RB Omarion Hampton, LAC (1 Viewer)

[FreeBaGeL]

To my eyes, he looked like a guy that’s too slow to supposed to be fast, and not imposing enough to be a guy that’s supposed to play strong.

He just looked like a rookie that was probably in his own head too much. Made a brutal mistake at the end of the half, and I don’t think he got on track after that. Also missed some holes. In that environment/context it would be silly to draw any significant conclusions.

As an LAC fan I do think it would be better for them to pull back a little and let him get used to the game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Harris get a little more work and share the load some so that he can be stronger at the end of the season.

This is the exact same takeaway I had.

I thought his burst actually looked really good...when he used it. But he was indecisive and hesitant, seemed to be questioning himself and then settling on the wrong decision.

There was a stretch play that really stuck out to me. It was all sealed up to the outside, probably could've easily gotten to the edge for ~8yds and then pushed out of bounds. But he was looking back inside for a cutback and kept making a little move to the cutback an then changing his mind and getting strung out further and further to the sidelines. Eventually strung out on the edge after none of the cutbacks ever materialized and by then the seal was lost and he was brough down for no gain on a play that was pretty well blocked.

I'm not overly concerned yet. It's definitely not a good mental trait for a RB so if it becomes a pattern I will get worried. But this one I'm able to give it a bit of a pass as first game jitters. That's what it looked like to me. I think he will get over it especially when playing against defense with a little more space to let him get a few good runs and get his more decisive confidence rolling.

EDIT: Here is the play I was talking about. At the 1:35 mark: https://youtu.be/9ryl-15cZPA?si=i6cEF01A1UTDBRci&t=94

 

[JoeJoe88]

Oh, pardon me. I thought I time-traveled back to the Jonathan Taylor and Jahmyr Gibbs early season threads from their rookie years for a second.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Jacobs has still been pretty valuable though.

I was gonna say - if he gives people Jacobs level returns in that offense folks will be awfully pleased.

I have Jacobs on a win-now roster and last year he was just so consistent and so consistently good. That GB offense was significantly more run heavy than what we saw from LAC last night. And for as much as LAC threw, chiefs are pretty disciplined when it comes to pass coverage - I don’t remember a single DPI from the Chiefs, so no cheap goal to go’s.

I think as we see more of a sample size we’ll be better suited to making a real evaluation of Hampton. For now the distribution of touches was impressive.

Yeah Jacob’s the high end outcome of that group for sure.

I don’t think last nights run/pass split is a fluke. The first 4 games of the Chargers season last year, Herbert averaged just under 23 pass attempts per game. Then they had a bye. From week 6 on, his average attempts jumped to just under 32 per game. Last night he put it up 34 times.

It seems like Harbs made a conscious choice to put the team in Herbert’s hands and I don’t expect that to change. What could change is Najee getting more of the load which of course would come at Hampton’s expense. Bright side as you pointed out was there wasn’t much if any goal line work to be had.

I sure hope so - he’s my QB1 on my best dynasty team. SF, paired with JJM. Hopefully the kid doesn’t let me down. If he comes through that’s gonna be a sneaky good duo.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Just got him a 4.04 in a ffpc draft... I didn't take him the 3rd because I took Henderson

What a score.

 

[Ilov80s]

Just got him a 4.04 in a ffpc draft... I didn't take him the 3rd because I took Henderson

What a score.

Going with 2 rookie RBs to start could handicap the team a bit in the early weeks but hopefully it pays off big late in the year. I am currently projecting both of them to be 1st round picks next year so I think it was likely a nice score.

 

[FBG Moderator]

The more you post, the more you show your anxiety. Let it marinate for a bit.

Be more cool than this if you come back.

 

[Ilov80s]

But everyone in the Najee thread said blocking shouldn't matter for an elite RB?

But did he look better than Najee?



Also I was in that thread - I didn’t see anyone saying that. You’re just making crap up now.

I'm not sure, Najee averaged 5/carry. What was Hampton's average?

He carried the ball 1 time and we are talking yards per carry? Come on. Najee's first NFL game he had 16 carries with a 2.8 ypc. He followed it up 3.8 and 2.9 He ended up with 1600 yards and 10 TDs that year. We should probably stop judging players based their first NFL game or even worse, a single carry.

 

[Smack Tripper]

Just got him a 4.04 in a ffpc draft... I didn't take him the 3rd because I took Henderson

What a score.

Going with 2 rookie RBs to start could handicap the team a bit in the early weeks but hopefully it pays off big late in the year. I am currently projecting both of them to be 1st round picks next year so I think it was likely a nice score.

Not to get in the weeds, was more posting to show the current potential temperature on him, but I did want to build differently but I simply couldn't pass him up there. Ideally I like opening 2rb/2wr, I own a lot of hampton so just figured I'd diversify with henderson and I kind of half chuckled thinking, well maybe hampton will come back and sure enough there he was.

But I definitely hear what you're saying and I don't totally disagree.

 

[Ilov80s]

Just got him a 4.04 in a ffpc draft... I didn't take him the 3rd because I took Henderson

What a score.

Going with 2 rookie RBs to start could handicap the team a bit in the early weeks but hopefully it pays off big late in the year. I am currently projecting both of them to be 1st round picks next year so I think it was likely a nice score.

Not to get in the weeds, was more posting to show the current potential temperature on him, but I did want to build differently but I simply couldn't pass him up there. Ideally I like opening 2rb/2wr, I own a lot of hampton so just figured I'd diversify with henderson and I kind of half chuckled thinking, well maybe hampton will come back and sure enough there he was.

But I definitely hear what you're saying and I don't totally disagree.

Yep sometimes the value is just there and we have to do what we have to do.

 

[Chardo1]

Of course no conclusions can be drawn, it's one game.

You’ve done nothing but draw conclusions. You made several sweeping generalizations in here already. Cmon.

3.2/carry on 15 carries in his first game. Fact.

Ceded pass protection to Najee. Fact.

Made one of the most bone-headed mistakes a RB can make at the end of a half. Fact.

Draw whatever conclusion you want.

He did not cede pass protection to Najee. At all. Hampton was on the field for all he could handle, including third downs. 80% snap share. He rotated out only for a breather. And his pass protection was excellent. Najee happened to allow a sack.

 

[Judge Smails]

If somebody’s sellin I’m buyin

 

[Banger]

I don’t understand the expectation that a player should be a finished product out of the gate. He’ll watch film and learn. One of the biggest factors in fantasy success is opportunity and he’s got it.

I’ll repeat, THEY WON THE GAME vs the team that has kicked their *** for 4 years. That matters. He got 3 yards on a key 4th and 1. That matters.

What’s funny is if he got lucky like Javonte Williams and got 2 TDs gifted to him he’s the steal of the draft. It’s a long season….

 

[jvdesigns2002]

I own no shares, but I think that if anything—the Chargers offense looked good. The Chiefs defense is no joke, they were playing in a foreign country—-and they looked like a team that is going to move the ball. Sure, Omarion’s box score wasn’t insane, and he did make a rookie mistake—but I don’t think any NFL team plays a perfect week 1. The larger picture for the Chargers is that they showed an offense that is capable of producing green pastures of fantasy production moving forward. I probably wouldn’t sell Keenan high, and I certainly wouldn’t sell Omarion, Ladd or Najee low.

 

[renesauz]

So far he looked like JAG. Just like the negative scouting reports. Runs hard, good burst, but runs into blockers, great with a gaping hole but not great at getting extra yards if there is not. Rarely falls forward if he's not up to full speed (through a big hole). Obviously has pass protection issues. He's a rookie, so that can improve. The sideline run was just dumb. Didn't expect that out of him. I'd be worried if I was a dynasty or redraft backer. Najee's workload can only grow if this type of play continues.

This is false. He was out there A LOT and was frequently asked to pick up the free rusher...he did fantastic for a rookie in his first game action. Might have been the single most impressive thing he did in that game, and its the reason he was out there so much to begin with

 

[Doubles]

Just got him a 4.04 in a ffpc draft... I didn't take him the 3rd because I took Henderson

What a score.

Going with 2 rookie RBs to start could handicap the team a bit in the early weeks but hopefully it pays off big late in the year. I am currently projecting both of them to be 1st round picks next year so I think it was likely a nice score.

I hope so I they’re my RB2 and RB3 in one redraft league.

 

[rodalive]

So far he looked like JAG. Just like the negative scouting reports. Runs hard, good burst, but runs into blockers, great with a gaping hole but not great at getting extra yards if there is not. Rarely falls forward if he's not up to full speed (through a big hole). Obviously has pass protection issues. He's a rookie, so that can improve. The sideline run was just dumb. Didn't expect that out of him. I'd be worried if I was a dynasty or redraft backer. Najee's workload can only grow if this type of play continues.

This is false. He was out there A LOT and was frequently asked to pick up the free rusher...he did fantastic for a rookie in his first game action. Might have been the single most impressive thing he did in that game, and its the reason he was out there so much to begin with

Check out this awesome blitz pickup by Hampton

Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker Drue Tranquill's Blind-Side Sack on Justin Herbert Results in a Loss of 8 Yards

 

[need2know]

Looked good to me. Happy to keep playing him at the flex. Big games coming. They will run alot more in most games. There team is good and will have the lead alot. Dont overthink it. Even if harris comes and takes some carries its not a bad thing if it makes drives go longer

 

[Ilov80s]

Looked good to me. Happy to keep playing him at the flex. Big games coming. They will run alot more in most games. There team is good and will have the lead alot. Dont overthink it. Even if harris comes and takes some carries its not a bad thing if it makes drives go longer

Right. The only difference between his disappointing game and Javonte Williams smash week was Dallas found themselves with the ball inside the 5 twice, the Chargers didn't.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Looked good to me. Happy to keep playing him at the flex. Big games coming. They will run alot more in most games. There team is good and will have the lead alot. Dont overthink it. Even if harris comes and takes some carries its not a bad thing if it makes drives go longer

Right. The only difference between his disappointing game and Javonte Williams smash week was Dallas found themselves with the ball inside the 5 twice, the Chargers didn't.

 

[Chardo1]

The way that offense looked against the defending conference and 9 time division champion, give me the first round rookie RB who got 80% of the snaps and all touches.

 

[Tau837]

So far he looked like JAG. Just like the negative scouting reports. Runs hard, good burst, but runs into blockers, great with a gaping hole but not great at getting extra yards if there is not. Rarely falls forward if he's not up to full speed (through a big hole). Obviously has pass protection issues.

Your post here is either showing you didn't actually read his scouting reports or you are misrepresenting them. Most/all of those posting in this thread know better.

created little YAC and very few missed tackles

Per PFF, 39 of his 48 rushing yards were yards after contact. On his rushing attempts, on average he encountered contact from the defense at 0.6 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and gained 2.6 yards more after that contact. I'm not sure I would agree that is "little YAC".

PFF shows him forcing 3 missed tackles on 17 touches. I suppose that could be characterized as "very few" but as has been noted repeatedly, he played a good defense in his first NFL game. I think he played well overall.

 

[crushedspirit]

It's easy to see he barely created anything on his own if one watched the game or even the replays of his every touch. Not sure if PFF counts a hand swipe as contact because I didn't see what they did. He barely eluded anyone all night if we're being honest. His PFF grade was 54.8 if one wants to use them as their gauge. His RYOE was also (-1.67) yards per attempt, which is bad anyway you slice it. Overall to my eyes he looked okay, nothing more.

He's a rookie who faced a stout run D in his opener, but the weaknesses reported pre draft were obvious to see and he has to clear that up going forward. The good I saw was his speed and pass pro. There's room to grow so it's a wait and see. The fact he got volume is big for him, especially if that continues.

 

[Gr00vus]

The problem (for him and Harris) is the chargers aren't good at run blocking.

 

[Tau837]

The problem (for him and Harris) is the chargers aren't good at run blocking.

Their best non-OL run blocker is TE Fisk, and he is probably a better run blocker than Pipkins, the starting RT. Fisk was inactive yesterday. They need to find a way to make him active going forward.

 

[crushedspirit]

There were a few runs where first contact didn't occur until he had gained 3 yards or more, including the 11 yarder in the 1st quarter and the 8 yarder where he went out of bounds before the half. His yards after contact did not equal 39 out of 48. PFF needs to taken with a grain of salt when it comes to some of their numbers.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

There were a few runs where first contact didn't occur until he had gained 3 yards or more, including the 11 yarder in the 1st quarter and the 8 yarder where he went out of bounds before the half. His yards after contact did not equal 39 out of 48. PFF needs to taken with a grain of salt when it comes to some of their numbers.

There were also runs where he was hit 2-3 yards behind the line of scrimmage

 

[LawFitz]

difference between his disappointing game and Javonte Williams smash week was Dallas found themselves with the ball inside the 5 twice, the Chargers didn't.

Hardly. Javonte has no burst (left). And Omar has plenty.

Better comp tho, which Omar homies won't like, is Pacheco. So far, I no likey.

Burst without vision or elusiveness has value on a competent/top offense tho. Just ask half-blind BFF Najee.

 

[Ilov80s]

difference between his disappointing game and Javonte Williams smash week was Dallas found themselves with the ball inside the 5 twice, the Chargers didn't.

Hardly. Javonte has no burst (left). And Omar has plenty.

Better comp tho, which Omar homies won't like, is Pacheco. So far, I no likey.

Burst without vision or elusiveness has value on a competent/top offense tho. Just ask half-blind BFF Najee.

I didn’t mean in terms of style or aptitude or anything qualitative- just pure fantasy result.

 

[crushedspirit]

There were a few runs where first contact didn't occur until he had gained 3 yards or more, including the 11 yarder in the 1st quarter and the 8 yarder where he went out of bounds before the half. His yards after contact did not equal 39 out of 48. PFF needs to taken with a grain of salt when it comes to some of their numbers.

There were also runs where he was hit 2-3 yards behind the line of scrimmage

Yes we all saw that as well.

 

[Alex P Keaton]

There were a few runs where first contact didn't occur until he had gained 3 yards or more, including the 11 yarder in the 1st quarter and the 8 yarder where he went out of bounds before the half. His yards after contact did not equal 39 out of 48. PFF needs to taken with a grain of salt when it comes to some of their numbers.

There were also runs where he was hit 2-3 yards behind the line of scrimmage

Yes we all saw that as well.

That counts in the formula PFF uses……

 

[Faust]

Matt Waldman
Omarion Hampton #BoltUp

He's not an Ashton Jeanty multi-tool back in the NFL in the sense that you lean on him to create when the blocking isn't advantageous.

But give him a nail (crease), and he can hammer.

https://x.com/mattwaldman/status/1964533867286843791?s=61

Is he good? Is he bad? Wrong questions.

He fits as a downhill bulldozer on gap, who can fly if the #BoltUp can get him around the corner clean on perimeter runs.

He's the attitude back. A fully conditioned Najee Harris will give them more creativity in tight spaces.

50/50 split coming, IMO. We'll see who gets the red zone or if they split it.

https://x.com/mattwaldman/status/1964535014420324569?s=61

 

[crushedspirit]

There were a few runs where first contact didn't occur until he had gained 3 yards or more, including the 11 yarder in the 1st quarter and the 8 yarder where he went out of bounds before the half. His yards after contact did not equal 39 out of 48. PFF needs to taken with a grain of salt when it comes to some of their numbers.

There were also runs where he was hit 2-3 yards behind the line of scrimmage

Yes we all saw that as well.

That counts in the formula PFF uses……

In the 2 runs I mentioned he went untouched for 19 yards, and there were others for about 2 to 4 yards before any contact. You can count all the hits behind or at the line on top of that and it still won't equal 39 out of 48 yards gained after contact because most of those times he was dropped when hit with minimal gain. One can check every run replay and see for themselves.

He's a back who can succeed when given a hole or crease as pointed out above by Waldman. He was never known as being very elusive in college since there's not much wiggle in his game, but a back who would power through tacklers and has good speed. He's going to have productive games going forward.

 

[natalensis]

RBs against the chiefs in 2024 (rushing yards only)

Henry: 13/46
Chase Brown: 4/31
Bijan: 16/31
Dobbins: 14/32
Kamara: 11/26
Mason: 14/58
Rachaad White: 3/19

Barkley 25/57 in the superbowl

 

[Alex P Keaton]

RBs against the chiefs in 2024 (rushing yards only)

Henry: 13/46
Chase Brown: 4/31
Bijan: 16/31
Dobbins: 14/32
Kamara: 11/26
Mason: 14/58
Rachaad White: 3/19

Barkley 25/57 in the superbowl

But. But. But. Hampton is mediocre. That’s what a few folks have told us after week 1. This info hurts the narrative thus it can’t be real.

 

[Buckna]

Hampton 15 carries
Harris 1 carry

Hampton is the starter, period

I expect Najee to be more involved as he puts on more weight and gets back to game shape. He clearly isn’t that right now.

As someone who grabbed Hampton in a few rookie drafts I may be thinking of trying to see if I can approach the Najee owners now for the cheap handcuff. He was far too expensive in the offseason and most of his owners still held on hope even through the eye injury. Now that games have started and he only got a measly 2 touches though?