Damon Bankston

Senior running back for New Mexico. 2025: 635 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 31 catches.

RB · New Mexico · Sr. · #1

5′10″ · 186 lb · Katy, TX

CFB Index 66 · #48 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamReturning to New Mexico for 2026

The numbers

635

rushing yards · 2025

5 TD · 5.6 per carry · 31 catches

Swing playSwung New Mexico from 49% to 77% to win.Idaho State at New Mexico · 32-22

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for New Mexico. 2025: 635 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 31 catches.

Transferred from Weber State to New Mexico in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins in space out of the backfield.

Yards / carry: 70th percentile.

The full scouting read

Damon Bankston

RB · New Mexico · Sr · #1

Wins in space out of the backfield. He got to New Mexico by way of Weber State. 2025 brought the first one: All-Mountain West. The receipt on tape: 154 rush yds, 49 rec yds against UCLA, Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025New Mexico9-4HC: Jason Eck · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

66Quality starter #48 of 326?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec yards (99th percentile). Strength: receptions (91st percentile). Concern: fumbles lost (2nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / carry#137 / 456 · 70th pct

5.6

Explosive rate#158 / 456 · 65th pct

7.8%

EPA / carry#197 / 456 · 57th pct

0.13

TD rate#210 / 456 · 54th pct

2.9%

Success rate#272 / 456 · 40th pct

41.7%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#4 / 338 · 99th pct

397

Receptions#31 / 338 · 91st pct

Yards / carry#82 / 349 · 74th pct

5.6

Rush yards#107 / 349 · 69th pct

635

Long run#122 / 349 · 64th pct

Carries#129 / 349 · 63rd pct

114

Rush TDs#115 / 349 · 62nd pct

Fumbles lost#195 / 201 · 2nd pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

103 carries

13%

Stuffed (≤0)

39%

Grind (1–3)

37%

Chunk (4–9)

12%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	44.7	4.8	0.3
Road7g	52.4	5.2	0.4

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	52.0	5.3	0.4
Weeks 8+6g	45.2	4.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jason Eck

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

66 · #48 of 326 RBs

Unranked recruit. Now #48 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-Mountain West

Based on 2025: #4 of 34 Mountain West RBs

How the All-Mountain West estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

One of 41 return threats in 2025. See the others ›

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	New Mexico	114	635	5.6	5	--
Career		114	635	5.6	5	--

Season	Team
2025	New Mexico	31	397	12.8	3	--
Career		31	397	12.8	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 32–22

vs Idaho State

28 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD

With S. Humphrey — 141 rush yds (18 car) · 2 TD · J. Layne — 155 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 35.0 · 4 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 10 · UNLV · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +6.58Damon Bankston 84 Yd pass from Jack Layne (Luke Drzewiecki Kick)
Week 3 · UCLA · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +5.47Jack Layne pass complete to Damon Bankston for 43 yds for a TD (Luke Drzewiecki KICK)
Week 3 · UCLA · 2&9 · Q4 · EPA +4.02Damon Bankston run for 54 yds to the UCLA 19 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · UNLV · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +3.92Damon Bankston 30 Yd pass from Jack Layne (Luke Drzewiecki Kick)
Week 7 · Boise State · 3&7 · Q3 · EPA +3.92Jack Layne pass complete to Damon Bankston for 36 yds to the BOIS 36 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Utah State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.24(08:38) Shotgun #1 D.Bankston rush middle for 41 yards gain to the USU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:28, 1ST DOWN #13 L.Drzewiecki kick attempt good (H: #35 C.Steinkamp, LS: #47 T.Dubuc)
Week 2 · Idaho State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.73Jack Layne pass complete to Damon Bankston for 55 yds to the IDST 10 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Boise State · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +2.42Jack Layne pass complete to Damon Bankston for 16 yds to the UNM 40 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · San José State · 2&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.22Damon Bankston run for 4 yds for a TD (Luke Drzewiecki KICK)
Week 12 · Colorado State · 3&13 · Q2 · EPA +2.21(10:58) Shotgun #2 J.Layne pass complete short middle to #1 D.Bankston caught at UNM24, for 17 yards to the UNM37 (#40 O.Long; #7 L.Joe), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 17-34@ Michigan	4	18	4.5	0	11
Wk 2	W 32-22vs Idaho State	6	28	4.7	1	18
Wk 3	W 35-10@ UCLA	15	154	10.3	1	54	Season-high 154 yds
Wk 5	W 38-20vs New Mexico State	9	38	4.2	0	11
Wk 6	L 28-35@ San José State	9	51	5.7	1	14
Wk 7	L 25-41@ Boise State	9	18	2.0	0	8
Wk 8	W 24-22vs Nevada	6	19	3.2	0	7
Wk 9	W 33-14vs Utah State	13	84	6.5	1	41
Wk 10	W 40-35@ UNLV	4	8	2.0	0	4
Wk 12	W 20-17vs Colorado State	9	43	4.8	0	9
Wk 13	W 20-3@ Air Force	10	61	6.1	1	22
Wk 14	W 23-17vs San Diego State	10	56	5.6	0	17
Bowl	L 17-20@ Minnesota	10	57	5.7	0	17
Total		114	635	5.0	5	54

How he plays

Play style

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Feast or famine

~ our read

103Carries

572Yards

31.5%Top-5 share

12.6%Stuffed rate

31.5% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — and he's stuffed on 12.6% of his carries. 4 carries for 8 yds vs UNLV; 15 for 154 vs UCLA.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

~ our read

25.9%Carry share

25.3%Q4-lead share

54.5%In competitive games

25.9% of carries overall (103/398) → 25.3% of Q4-with-lead carries (22/87) — 54.5% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

6/27Inside-5 share

6 of the team's 27 inside-the-5 carries (22.2%).

2026 Outlook

New Mexico

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · New Mexico

Returning around him

58% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
1 New Mexico player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +0 net (14 in / 14 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

New Mexico · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #112 · 2026 recruiting class #87

DNA match

Player DNA

Satellite Back

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to J'Koby Williams’s 2025 season.

J'Koby Williams

75%match

Texas Tech · 2025

All-Big 12

Blake Watson

Old Dominion · 2022

70%

Henry Parrish Jr.

Ole Miss · 2021

68%

Treshaun Ward

Florida State · 2021

67%

Jeremy Payne

TCU · 2025

67%

Matches J'Koby on

Rush TD rate

Yards / carry

Receiving share

Differs from J'Koby on

Class year (higher)

Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Trey Ragas’s path through Louisiana.

Trey Ragas

96%match

Louisiana · 2020

All-Sun Belt

Cooper Wallace

The Citadel · 2024

96%

Calvin Turner

Hawai'i · 2020

All-Mountain West

95%

Travis Etienne

Clemson · 2020

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 25

95%

Mekhi Sargent

Iowa · 2020

95%

Matches Trey on

Yards per carry

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Zahir Abdus-Salaam's senior season at Western Michigan (2024).

Zahir Abdus-Salaam

65%match

Western Michigan · 2024

Ja'Quez Cross

Arkansas State · 2024

All-Sun Belt

64%

Elijah Young

Western Kentucky · 2023

62%

Lawrance Toafili

Florida State · 2023

61%

Noah Short

Army · 2025

61%

Matches Zahir on

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Rush TD rate

Differs from Zahir on

Yards / reception (higher)

Weight (lower)

EPA / carry (adj) (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Damon Bankston

J'Koby Williams

Texas Tech · 2025

75%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Satellite Back

Players who play like Damon Bankston