Early Fantasy Outlook: Prepare to Draft Omarion Hampton Early

The Chargers' new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel has a tremendous history with running backs who are top fantasy producers. In the past three seasons in Miami, McDaniel had a top-five finishing running back each season in PPR leagues.

Not to be disrespectful to the great talents of Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane, but it is fair to say, the former first-round draft pick Omarion Hampton is a different beast of a player. Hampton will be the clear number one running back for the Chargers this season with curve balls and change-ups coming from Kimani Vidal and Keaton Mitchell

Revisiting Hampton's 2025 is a simple case of asking the question of what if he had never gotten hurt in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders. Hampton started the season splitting time with Najee Harris as he got his feet under him in the NFL. Once Harris went down with an Achilles injury in week three, Hampton became the lead back.

Hampton took off as the lead back putting up tremendous fantasy production in weeks three and four before going down himself with a high ankle sprain in week five. Hampton had been very durable in college and the injury bug that bit him in 2025 was hopefully just bad luck.

Hampton additionally showed off his receiving abilities in his final game of the season by bringing in eight receptions against the Houston Texans. Mike McDaniel asks his running backs to be a major factor in the passing game and will likely lean on Hampton to be a dual-threat runner and receiver.

Hampton is currently ranked around the top ten by most fantasy analysts at ESPN. Given the expectations for Hampton with Mike McDaniel in the 2026 season, depending on what type of league you play in and how deep the league is, be prepared to take Hampton fairly early.

The pairing of Mike McDaniel and the projected jump for Omarion Hampton in his second year could produce another top-five fantasy running back for McDaniel.