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The second running back has come off the board. North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton has been selected 22nd overall by the Chargers.
Hampton will join a new-look RB corps for the Chargers. Last year, the team navigated a post-Austin Ekeler era. With Jim Harbaugh running the show, the Chargers relied on some of John Harbaugh’s former favorites in 2024.
J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards were plenty productive in their roles, especially the former. Dobbins returned from a lost 2023 campaign to have one of the best seasons of his career, finishing with 1,058 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns. However, both of the vets naturally missed time during the season, and the team was clearly valuing availability heading into the offseason.
That explains why the team opted for Najee Harris as their veteran addition. While the former Steelers RB never truly lived up to his draft billing, he’s about as reliable as you can get at the position. Harris topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of his four seasons in Pittsburgh, and he famously never missed a regular season game.
Now, the team can pair their veteran acquisition with a dynamic rookie RB. Hampton made a name for himself in three seasons at North Carolina. He had a breakout campaign in 2023 and followed that up with an even better 2024 season. Hampton finished last year with 2,033 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns. He also hauled in a career-high 38 receptions, stats that bode well for his pass-catching prowess in the NFL.
The Chargers still have some worthy depth in Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal, so Hampton may not be handed an immediate role. However, the rookie possesses more upside than anyone on the depth chart, and there’s a good chance he’s leading the position in touches by the end of the 2025 campaign.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
More must-reads:
- Commanders' Jayden Daniels expands on prediction for Terry McLaurin contract standoff
- Commanders' Terry McLaurin reportedly wants more money than previously thought
- The 'Active 20-home run MLB seasons' quiz
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With the SEC Expanding to 9 League Games, Here Are Oklahoma's Best Options for Permanent Rivals
What Nine-Game SEC Schedule Means for Texas Longhorns
The SEC announced Thursday that it will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2026, a historical change that ends the eight-game slate each team in the league has played since 1992. “Adding a ninth SEC game underscores our universities’ commitment to delivering the most competitive football schedule in the nation,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “This format protects rivalries, increases competitive balance, and paired with our requirement to play an additional (major conference) opponent, ensures SEC teams are well prepared to compete and succeed in the College Football Playoff.” This means the Texas Longhorns will enter their third season in the SEC at the center of these changes, but how could it impact the program as a whole? How New SEC Schedule Impacts Texas Longhorns Three Permanent Opponents The new schedule format requires each SEC team to annually play the same three opponents while rotating teams for the remaining six games on the slate. Ideally, Texas would play its three rivals -- Oklahoma, Texas A M and Arkansas -- each year but that won't be confirmed until the 2026 conference is released. The Longhorns will also get a chance to face off against some other SEC powerhouses that they have yet to schedule during the program's first two years in the conference. Teams like LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss and Tennessee will now play Texas every couple of seasons while current conference contender hopefuls Georgia and Florida will look to build on the early conference history that's already been established with the Longhorns since last season. After some memorable finishes in Austin against LSU and Alabama in 2019 and 2022, respectively, the Longhorns will now welcome these teams and more to the Forty Acres in hopes of creating some additional rivalries. Texas Must Schedule Power 4 Opponent in 2030, 2031 The change also requires each SEC team to schedule "one additional high quality non-conference from the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten or Big 12 conferences or Notre Dame each season," per SECSports.com. The Longhorns are set in that regard through the 2029 season, which includes a home-and-home with Notre Dame. Here are the Power 4 teams that Texas currently has on its future schedule: 2026: Ohio State 2027: Michigan 2028: at Notre Dame 2029: Notre Dame 2032: at Arizona State 2033: Arizona State The Longhorns currently have UTSA and UTEP on the schedule for the 2030 and 2031 seasons, respectively. Though Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte has already been adamant about the Longhorns scheduling tough non-conference opponents, the new change now ensures Texas will have some intriguing opponents to look forward to in 2030 and 2031.
Bill Belichick takes another shot at Patriots owner Robert Kraft
It is no secret that the relationship between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft has been strained since Belichick left the New England Patriots. Belichick took an obvious shot at Kraft and the Patriots owner's son, Jonathan, who is the president of the team, during an interview with Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that was published on Thursday. Belichick is preparing for his first-ever season as a college coach with North Carolina. When asked what he has noticed that is different about coaching in college versus the NFL, Belichick insinuated he has enjoyed not having to answer to any members of the Kraft family while doing his job in Chapel Hill. "It’s a much more cohesive, and I’d say unified, view of what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it," Belichick told Volin. "It’s a lot of football, and there’s not much in your way. "There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son. There’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level." Shots fired. There is no way to interpret that other than a criticism of Robert and Jonathan Kraft. Had Belichick left it at not having to answer to a team owner, you could make the case that he was speaking generally about the NFL. The fact that he added in "owner's son" makes it obvious he was referring to his old bosses, as both Robert and Jonathan are hands-on with the Patriots. Belichick is almost certainly bitter over the way his tenure in New England ended following the 2023 season. He coached the Patriots for 24 seasons and won six Super Bowls, so he likely felt he should have been given more time to turn things around in the post-Tom Brady era. The Kraft family preferred to move on after a 4-13 campaign. Though Belichick insists he is solely focused on the upcoming UNC season, this is not the first time in recent months that he has gone out of his way to throw a jab at Robert Kraft.
Commanders' Terry McLaurin reportedly wants more money than previously thought
Previous reports indicated that unsettled Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was looking to land "parts" of the five-year, $150M contract that the Pittsburgh Steelers gave DK Metcalf earlier this year. For an article published on Wednesday morning, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic offered an update regarding why McLaurin and the Commanders haven't come to terms on an extension after the 29-year-old requested a trade on July 31. "One person with knowledge of McLaurin’s contract negotiations said the veteran receiver has asked for more than DK Metcalf," Jhabvala revealed. McLaurin is in the final year of his current deal and will turn 30 years old in September. To compare, Metcalf will turn 28 in December. That said, McLaurin emerged last season as the favorite target for quarterback Jayden Daniels as Daniels guided the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. "McLaurin believes he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL," Jhabvala added. "He’s been the Commanders' leading receiver every season since he entered the league (in 2019), and last year had the second-most receiving TDs in the league behind Ja’Marr Chase’s 17. He also ranked third in (expected points added) on targets and seventh in catch rate among receivers with at least 100 targets last year, but among that same group, McLaurin’s total receiving yards (1,096) ranked 12th and his average yards after the catch ranked 25th." Daniels seemed optimistic while speaking about the ongoing contract standoff during the ESPN broadcast of Monday's preseason game between the Commanders and Cincinnati Bengals when he said he knew McLaurin would "be coming through the door soon." However, Jhabvala noted that "it wouldn’t be a surprise if the [Commanders have] set a maximum range of $27M to $28M a year in average annual value for McLaurin." That seems to suggest the two sides aren't all that close to coming to terms on an agreement. It's unclear if McLaurin is willing to forfeit money by sitting out Washington's Week 1 game against the New York Giants on Sept. 7 amid his desire for a pay raise. If he isn't, he may have to soon accept the offer that's on the table to guarantee himself future earnings beyond the upcoming season.
'Look out for this dude': Former NFL exec has warning about unexpected SEC quarterback
Yankees' continued defensive meltdowns hurt them again against Red Sox
The New York Yankees can hit the baseball out of the ballpark as well as any team in the major leagues, and that will always give them a chance to win any game. They also field the baseball as poorly as any team in the major leagues, and that can cost them games. The latter issue was on display once again on Thursday night in a 6-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox to kick off an absolutely massive four-game series in the American League wild-card race. Not only did the Yankees lose to allow Boston to keep gaining ground in the standings, but they also kind of gave it away in the field. The issues started in the top of the second inning when the Yankees made three errors, including a throwing error from catcher Ben Rice to bring in Boston's first run. The fielding miscues continued in the top of the ninth when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt committed the Yankees' fourth error of the game, allowing the inning to extend for Roman Anthony to come to bat. He used that at-bat to pretty much put the game out of reach with an absolute moonshot of a home run. These fundamental errors and mistakes were a problem for the Yankees a year ago, and they remain a problem now. They are also not going away anytime soon, and they keep showing in big moments — and in big games. Until they figure out a way to get that changed — and it might be too late for this roster to do so — they are going to have some big concerns going into October. Hitting home runs is great. But not consistently making routine mistakes and giving good teams extra outs is the type of thing that not even home runs can always overcome. Overall, the Yankees are a very good team. Until they clean up these mistakes, they won't be a great team.
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