Bolts From The Blue
The Chargers choose to add an offensive weapon in Daniel Jeremiah’s latest 2025 NFL mock draft.
J.K. Dobbins, the Chargers’ leading rusher from the 2024 season, is scheduled to be a free agent next month when the new league year begins. I feel strongly that the Bolts will bring back Dobbins, but that doesn’t mean the Chargers won’t try and add to the backfield.
Gus Edwards is still under contract for the next two years but cutting him would alleviate over $3 million in cap and leave $1.125 million in dead cap space. Unless the Chargers believe Kimani Vidal will be able to step into a complementary role in 2025, I could see the Chargers potentially drafting another back at some point in April. But what if they chose to use that pick in the first round?
In Daniel Jeremiah’s Mock Draft 2.0, the current Chargers commentator has Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz taking North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton with the 22nd-overall pick. He’s a big, bruising back with a ton of experience running over defenses through the past two seasons.
“The Chargers desperately need to give Justin Herbert more offensive firepower. Hampton would hit a lot of home runs in this offensive system,” says Jeremiah.
From 2023-2024, Hampton was twice named a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-ACC member. In ‘23, Hampton rushed for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns. This past season, he upped that rushing total to 1,660 yards and once again hit 15 scores on the ground. He’s also fairly capable through the air with 73 receptions for 635 yards and four scores in his career.
At 6’0 and 220 pounds, he’s built well for the NFL. Draft analyst Lance Zierlein has his pro comp as New England’s Rhamondre Stevenson and refers to him as a “high-volume battering ram with a three-ingredient recipe of size, strength, and aggression.”
When you turn on the film, the things that should stand out almost immediately are Hampton’s patience behind the line of scrimmage and his smooth-moving style of running. He’s in no rush to take the ball from his quarterback and it’s not unusual to see him take what looks too much time letting his blockers set up in front of him but he constantly makes it work.
The strength at the point of contact is also as advertised. He’s never brought down by just one tackler and he likes to make second and third-level defenders pay when they try to stop him in his tracks. The expectation is that Hampton won’t blow anyone away with his final 40 time, but he’ll show off enough speed and explosion to hit holes with adequate power at the NFL level and maximize yards after contact when squeezing through the tightest of running lanes.
I’ve seen people also compare Hampton to the Lions’ David Montgomery and former Cardinals dual-threat back David Johnson. Both were/are successful backs in this league and when in their prime, some of the best players at their position...
