• Omarion Hampton could slip into the first round of the NFL draft: An increasing number of mock drafts include Hampton in the first round.
• The potential 1.02 in dynasty rookie drafts: As long as Hampton lands on an average-to-good landing spot, he should be the 1.02 pick, even in dynasty superflex rookie drafts.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF's best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
PFF’s fantasy football player profile series delivers the most in-depth fantasy football analysis available for the 2025 season.
Using PFF’s exclusive data, we evaluate player performance, competition for touches and how teammates and coaching staffs will impact each player's fantasy football outlook.
Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Monday, April 7
Player Performance
Hampton spent his 2022 season in a five-way committee at running back, followed by two years as the every-down back. His volume improved each season. There wasn’t a lot of improvement in his rushing between 2023 and 2024, outside of a few longer runs, helping his volume stats and EPA. He similarly made more big plays as a receiver out of the backfield, even though his receiving grade didn’t necessarily improve. Hampton is among the top-10 FBS running backs over the last eight seasons in terms of his average max speed based on PFF's tracking data. Breece Hall and Keaton Mitchell are the only current running backs faster in the NFL.
As a runner, Hampton was elite in most situations. The most notable situation he didn’t play as well in is gap run schemes. Hampton has a 92.0 PFF rushing grade on zone run concepts compared to 84.5 against gap. Our draft guide notes, “Hampton can get impatient and get north before it is necessary.” This has likely impacted his grade on man plays. This could limit which teams want to invest a late first or second-round draft pick on him.
His metrics as a receiver were generally strong over the past two seasons. He is more experienced as a receiver than most running backs expected to get picked on the first or second day of the draft. His speed and ability to avoid tackles could make him a better receiver in the NFL than he was in college.
Projected Role
Hampton is the second-best running back on our big board, on consensus big boards, and my fantasy rankings and dynasty rankings. A big reason why is that he is a well-rounded running back capable of being a feature back in the NFL. He played over two-thirds of snaps each of the past two years and played at least 70% of snaps in every situation last season.
Hampton’s grades as a pass blocker were consistently low, so he might not start his career consistently playing on third down. Our draft guide notes that he has the frame to be a solid pass blocker. Multiple top-12 fantasy running backs like Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, James Cook and Kenneth Walker III also didn’t typically play on third downs, which didn’t stop their fantasy value.
While Hampton can be a feature back, his role as a rookie will depend on the other running backs on the roster. While there are a few teams who need a new lead running back, it’s entirely possible Hampton ends up on a team with an established back and needs to share the backfield.
Most Mocked Teams
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys used to be the team picking Ashton Jeanty in every mock, but it appears Jeanty will get selected earlier than the 12th pick. While the Cowboys added cheap free agents, Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, those additions would not stop Hampton from being the lead back in Dallas’ backfield.
Denver Broncos
The Broncos are one of the best landing spots for a running back, given Sean Payton’s history of fantasy stars in New Orleans and the Broncos' lack of investment at running back in free agency. The only concern with the Broncos spending the 20th pick on Hampton is Payton’s history of committees at running backs. Hampton would likely be a rotational player for at least September of his rookie season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers seem committed to Jaylen Warren after free agency, but they have three running backs better known for their receiving than their rushing. Pittsburgh has the 21st pick and could spend that selection on a back. Hampton, in the Najee Harris role, could be a top-20 fantasy back.
Bottom Line
Hampton should be among the fantasy starting running backs in 2025, as long as he doesn’t land on a team with too much running back depth on their roster.
Footnotes
- Statistics in tables and charts were generally chosen based on their ability to predict future fantasy performance on a per-game or per-opportunity basis or for their ability to describe the player relative to others at the same position.
- “Opportunities” are defined as passing dropbacks, rushing attempts and receiving routes run.
- Numbers are either by season or based on the past three years. For rookies, only college numbers are included. Only NFL numbers are included for non-rookies, even if they played in college during the previous three years.
- Because college competition is easier than NFL competition, most rookies will likely see a decline from their historic numbers.
- Only FBS data is considered for college players and comparisons.
- Kneel-downs are removed from rushing data to provide cleaner quarterback rushing rate statistics.
- The colors for all tables in this article range from blue (good or high) to red (bad or low).
- All percentiles or colors compare the given player to other players with a high sample of opportunities. Generally, the cut-off is one-third of the possible opportunities in the sample. If the player in question doesn’t have enough opportunities, they are still compared, even though they could look good or bad based on the small sample size, which might not be as predictive.
- Information on utilization classifications and their importance can be found here for running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.
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