This week we are taking a look at another 21-year-old junior who should be one of the first running backs to hear his name called at the 2025 NFL Draft. Few players at the position have draft stock running hotter than that of Omarion Hampton.
Background
A proud son of North Carolina, Omarion Hampton grew up in Clayton, NC just south of Raleigh. A prolific run at Clayton High (highlighted by 2,402 yards rushing as a sophomore) was rewarded with a four-star recruit rating and a trip an hour west on I-40 to Chapel Hill.
Hampton took to life as a Tar Heel quickly, running for 101 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut and making it clear with the rest of his freshman season that the program had found a true successor to Ty Chandler. Alongside NFL draftees Drake Maye and Devontez Walker, Hampton authored a dominant sophomore season by cruising for 1504 yards and 15 TDs on 253 attempts (5.9 YPA), the most rushing yards by a Tar Heel in 53 years. With excellence at quarterback and running back, UNC rocketed out to a 6-0 start and shot as high as 10th in AP polling.
North Carolina's fairytale run ended in heartbreaking fashion last year, and the loss of Maye to the NFL proved too much for the second Mack Brown era to overcome. But as the team wilted Hampton ascended to new heights, slicing through the ACC for 1660 rushing yards and another 15 scores on the ground, very nearly setting the school's new single season rushing record despite playing one less game. About two and a half seasons as a starter were all Hampton needed to amass 3,565 yards rushing, good for fourth all-time at North Carolina and ahead of such familiar names as Javonte Williams, Giovani Bernard, Michael Carter, and the unforgettable Natrone Means.
Tape
Let's get the obvious out of the way: More than probably any other player at the position in this class, Omarion Hampton just plain looks the part. Six feet tall and an absolutely chiseled 220 pounds, it's hard to watch Hampton in action and not see shades of the Nittany Lion that was Saquon Barkley; more than one NFL scout may come down with a bit of Hampton hypnosis for physique alone. And there are most definitely flashes of Barkley's dominance in his game: Hampton's initial acceleration is very good to elite, often going from receiving a stretch handoff to exploding off-tackle for a big play in the blink of an eye. He's just as lethal between the tackles, often running a gear faster than linebackers are ready for and creating the 'make 'em look like they're standing still' effect.
Hampton's obvious devotion in the weight room has given him an almost effortless ability to stay on his feet through chip contact and arm tackles, pinballing ahead while keeping his feet under him for extra yardage; oddly comfortable rotating his body to redistribute energy while still moving straight. For a big back he also does a good job of getting small to slip through the line at speed, and he'll use the occasional juke step when it's called for. Hampton uses his powerful frame to stand up defenders as a pass blocker, which will certainly help him to earn opportunities to add polish as a receiver.
Hampton is accustomed to carrying the mail for his team, processing 534 carries across two seasons as a starter that were third-most in D-I football in that time. He's expected to clock a 40-yard dash time somewhere in the mid-4.4s and is fully expected to post strong-to-elite measurements in other testing. Boasting two years of excellent collegiate production and NFL caliber physical gifts, Hampton checks a lot of boxes for NFL teams looking for a difference-maker at the position.
But I still can't shake a degree of skepticism. Watching Hampton's tape, his big gainers between the tackles for the Tar Heels have come almost strictly on plays where his blocks have set up perfectly, against soft fronts, or both. He has definitely proven he can succeed when given running lanes the size of a Lincoln, but tape of Hampton dealing with a party crasher behind the line of scrimmage and still turning it into a positive play is just about Zapruder footage rare. Along those same lines, plays where Hampton successfully kicks outside skew toward instances of his offensive line laying down a nice soft shoulder of blocks that allow him to use straight ahead acceleration rather than lateral explosion to get to daylight.
Similar to Quinshon Judkins Hampton's initial burst fades as it converts to long speed, leading to him being caught from behind on what initially appear to be surefire long touchdowns constantly. But unlike Judkins, Hampton's stride at full gallop almost gets a little bow-legged, as if he needs extra space between his knees. I can't tell if that's due to over-conditioning of his lower half or if it's just how he runs, but with a gait like his there isn't a defensive back currently in the NFL that couldn't run him down with relative ease. Speaking of conformational question marks, Hampton has a lot of upper and lower body mass which, when combined with his taller build, seems to make it tough for his core to keep the two connected - he gets stood up and pushed sideways in short yardage situations sometimes, a potential red flag. Hampton did manage to rack up 67 receptions over his two full seasons as a Tar Heel, but he's generally regarded as a guy with plenty left to prove as a receiver. From what I've seen of him so far, I would agree - not a glaring concern, not an obvious strength.
Lastly, and I hate to be a competition level snob, but in cases like this it would just be irresponsible not to point out: Hampton has used his uncommon combination of size and acceleration to pile up big plays and big numbers against teams with little NFL caliber talent, and he did it largely as an old school, one-cut runner who happened to be running against air at the second level quite often. Hampton does possess obvious NFL traits, and it is entirely possible that there is more to his game than what he's needed to show so far against teams like the University of Charlotte and North Carolina Central; heck, there's a chance he could be just fine even if there's not. But too much of his tape shows a guy using a size and strength advantage over the competition that will vanish next summer to bowl straight ahead through defenses. He's played his draft stock into an all-time high, but Omarion Hampton is a bigger bust risk than most people are comfortable admitting right now.
Projection & Fit
Ironically, it was Hampton's two seasons of well-rounded, injury-free, and every-down play that catapulted him toward the top of a large group of likely draftees at the position as a safe pick with superstar ceiling. Hampton does admittedly stand out as a guy with prototypical size (unlike Dylan Sampson, Jordan James or Brashard Smith), multiple seasons as a workhorse (unlike Kaleb Johnson, Sampson or TreVeyon Henderson), and no major medicals (unlike Raheim Sanders), so it's not hard to imagine a team settling on him as a one stop shop for fixing a depleted depth chart.
The Cowboys and Raiders will be popular picks to take Hampton, but they'll be mentioned alongside a great many running backs in the months ahead. New England is a sneaky one, where Hampton could reunite with Maye and put Rhamondre Stevenson on notice in 2025. But there's two AFC teams that love size and power at the running back position with potential vacancies: Pittsburgh and Cleveland. If the Steelers let Najee Harris walk (which is sounding likely), Hampton looks like he could be a natural fit as the thunder to Jaylen Warren's lightning. Cleveland would also make plenty of sense, but in a deep running back class and with more pressing roster needs to address at the top of the draft I'm leaning toward Hampton wearing black and gold next fall.
Draft: 2nd round, 57th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers
Ceiling: James Conner
Floor: Sony Michel
Next Up: Quinn Ewers
—Luke Wilson