Could Martinez bring the power that the Giants’ backfield is missing?
The New York Giants seem set to return to the running back by committee approach after years of having a featured back.
Joe Schoen struck gold with the the selection of Tyrone Tracy in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Tracy’s vision, quickness, agility, and contact balance allowed him to eclipse 1,000 yards from scrimmage and proved that teams can find value later on. They could do so again in the search for a power back to complement Tracy’s elusiveness with power.
Miami running back Damien Martinez isn’t particularly fast or lightning quick, yet he averaged over 6.0 yards per carry in each of his three seasons (6.3 YPC in 2024). Perhaps more impressively, nearly 4.5 of Martinez’s yards per attempt came after contact (4.46 per attempt, per PFF).
If the Giants are looking to bring back the Earth, Wind, and Fire rotation, Martinez could be a suitable “Earth” to Tracy’s “Wind”.
Prospect: Damien Martinez (6)
Games Watched: vs. Florida (2024), vs. Virginia Tech (2024), vs. California (2024), vs. Louisville (2024)
Measurables
Height: 5-foot, 11 1/8 inches
Weight: 226 pounds
Arm length: 32 inches
Hand size: 8 1⁄2 inches
Strengths
Best traits
- Contact balance
- Vision
- Play strength
- Competitive toughness
- Cutback ability
Damien Martinez is a compact and surprisingly elusive running back. He has a stocky, powerful build at 5-foot 11 ⅛ inches tall, 226 pounds, with obvious power throughout his physique. He has thick legs to go with a barrel chest and runs with all the power implied by his build.
He’s a tough running back to stop and is able to consistently grind out yardage due to unexpected cutbacks, broken tackles, and carried defenders. He runs with great tempo behind the line of scrimmage, giving his linemen time to establish their blocks, as well as throwing off defenders’ timing to maximize his rushing lanes.
Martinez has remarkable vision as well as fantastic contact balance with the ball in his hands, and is constantly churning out yards after contact. His build belies some surprising quickness, agility, and change of direction skills. He combines his quickness with his vision to quickly identify running lanes, as well as anticipate defenders at all three levels. His vision and agility also allows him to spot flashing cutback lanes and exploit them.
Martinez is very difficult for individual defenders to bring down, and he often runs through arm tackles or disregards incidental contact around the line of scrimmage. That vision and contact balance made him a very consistent runner in college, averaging at least 6 yards per carry in each of his three seasons.
Finally, he’s a capable receiver out of the backfield. Martinez wasn’t asked to run a particularly diverse route tree, but he executed the routes he was asked to run well, and does a good job of making himself available for the quarterback.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Explosiveness
- Long speed
- Pass protection
Martinez’s primary weakness is that he simply isn’t a great athlete, or at least not a dynamic one.
Martinez has enough quickness and agility to find and exploit cutback lanes, but nobody will confuse him with a scatback or a dynamic athlete who can make a defender miss in a phone booth. Likewise, he lacks the explosiveness to burst through holes and break defenders’ angles, nor does he have the long speed to consistently outrun defenders.
Teams that value athleticism in their skill position players and believe that “speed kills” might find themselves disappointed in Martinez. There could be concerns that his athleticism will limit him against the greater speed and power he’ll see at the NFL level.
Martinez will also need to work on his pass protection as he makes the jump to the NFL. It isn’t bad, per se, however he needs to bring the same aggression to blocking as he does running the ball. Martinez is a bit too passive, waiting for defenders to come to him, rather than attacking them.
Game Tape
(Martinez is the Miami running back with long hair wearing number 6)
Projection
Does he fit the Giants?
Yes
Final Word: An early Day 3 pick
