting back. This serves him well in a zone scheme where he has to make decisions to bend back, hit the hole, or bounce outside. He clearly has experience doing just that.
He also does a nice job of running right off his blockers’ hips. Taking good angles and getting skinny to slip through tight openings makes it difficult for defenders to scrape across the line of scrimmage and tackle him.
Once in the open field, Martinez makes up for his lack of a second gear with good vision and decisive cuts. As I mentioned before, he isn’t easy to bring down, but he also has enough wiggle to make people miss.
These next two traits shown over the following two clips will keep Martinez from rising too far up teams’ draft boards. He is not very experienced as a pass catcher and has issues with dropping the ball. He doesn’t look natural as a receiver.
Despite his size and low center of gravity, he isn’t very good in pass protection either. He tends to lunge, doesn’t get his head across the block, and has ugly reps often enough to be a worry.
CONCLUSION
There is a lot to like with Damien Martinez, and he had a really solid showing in Mobile, Ala., at the Senior Bowl. He runs with bad intentions and has strong finish. For what he lacks in long speed and burst, he makes up for with patience, good angles, and stop-start ability with his lateral agility. He is both tough to bring down and elusive enough in the open field to be a problem in space.
He has much more experience in a zone system and he looks good executing zone running plays. If he can improve in the passing phase of his game, he can be an every-down player at the next level. Right now, you can’t trust him on passing downs as a receiver or blocker, and that’s a problem. He has the size and strength to fix one, but the receiving part is up in the air. Teams that have a change-of-pace or receiving back won’t mind.
This might be a lofty comparison given where he is now with the Detroit Lions, but Martinez has a lot of similar traits to David Montgomery coming out of college.
Projection: Late Day 2/Early Day 3
Depot Draft Grade: 7.6 OFF – Potential Starter/Good Backup (Third Round)
Games Watched: Louisville (2024), Iowa State (2024), Florida (2024), UCLA (2023)
