Miami Hurricanes running back Damien Martinez drafted by Seahawks in seventh round
In three seasons of college football — first at Oregon State and then the University of Miami — Damien Martinez proved to be a steady, physical running back who is also capable of breaking off big plays.
He’ll now see if he can replicate that success in the NFL.
The Seattle Seahawks selected Martinez in the seventh round, No. 223 overall, on Saturday. He is the first Hurricanes running back to be drafted since DeeJay Dallas was picked in the fourth round of the 2020 draft.
Over three seasons of college football, Martinez ran for 3,169 yards and 26 touchdowns.
In his lone season with the Hurricanes, Martinez’s rushed for 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns while splitting time with Mark Fletcher Jr. He’s the first UM player to hit both 1,000 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in the same season since Mark Walton in 2016.
He capped his Hurricanes career with a monster performance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, rushing for a career-high 179 yards on 14 carries in the 42-41 Miami loss to Iowa State.
ESPN ranked Martinez as the No. 12 running back in the draft class.
“Martinez is an efficient north-south runner between the tackles,” ESPN’s Steve Muench wrote in his pre-draft scouting report. “He’s a big and powerful back who runs through and over defenders. He pushes the pile when he doesn’t get a seam. Martinez moves well enough laterally to make defenders miss and bounce outside. His pass blocking improved over the course of the 2024 season, and he has the frame to continue to get better in that area.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM.
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