Scouting Profile: Damien Martinez - RB - Miami (FL)
Sales Pitch: Powerful downhill runner with sneaky agility. Below average burst and pass catching limits his upside but should be a quality lead runner in gap schemes.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Damien Martinez is a former 3-Star recruit from the state of Texas. He spent his first two seasons at Oregon State, where he was an two time 1st All-Pac 12 back. Martinez transferred to Miami for the 2024 season, once again cracking 1,000 yards rushing on his way to All-Conference honors.
Martinez is a powerful downhill back with a broad frame and surprising quickness for his size. He has the experience and frame to be a workhorse back who takes on 150+ carries a season. Martinez is at his best with his shoulders square to the line and attacking. He displays excellent vision and instincts between the tackles. He does a fantastic job taking ground as he reads out plays without over committing. He uses a sharp jump cut to quickly change lanes and find narrow gaps. When Martinez gets a look he likes he attacks downhill with aggression. While not the fastest back, when he gets rolling downhill it is near impossible to stop his forward momentum. Martinez’s play strength and contact balance manifests in a string of broken tackles in his wake. Smaller defenders routinely bounce of his wide lower half in the hole. The same jump cuts Martinez uses to navigate traffic, allow him elude out of control tacklers in the hole and the 2nd level as well. He is also a competent blocker in pass pro. His size and strength allow him to hold his ground versus blitzing backers.
Martinez is a true blue power back. He has below average burst and speed for the position, which really limits his big play ability. He fails to separate at the 2nd and 3rd level and lacks the juice to bounce broken plays to the outside. As a result, Martinez doesn’t project well to outside zone heavy schemes. He is a high cut runner who is far easier to chop down when forced to work laterally. Martinez’s pad level concerns can also show up in short yardage and pass pro as well. When plays get on him faster than he anticipates, he can get caught too upright which limits his natural power. While Martinez is a solid pass protector he is a net negative as a pass catcher. Through three seasons he has put up minimal production out of the backfield. His lack of burst limits him as a route runner, and he doesn’t display natural hands, even on checkdowns.
Martinez profiles as a lead back in a gap heavy scheme. His power, vision and blocking should allow him to get work very early in his career. Martinez’s lack of scheme versatility may limit his draft ceiling, but at only 21 years old he projects to be a late Day-2 pick given his production and physical skillset.