Seahawks 2025 draft class projections: Damien Martinez will battle in crowded backfield

Here’s a shocker…John Schneider drafted a running back! The 2025 running back class was extremely deep, so the Seattle Seahawks feel like they got a steal at No. 223 with Damien Martinez from the University of Miami. He rushed for nearly 3,000 yards over the past 3 seasons and brings a bruising rushing style (back) to the Pacific Northwest.

Athletic Profile/Comps

Relative Athletic Score (RAS)

Mockdraftable

Martinez has a good RAS profile without being really exceptional in a single area. His agility scores are poor, particularly in the shuttle drill.. Lateral agility is quite important at the RB position, but Martinez seems to have better play quickness on the field than he showed in the testing.

There are a few Seahawks connections in both the RAS and Mockdraftable Comps. I do like the Spencer Ware one and that seems to fit. However, everyone will want to see the Marshawn Lynch one – especially after Martinez said that he was Beast Mode 2.0.

So, how does that hold up?

Actually, it’s surprisingly close from an athletic standpoint. I’m shocked to see the shuttle is so poor for Lynch considering that his lateral agility was one of his best traits in my opinion. Maybe that goes to show that the testing doesn’t always translate to what actually happens on the field.

Tony Pollard was another good comp, so let’s take a look at that one.

Again, it’s very close with the same shuttle weakness though Pollard was over a tenth of a second faster. Martinez was ever-so-slightly faster with the same splits at 10 and 20 yards while being 7 pounds heavier.

I like to go through my Seahawks memory bank and try to think of past players for comps that might not be at everyone’s top of mind. Not sure why Julius Jones popped into my head for this, but he did.

Jones absolutely blew Martinez out of the water in the agility scores which isn’t surprising. The rest of the testing is quite close with both RBs being the same weight. Jones was already on the downside of his career when he got to the Seahawks so here’s to hoping that Martinez fares better in Seattle.

Gut reaction to the pick

Injuries have ravaged the Seahawks RB room for the better part of the last decade, so adding more bodies to the room is always fine by me. Getting one in the seventh round who likely would have been closer to a mid-round pick in a draft that wasn’t completely loaded with RB prospects is even better.

As I mentioned above, Martinez has been a productive RB in college at both Miami and Oregon State prior to that. He had no problems adjusting after transferring to Miami in 2024, rushing for 1,002 yards and tying his college career high of 9 TDs. He also had 198 receiving yards, more than he collected in his first 2 years at Oregon State combined.

Martinez is getting a little out there by calling himself Beast Mode 2.0 but I like the confidence. If he can turn out to be even half of the running back Lynch was it will still be a major steal in the seventh round.

Rookie season prediction

Martinez’ hard-nosed style seems like it will be a great fit with the renewed commitment to the running game. There are plenty of rumors flying around about Ken Walker III, yet I still expect him to be the Seahawks starting RB this season. Zach Charbonnet will take the bulk of the backup reps and Kenny McIntosh has shown that he can be an effective runner – though he must have ticked someone off upstairs because he doesn’t see the field very often. Martinez will spend most of the season contributing on special teams, but considering the fact that Seahawks RBs get hurt all the time, he’ll end up toting the rock in meaningful games. I’m not expecting a ton of production and will guess 150 total yards with a TD. He’ll be fun to watch in preseason, however, and will do his best Troymaine Pope impression.