Damien Martinez Rises in ACC Running Back Rankings for 2025 NFL Draft

The ACC has a ton of talented young prospects who have declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. We are going to take a look at the top running back prospects from the conference and see where Damien Martinez fits into the ranking. Here, we are only going to focus on running back prospects who we have graded out to be drafted and not be post-draft free-agent pickups.

Damien Martinez looks great during receiving drills @damienfor6 pic.twitter.com/BQOQB4RKas
— New Era Prep (@EraPrep) March 1, 2025

2025 NFL Draft ACC Running Back Rankings

1. Omarion Hampton, UNC Tar Heels

2. Damien Martinez, Miami Hurricanes

3. Brashard Smith, SMU Mustangs

4. LeQuint Allen, Syracuse Orange

5. Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech Hokies

6. Phil Mafah, Clemson Tigers

7. Donald Chaney, Louisville Cardinals

We have seen Martinez ranked everywhere between RB3 and RB5 out of this group. I have ranked him as the RB2 and I'll explain why. First, Hampton is far and away the top back so let's get that out of the way. He's the RB2 overall in this draft. You can make the case that he's the Jahmyr Gibbs to Ashton Jeanty's Bijan Robinson.

Smith's value comes from his impressive pass-catching ability and acceleration. However, he projects as more of a third-down change of pace back while Martinez has a legitimate shot to become an every-down back in the NFL. I may be higher than Martinez than most, but I'll take him over Smith any day of the week.

It's hard to understand how experts have ranked Allen and Tuten above Martinez. Allen is another impressive route runner with an advanced route tree and Tuten is a straight-line speed guy who can run between the tackles. However, their film just isn't as good as what we've seen out of Martinez. Give me the big back with the speed to run past or through defenders every time.

2025 NFL Draft ACC Running Back Rankings

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