Omarion Hampton, coming off a rookie season in which he missed eight games and averaged 3.7 yards per carry when not facing the New York Giants, is being drafted as the overall RB8.<\/p>\n
We love this guy. He might be a steal at his second-round average draft position (ADP), too. It can\u2019t be ruled out. More bizarre things have happened in the NFL.<\/p>\n
In fact, it\u2019s not difficult to imagine a world in which the Los Angeles Chargers offense is an absolute Death Star, one of the right answers in fantasy football. Let\u2019s remember that Justin Herbert received early MVP buzz last year before his offensive line crumbled. We should be open to the possibility that Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt might both remain healthy and upright in 2026, anchoring an impenetrable wall behind which Herbert and Hampton will thrive.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s also not difficult to imagine a world in which the Chargers are once again a pretty good 10-or-11-win team with a middle-of-the-pack offense that can\u2019t quite reach the divisional round. Coming up short in unfun ways has become this franchise\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
If the Chargers stay on brand in 2026 \u2014 never quite achieving Death Star status on offense \u2014 Hampton will have a difficult time delivering on his ADP and preseason rank. Look at where (and around whom) he\u2019s being drafted in NFFC leagues these days<\/a>:<\/p>\n James Cook, RB6, ADP 11.6 One of those players is very much not like the others. Hampton\u2019s ADP seems aspirational if not wildly reckless. We are drafting him squarely in the middle of a group of backs who range in age from 24 (Achane) to 29 (Barkley), each of whom has produced multiple high-value fantasy seasons. Four of those five backs are attached to healthy offensive environments, and the fifth (Achane again) has demonstrated an ability to thrive in an unhealthy ecosystem.<\/p>\n Hampton appears to be valued closer to his ceiling, with no consideration of floor. Drafting him with the expectation that he should outproduce Barkley, Brown, Walker, Derrick Henry and Kyren Williams is \u2026 um \u2026 aggressive. This situation has the strongest possible Ryan Mathews vibes.<\/p>\n (If you did not personally fight the Mathews wars, ask an elder.)<\/p>\n To support my not-totally-enthusiastic opinion of Hampton (he\u2019s my RB15), I will give you an abridged version after watching last season\u2019s 156 touches. Let\u2019s stack a few positives right at the top:<\/p>\n This is a power back who, to his credit, understands very well that he is a power back. When he wins, it\u2019s often with brute force. He will embarrass any smallish defender. If you give him a free run through the line of scrimmage, someone will pay a price. Hampton commonly gains an additional 2-3 yards while being tackled. It\u2019s possible he enjoys contact too much. Omarion Hampton could not be tackled \ud83d\ude24<\/p>\n LACvsNYG on CBS\/Paramount+https:\/\/t.co\/HkKw7uXnxV<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tQLrvATbGU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n While that single-game performance against a dreadful opponent is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in Hampton\u2019s full-season rookie stats, we also shouldn\u2019t dismiss it entirely. We want our second-round running backs to terrorize the worst defenses on their schedules. If he\u2019d faceplanted against New York, it would have been a red flag.<\/p>\n Overall, I can\u2019t describe Hampton as a big play waiting to happen so much as a pretty solid play waiting to happen. A respectable play. He\u2019s hitting plenty of singles and doubles. He\u2019s drawing walks. (Not intended as derogatory but also not fully a compliment.) However, Hampton has not yet displayed the sort of field-flipping, game-swinging potential of the five or six running backs who are taken immediately after him in early drafts.<\/p>\n Also, I\u2019m not willing to assume Hampton is headed for an every-down featured workload \u2014 not after the Chargers added Keaton Mitchell to the backfield at the urgent behest of McDaniel<\/a>. Mitchell is an undersized blur of a runner (5-foot-8, 190), a man who had the highest average speed of any NFL back last season<\/a>. He\u2019s built to deliver big plays in a McDaniel offense. In our imagined scenario in which the Chargers are an unstoppable fantasy machine in 2026, Mitchell will be cartoonishly good. We will flex him each week, no question. He likely wouldn\u2019t play more than 20% of the snaps, given his dimensions and medical history, but he\u2019d be a nightmare to defend and a joy to roster in fantasy.<\/p>\n Hampton can obviously coexist with another back or two, because that\u2019s life in the modern NFL. Almost everyone does it. One must account for the presence of Mitchell and Kimani Vidal when setting expectations for Hampton, a run-to-contact player who perhaps should not be asked to handle old-school LaDainian Tomlinson\/Natrone Means-style volume.<\/p>\n Ultimately, if consensus is correct on Hampton, and he\u2019s an easy top-10 back, then my fantasy season could be pre-wrecked. I\u2019ll be the ghost team rattling around the draft room, not knowing it\u2019s dead. Five months from now, when it\u2019s Championship Week and Hampton is scoring the 18th, 19th and 20th touchdowns of his magnificent second season as the Chargers clinch home-field advantage, feel free to resurface this article in my mentions. I\u2019ll have earned it.<\/p>\n Until then, you may consider yourself sufficiently warned about the perils of wishcasting in the second round of fantasy drafts.<\/p>\n
\nDe\u2019Von Achane, RB7, ADP 13.6
\nOmarion Hampton, RB8, ADP 14.7
\nChase Brown, RB9, ADP 15.9
\nSaquon Barkley, RB10, ADP 18.1
\nKenneth Walker III, RB11, ADP 20.0<\/p>\n
\nUnlike many other bulldozing runners, he\u2019s a smooth receiver with reliable hands. This much should be evident just from the box scores, because he caught 32 of 35 targets. Again, it\u2019s a dimension we don\u2019t see from every thumping 220-pound back. In a healthy season, he can catch 50-plus passes.
\nWhen Hampton is forced to change direction, things can get messy. It\u2019s like watching a barge change its course on the water. If he\u2019s inconvenienced behind the line of scrimmage, the play is often dead. He\u2019s not one of those rare power backs who can teleport themselves away from trouble in a blink, like vintage Josh Jacobs. And hey, that\u2019s just fine. Not everyone is a marvel among marvels.
\nI don\u2019t think he\u2019s unusually inventive or adaptive, which won\u2019t matter if this year\u2019s offensive line is consistently bullying opposing defenses. Maybe the designs of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel will solve this problem, if it\u2019s a problem at all. Maybe the Chargers will be an irresistible force.
\nHampton has clearly demonstrated that he can crush a favorable matchup, as he did against that hilariously poor New York defense in Week 4 last season. He carried the ball a dozen times against the Giants for 128 yards, leaving a trail of broken, shamed men in his wake. It was awesome. Everyone loves a run like this:<\/p>\n