Another day, another positive report about Chargers' first-round running back Omarion Hampton. Hard not to be excited about the 6-foot, 221-pound rookie out of North Carolina.
"He's the total package," offensive coordinator Greg Roman was quoted as saying. "You don't see a lot of guys find a hole like he's doing right now."
We've talked some about Hampton here, even before he had a team -- clearly the next-best back in the class after Ashton Jeanty. And with early returns are good., he'll be an intriguing pick in drafts.
The slight negative with the landing spot is obvious. The Chargers signed Najee Harris to a one-year, $5.25 million contract, and it's not to stand on the sidelines. His signing bonus was nearly $4 million, so he's not going anywhere. Hampton might be best in a keeper format, playing in a committee this season and then emerging as the workhorse late in the year or in 2026.
But we'll see. Teams tend to give the better back more work regardless, and that should be Hampton. If other fantasy teams are scared away by the presence of Harris, Hampton will come cheaper in drafts.
Roman has generally favored a featured, workhorse running back. Looking over his career as an offensive coordinator (San Francisco, Buffalo, Baltimore and Los Angeles) he's had a lot of strong No. 1s, and sparsely used No. 2s.
Table shows his top 2 backs at each of his various stops over the last 15 years -- 11 different offenses. Nine times he had a top-25 running back (PPR), and three of those players finished in the top 10 at the position. The No. 2 on each of those teams generally didn't put up good numbers, instead finishing in the 40s or 50s at the position. In the table, top-25 backs are in bold.
| GREG ROMAN TOP 2 RUNNING BACKS, 2011-2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Run | No | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 2011 | Frank Gore, S.F. | 282 | 1211 | 17 | 114 | 8 | 17 |
| 2011 | Kendall Hunter, S.F. | 112 | 473 | 16 | 195 | 2 | 45 |
| 2012 | Frank Gore, S.F. | 258 | 1214 | 28 | 234 | 10 | 10 |
| 2012 | Kendall Hunter, S.F. | 72 | 371 | 9 | 60 | 2 | 61 |
| 2013 | Frank Gore, S.F. | 276 | 1128 | 16 | 141 | 9 | 18 |
| 2013 | Kendall Hunter, S.F. | 78 | 358 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 61 |
| 2014 | Frank Gore, S.F. | 255 | 1106 | 11 | 111 | 5 | 21 |
| 2014 | Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 83 | 333 | 12 | 68 | 4 | 61 |
| 2015 | LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 203 | 895 | 32 | 292 | 5 | 17 |
| 2015 | Karlos Williams, Buff. | 93 | 517 | 11 | 96 | 9 | 38 |
| 2016 | LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 234 | 1267 | 50 | 356 | 14 | 4 |
| 2016 | Mike Gillislee, Buff. | 101 | 577 | 9 | 50 | 9 | 40 |
| 2019 | Mark Ingram, Balt. | 202 | 1018 | 26 | 247 | 15 | 10 |
| 2019 | Gus Edwards, Balt. | 133 | 711 | 7 | 45 | 2 | 51 |
| 2020 | J.K. Dobbins, Balt. | 134 | 805 | 18 | 120 | 9 | 24 |
| 2020 | Gus Edwards, Balt. | 144 | 723 | 9 | 129 | 6 | 37 |
| 2021 | Devonta Freeman, Balt. | 133 | 576 | 34 | 190 | 6 | 32 |
| 2021 | Latavius Murray, Balt. | 119 | 501 | 10 | 75 | 6 | 54 |
| 2022 | Kenyan Drake, Balt. | 109 | 482 | 17 | 89 | 5 | 45 |
| 2022 | J.K. Dobbins, Balt. | 92 | 520 | 7 | 42 | 3 | 57 |
| 2024 | J.K. Dobbins, LAC | 195 | 905 | 32 | 153 | 9 | 24 |
| 2024 | Gus Edwards, LAC | 101 | 365 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 59 |
Depending how you look at it, Hampton could be great -- as long as he gets past Harris early on. A little risky if the Chargers opt to go with the veteran for most of this season, bringing Hampton along slowly (but that's not what I think is going to happen).
--Andy Richardson