Los Angeles Chargers select Omarion Hampton in first round of 2025 NFL Draft

The Los Angeles Chargers have selected Omarion Hampton in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was picked with the No. 22 overall selection.

During his time with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Hampton firmly cemented his status as one of the best running backs in all of college football, and one of the best to ever suit up in Chapel Hill. Once he hung up his cleats for the ‘Heels, Hampton finished with 622 attempts for 3,565 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns on the ground. The 3,565 rushing yards placed him fourth in school history behind Amos Lawrence, Mike Voight, and Leon Johnson. He wrapped up his career there with 4,200 all-purpose yards and 40 total touchdowns, once again placing him in fourth in program history in all-purpose yardage.

According to Pro Football Focus, since 2023, Hampton has 2,294 rushing yards after contact, ranking him second in the country. His 79 explosive runs rank him third and his 140 missed tackles rank him sixth. Hampton posted back-to-back seasons of over 1,500 rushing yards in 2023 and 2024, earning first team All-American and first team All-ACC honors each time.

His 1,504 rushing yards in 2023 (sophomore season) ranked second on UNC’s single season list. He also ran for over 100 yards in seven games, becoming the first North Carolina player to do so since Gio Bernard did it in 2011. He led the ACC in rushing yards (1,504), rushing attempts (253), touchdowns (15), attempts per game (19.5) and yards per game (115.7). He also led the conference in yards from scrimmage (132.8).

In 2022 as a true freshman, Hampton appeared in 13 games, making four starts, rushing for 401 yards and six touchdowns on 88 carries. He became the first UNC true freshman with 100 rushing yards in his first career game since Tar Heel legend Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice had 102 yards against VT in 1946.

As a high school prospect, Hampton was a highly coveted four-star recruit in the 2021 cycle. He played his high school football at Cleveland High School (Clayton, North Carolina). He was ranked as the No. 141 overall prospect in the class, as well as the No. 9 running back in the class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. Hampton racked up an extensive number of accolades including Mr. Football for the state of North Carolina as well as Gatorade Player of the Year.

He finished with 5,370 rushing yards and 88 touchdowns during his storied high school carrier. He averaged 10.4 yards per carry and 127.8 yards per game. As a receiver, he hauled in 503 yards and eight touchdowns. One of his best seasons came as a sophomore, when he erupted for 2,402 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns on 250 attempts.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Omarion Hampton

In his scouting report on NFL.com, NFL Draft expert Lance Zierlein had some good things to say about Hampton, but notes that he needs to work on his pass protection. “High-volume battering ram with a three-ingredient recipe of size, strength and aggression.  Hampton is a linear runner lacking creativity and wiggle, but once the gas is engaged, he runs like a downhill truck whose brake lines have been cut,” he explained.

Another thing he noted about Hampton was that he’ll need to be careful about choosing when to take on contact at the next level. In the long run, Zierlein is a bit concerned about his longevity issues if he doesn’t choose wisely when taking on contact.

“He has the base, balance and power to batter tacklers and reignite runs after contact but he fails to recognize alternative run lanes that offer easier paths and more yardage. He needs to work on his pass protection but can create positive plays on swing passes and screens. Hampton is a tone-setting future starter who can handle a heavy workload, but he absorbs rare levels of heavy contact that could create durability or longevity issues if he doesn’t learn to pick and choose his battles,” Zierlein finished.