Windy City Gridiron
The RB class is elite this year. Here are Bryan’s takes on the top ten, who he would compare their running styles to, and if he thinks they’re a fit for Chicago.
Omarion Hampton is one of the most unique evaluations I can remember. He has posted consistently elite production in his last two seasons in Chapel Hill, where he was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award both years, which goes to the nation's top running back. He has had 15 rushing TDs in each of the last two seasons and averaged 5.9 yards per carry each season, as well. However, two years ago he had Drake Maye under center and last year he had...Jacoby Criswell. Maye, as we all know, was drafted 3rd overall by the Patriots last summer and Criswell is in the transfer portal after Bill Belichick came to town and apparently had other plans at QB.
Like Kaleb Johnson and Ollie Gordon on this list, Hampton was his entire offense this past season, and teams still struggled to contain him. Though I’m not an huge fan of his upright posture when running and think it could lead to problems at the next level, he possesses above average ball security AND pass blocking with strong hands. Hampton is a legitimate every-down back with home run speed. His athleticism and skillset were on full display at the NFL Combine, where he was at the top of nearly every positional test and posted an elite Relative Athletic Score of 9.70, which ranked 64 out of 2099 running backs from 1987 to 2025 (courtesy of Kent Lee Platte (@Mathbomb). Some have mocked Hampton to the Bears at 1.10 if Jeanty is taken before that. Most believe there is no way he slides past Dallas at 12 or Denver at 20. Either way, it seems inevitable that this phenom will be one of the few first-round RBs taken in the last few years.
Hampton: 6’0”, 221, 30.1/2” arms, 9.3/8” hands, 4.46, 1.54 (10yd split), 38”, 10’10”, 18 reps
Gurley: 6’1”, 222, 31.1/2” arms, 10” hands (no times recorded), 17 reps
Speaking of the 1.10 draft slot, that is exactly where my comp for Hampton was taken back in the 2015 NFL draft. Todd Gurley did not participate in any of the field work at his combine due to his recovery from a brutal ACL injury at Georgia, but some speculate the decorated former Bulldog would have easily run in the low 4.4s or even high 4.3s. The biggest difference to me, besides their bill of health entering the league, is the conferences they came from. Gurley starred as a true freshman in the SEC and never ran for less than 6.0 yards per carry for the Bulldogs and even had 6 receiving TDs as a true sophomore. Truth be told, it was extremely hard for me to come up with a comp for Omarion Hampton. Corey Dillon, Willis...
