One running back is being underdrafted in the early second round of half PPR drafts right now. With a new offensive coordinator and the return of his two starting tackles, Omarion Hampton of the LA Chargers is primed to break out in his second season.

It’s not as if Hampton was unproductive when he was on the field last season. The North Carolina product put up 13.3 points per game, good for 12th among running backs. The problem with his output was Hampton only played in nine regular season games during his rookie season after an ankle issue forced him onto the injured reserve.

He came into a situation riddled with problems from the beginning, too. The Chargers lost their All-Pro left tackle, Rashawn Slater, to a ruptured patellar tendon in August before the season, and standout right tackle Joe Alt was shut down for the season after aggravating a previously suffered ankle injury in Week 9 against the Titans.

In addition to the injury bug they faced, LA’s playcalling did Hampton no favors. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman ran the ball at a 42.29% clip, which ranked 21st in the league. There were understandably games where Hampton’s usage was underwhelming as he worked back to full health, but there were also inexplicable discrepancies in carries prior to the injury. In Week 1, Hampton handled all but one carry, but in Week 2, he shared an even split of eight carries apiece with Najee Harris.

Luckily for Hampton drafters, new OC Mike McDaniel’s scheme boosts his fantasy upside. Over the past three seasons, McDaniel’s offenses in Miami finished in the top ten for running back receptions with the majority of those targets ending up with the bell cow back, De’Von Achane.

Hampton’s receiving chops were considered a risk when he entered the draft last spring, but he held up remarkably well in his rookie season. He hauled in 91.4% of his targets to the tune of 32 receptions for 192 yards. While it’s clear Hampton likely doesn’t have the ceiling Achane did in McDaniel’s offense as a receiving threat, he showed he can handle a high volume of passing work with an eight-catch day against the Texans defense in Week 17.

It’s encouraging that McDaniel has skewed his offense in favor of a bell cow more recently as well, which tends to favor a talented first round draft pick over guys like Baltimore castaway Keaton Mitchell and undrafted vet Kimani Vidal. Fantasy players will recall the 2023 and 2024 seasons, during which Achane and Raheem Mostert split carries nearly 50-50. Last season, however, Achane handled 63% of carries and a whopping 83% of targets. While the league is leaning towards a running back by committee approach, McDaniel actually seems to be bucking the trend he helped popularize.

McDaniel’s wide zone scheme provides another encouraging change. Hampton thrived on zone scheme touches in college, earning a 92.0 PFF grade on those opportunities as opposed to an 84.5 grade on man blocking plays. Greg Roman failed to address Hampton’s strengths of hitting the hole, making one cut, and utilizing his 220-pound frame by getting downhill. The Chargers used zone blocking on 46% of carries last season. The Dolphins used it on 75% of carries through Week 7, according to PFF.

All in all, the arrow is trending upward for Hampton at every turn, and yet he is coming off the board after guys like Ashton Jeanty, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, and Justin Jefferson, who all faced similar issues last season with less clarity surrounding them heading into 2026. He’s currently ranked as the RB10 on FantasyPros, with an ADP of 15.

I believe he has a higher ceiling and a higher floor than most of the players being drafted at the end of the first round, which is where I would feel comfortable taking him. I would personally draft Hampton above any RB besides Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, and James Cook.