NFL Draft Profile: RB Omarion Hampton

Breaking down North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton

One of the top running backs in this draft class is North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. Hampton has long been considered the best running back in this class after Ashton Jeanty, who figures to go in the top 10 picks. The range on Hampton is a little wider. Recent speculation suggests some teams view Hampton as closer to Jeanty than he’s currently ranked, which could well mean he’s gone long before the Commanders pick at 29. However, if he were to fall to 29, he’d likely be one of the top players available based on talent alone. So in that scenario, would Hampton make sense for the Washington Commanders? Let’s dive into the film to see.

The first thing that stood out to me when I watched Hampton was just how smooth he is. He never looks particularly troubled or panicked, he doesn’t look like one of those guys that has to work incredibly hard to earn every yard they get. Hampton makes things look so much easier than they are because he has such a well-rounded skill set that enables him to do so many different things.

This run is a great example of how smooth Hampton is as a runner. UNC run a GT Counter scheme to their left, pulling both the right guard and right tackle to the left side as lead blockers for Hampton. This is a scheme we saw the Commanders use a lot last year, so it’s a good one to see how Hampton might translate to Washington if he were to be picked by the Commanders. This run gets a lot messier than it looks, but Hampton makes it work.

The first issue happens right after the snap. The right tackle stays in an extra beat to try and help the center slide across and pick up the defensive tackle to that side of the field. However, the tackle then is late to pull and gets caught up in the traffic of the center as he does that. That means the tackle is slightly in the way of Hampton, but also the defensive tackle he was trying to help the center reach still manages to burst through and is quickly closing on Hampton in the backfield. Some backs might panic in this situation and rush things, which could lead to a fumbled exchange or running into a tackle, but Hampton calmly secures the ball and makes a jump cut to his left to avoid the defensive tackle and give the right tackle some extra time to catch up.

From there, Hampton is met by the right guard, who tries to kick out the edge defender on the left side of the line after pulling, but actually gets knocked back into Hamptons path. Again, Hampton doesn’t panic and instead changes his tempo while trusting his blockers to do their jobs. He slows down to give the pulling right tackle time to catch up, but then makes another sharp cut inside the right guard on the edge to help him secure his block outside. Then another problem emerges. The right tackle targets the wrong block. Instead of wrapping around for the linebacker, the tackle blocks the safety, which should have been the wide receivers job. You can see the receiver come in to try and block him just as the tackle gets there, meaning there’s two guys blocking the safety and nobody blocking the linebacker.

That leaves Hampton with a free linebacker in the hole ready to make the stop. Again, many backs in this spot might panic or rush things, but Hampton stays poised and makes a cut inside. He shows off one of his best traits, his contact balance, as he breaks through the arm tackle of the linebacker and stays on his feet as he gets into the open field. That was a lot of work for five yards, and he made it look so easy. But he’s not finished there. Once in the open field, he looks to run away from the defense but the referee is in an annoying position so he has to run at the safety coming down from deep. The safety drops his head and looks to cut Hampton, who manages to run through the tackle attempt, but he gets tripped up just enough for another defender to tackle him from behind to finish the play.

It was just one play, but I think it was a great example of how smooth Hampton is. There were many points in that play that it all could have broken down and turned into a negative play or a minimal gain, but at each obstacle he faced, Hampton showed poise and made the correct decision to extend the play and eventually worked his way through the first two levels of the defense. We also saw a good example of his contact balance as he fought through a tackle to gain more yards. That contact balance is one of his best traits and it shows up regularly in key situations to enable him to gain extra yards.

This time, Hampton faces a third and one situation. The defense knows UNC wants to run the ball with their best player, so they bring a safety down into the box to give them a numbers advantage. The defense has some quick wins at the snap too. The left guard gets beat by a defensive tackle while both linebackers are pretty quick to attack the line of scrimmage and try to clog up the rushing lanes inside. If you pause the run just as Hampton secures the handoff, the picture looks bleak. The left guard has lost his block so a defensive tackle is penetrating into the backfield, while many of Hampton’s blockers are all bunched up in front of him with no clear lane to run through. But Hampton shows good vision and patience, allowing his blocks to develop despite the defensive tackle closing in on him.

That patience pays off as the slightest hole emerges between the center and right guard. It’s a small hole, but Hampton gets skinny and sneaks through it, bouncing off a defender in the process. He stays balanced as he gets through the hole and then makes a cut to try and avoid the safety in the box. The safety can only get his arms on Hampton, who again shows great contact balance as he runs through the arm tackle and into the open field. From there, Hampton steadies himself and then bursts away from the other safety as he works down the sideline, turning a third and one run into a nearly 40-yard carry.

On just about every run, regardless of scheme or situation, you see Hampton execute his skills well and maximize the situation.