Los Angeles Chargers In Fantasy Football: Najee Harris Or Omarion Hampton?

With the Los Angeles Chargers’ season starting tonight, it also means that fantasy footballers are gearing up their season and trying to find the best players to throw into their lineups, as sit-and-start decisions become crucial.

With that being said, we’ll be highlighting the Los Angeles Chargers’ backfield and how to manage that situation.

Who’s The Los Angeles Chargers’ RB1?

With head coach Jim Harbaugh announcing that veteran RB Najee Harris would start in the week 1 season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in São Paulo, Brazil, it has caught many fantasy football players off guard.

Most assumed that rookie first-round RB Omarion Hampton would be the primary starter and get the majority of the workload after Harris suffered an eye injury during the 4th of July celebrations that forced him to land on the NFI (Non-Football Injury/Illness) list.

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The veteran RB’s absence left the door wide open for Hampton to get all the opportunity during training camp and work with the first team offense and familiarize himself with both the NFL playstyle and the offensive scheme.

Fantasy Football Start/Sit

It’s not uncommon for teams to list veterans as starters early on in the season, as it’s more of a sign of respect towards more senior players who have already been in the league.

The Washington Commanders also have a similar situation going on in their backfield, with offseason darling Bill Croskey-Merritt listed as the RB4 on the depth chart, despite looking great in the preseason, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.

Again, with Harris missing so much time and valuable reps in the offseason, he should still be ramping up from both a physical and mental aspect, thus paving the way for Hampton to take on the bulk of the work against the Chiefs.

Anyone who’s seen Hampton’s tape, or even just highlights, can tell you how talented the running back is. Although Harris is no slouch, having had four consecutive 1000-yard rushing seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Hampton just looks vastly different from him, showing the disparity in levels between the two players.

Overall, I wouldn’t be too worried about the situation as a whole, even though Harris is the starter in name.

To answer the question, you can comfortably start Omarion Hampton at your RB spot across all league formats (Standard, Half-PPR, Full PPR), as he’ll still get the majority of the carries in the game. Harris will come in to spell him at times, though it won’t affect Hampton’s production significantly.

Hope you all have a great start to the NFL season, and to potentially secure a week 1 victory in your fantasy league.