Omarion Hampton vs Lamar Jackson

“The other AFC West breakout candidate at RB is Omarion Hampton .”

“Round 2: Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC) At the tail-end of the second round, I shored up my other running back slot with Omarion Hampton.”

“Hampton should be a rock-solid RB1 with massive upside in 2026.”

“I have spent a lot of time pumping up Justin Herbert getting to play with Mike McDaniel , but there is no doubt that Omarion Hampton is going to see a huge spike.”

“In 2025, in Weeks 1-4, Hampton averaged 17 touches and 95 total yards as the RB13 in fantasy points per game. In that small sample of games, he posted a 7.4% explosive run rate, a 19% missed tackle rate, and 2.54 yards after contact per attempt. If he had kept up that pace the entire year in those three categories, he would have ranked fourth, tenth, and eighth in those categories (minimum 100 carries).”

“Hampton should be the biggest benefactor of the hire, as De'Von Achane was a fantasy superstar with McDaniel in Miami. More importantly, the second-year pro was outstanding as a rookie despite missing half the season with an injury, averaging 15.1 PPR fantasy points per game despite playing behind arguably the most injury-plagued offensive line.”

“In Year 2, Hampton will surely benefit from the arrival of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, a wizard at designing a run game. He'll get the bruising back into space, where Hampton can employ that 4.46 speed to zoom past defenders.”

“Omarion Hampton played only nine games as a rookie, but we got a glimpse of how good he can be. In those contests, he averaged 15.1 fantasy points per game (FPPG), good for RB12. He rushed for 545 yards and added another 192 through the air on 32 receptions.”

“Andrew Erickson expects a healthy Chargers offense and Mike McDaniel's arrival as offensive coordinator to unlock Hampton's ceiling. He highlighted McDaniel's history of involving running backs heavily in the passing game while also pointing to Justin Herbert's previous success targeting backs. Combined with Hampton's projected workload and favorable early schedule, Erickson believes he offers legitimate RB1 upside despite being drafted outside the first round.”

“A healthier offensive line could help the team score touchdowns at a higher rate in the red zone, but so could better health from Omarion Hampton, who played in only nine games as a rookie.”

“Omarion Hampton and the Chargers are very much the target of offseason hype, and it's worth remembering there have been plenty of times in the past that the Chargers haven't paid off that hype.”

“Omarion Hampton and the Chargers are very much the target of offseason hype, and it's worth remembering there have been plenty of times in the past that the Chargers haven't paid off that hype. The Chargers saw Keaton Mitchell as a priority for new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, with him printing off wanted posters and putting them up around the facility.”

“Injuries and a steep decline in rushing production cratered Lamar Jackson ‘s fantasy value in 2025. After finishing QB1 in fantasy scoring in 2024, Jackson plummeted to a QB20 fantasy finish last season and was QB16 in fantasy points per game at the position. Jackson lost three games to an early-season hamstring injury and one game to a late-season back injury.”

“Lamar Jackson cratered many fantasy rosters in 2025. Before an early October hamstring injury, he was on pace for 3,700 passing yards, 437 rushing yards, and 47 total TDs.”

“The most obvious thing to consider is your positional strengths and weaknesses — trading for Lamar Jackson when you already have Josh Allen probably isn’t a good idea.”

“If you want an elite QB, pocket your picks for a round and a half and take Lamar Jackson, instead.”

“There isn’t a single drafted player on the Ravens that goes higher than I would take them, with Lamar Jackson standing out as the single best 1QB value I have ever seen if you want to get a top-two quarterback, going at pick 46, 19 picks past QB1, Josh Allen.”

“With plenty of time to recover from last season, Jackson is a ticking time bomb for fantasy production.”

“Things did not go well for Lamar Jackson in 2025, but he still displayed his ceiling early on before injuries started to stack up.”

“For what it’s worth, Lamar did speak highly of Doyle’s offense this spring, saying: “ It’s a different system than what I’m accustomed to being in, and I feel like there’s going to be a lot of explosiveness this year.”

“The case for Lamar staying near the top of the market: he’s not even 30 years old, he was still playing at an elite level in weeks one and two last season before his injury in week three derailed the rest of his year, and he has never failed to have an MVP-caliber first season under a new play caller, which is exactly the situation he’s in again this year.”

“Jackson's 2025 performance was marred by injury and a subpar level of play (by his standards). Therefore, while he has tremendous leverage by virtue of the restructure and the $84.34MM cap number it created for 2027, he may want to come to the negotiating table on the heels of a better season.”

“Todd Monken, reflecting on where things went wrong in Baltimore last season, feels that he didn't get the most out of Lamar Jackson. "I didn't coach well enough," Monken said. "I didn't get Lamar to play at his best when the best was needed."”

“Jackson mentioned that Doyle is running a completely different system from what Todd Monken deployed last season, while there are some concepts from what Greg Roman ran in 2022. Jackson expects more "explosiveness" this season, and Doyle is proving to be a very creative playcaller. "I feel like there's going to be a lot of explosiveness this year," Jackson said. "The way Declan calls plays and his creativity with his mind — how detailed he is — it's mind-blowing. I'm excited."”