The 2025 NFL Draft is now only a week away. There is an almost endless supply of potential draft picks to sift through before the draft kicks off next Thursday evening. Like most drafts, this class has some deep position groups where teams can find talented players even outside the first couple of rounds. One of those positions this season is running back.
The Chiefs may have Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt, and Elijah Mitchell under contract for next season, but with all of them on expiring deals, it would be smart of Kansas City to take advantage of this deep class and draft their future at the position. I've already profiled Ashton Jeanty, TreVeyon Henderson, Kaleb Johnson, Cam Skattebo, Dylan Sampson, DJ Giddens, RJ Harvey, Devin Neal, Bhayshul Tuten, and Ollie Gordon. If you're interested in any of those prospects, I encourage you to check out their profiles, but today we will focus on Miami's Damien Martinez.
Damien Martinez - 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Age: 21 (when drafted)
Height: 6'0" (official)
Weight: 217 pounds (Combine), 225 pounds (Pro Day)
Damien Martinez's Strengths
Damien Martinez is one of the most physical runners in this draft class. He constantly runs over and through defenders at all levels of the field. In fact, he's second only to Ashton Jeanty in yards after contact per carry among the running backs likely to be drafted, with a 4.51-yard average. So Martinez averaged 4.5 yards after a defender gets his hands on him. For comparison, Quinshon Judkins only averaged 3.04 yards after contact this season, and Cam Skattebo, who is known for his elite tackle-breaking, is below Martinez with a 4.09 yards after contact average.
Martinez pairs his size and power with good vision and patience. He lets plays develop and then hits the hole with aggression—and if no hole develops, he powers through whatever defender is closest to him. While he doesn't have great change of direction, he does have a nice jump cut that allows him to create space and throw off defenders’ tackling angles. When that happens, defenders typically just bounce or slide right off him. I'd also stop short of saying that Martinez has good burst and top speed, but for a back his size, it is more than adequate.
Damien Martinez's Weaknesses
Martinez isn't someone who lit up the combine with his testing numbers. Once he gets going, he doesn't change direction very well, but his vision and power allow him to keep moving forward. He just doesn't juke many players (other than with that jump cut we already talked about). Instead, Martinez typically slaloms around defenders after he gets moving or will hit them with a mean stiff arm (or just run over them), but his speed and change of direction aren't what make him special.
His biggest weakness in terms of what could keep him from being an every-down back is his play (or lack thereof) in the passing game. While he flashed occasionally on checkdown passes, he had a very limited number of receptions in college and almost no experience running true routes.
While Martinez should have the size and power to excel in pass protection, the tape simply isn't good in that area right now. I just don't see a team like the Chiefs keeping Martinez in when they want to throw the ball (at least early in his career), so he will have to earn his keep as an early-down runner and someone who can convert short-yardage and goal-line situations.
How he would fit with the Kansas City Chiefs
On paper, Martinez doesn't seem like the most natural fit for the Chiefs' offense. With Patrick Mahomes at quarterback and Andy Reid calling the plays, there will always be stretches where KC simply doesn't commit to the run game (regardless of whether fans like it or not). So drafting a running back with limited pass-catching experience and a lot of work to do in pass protection may not be the way they are looking to go.
However, the Chiefs have utilized Isiah Pacheco as an early-down running specialist through much of his career as well, and Martinez has shown better vision, power, and tackle-breaking ability on his college tape. So Martinez could be Pacheco's replacement and could be paired with a true third-down back type to make an effective one-two punch for the Chiefs.
That having been said, I don't know that the Chiefs currently have a third-down specialist on their roster right now, so I still think drafting a passing-down back is probably the more likely option.
The bottom line
The bottom line is that Damien Martinez is going to finish in the top ten running backs in this draft class for me. I'll probably have him higher than some other running back rankings you see, and think he's going to have a nice NFL career. So it's more a question of team fit than quality of player when it comes to whether the Chiefs should pull the trigger on him in the late third or fourth round.