Chargers select home-run hitter at running back with first-round selection

The Los Angeles Chargers may have been fielding all of the potential calls for a trade that they could before making their first-round pick on Thursday night, selecting North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton with the No. 22 overall selection. 

The Chargers used every second of the 10-minute clock before making their pick and with some of their other targets (namely Colston Loveland) already off the board, Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz opted to build up the running back room a little more. 

Hampton is one of the most dynamic running backs in this class and was the No. 2 running back off the board behind only Ashton Jeanty, as expected. Hampton has shot up draft boards this offseason due to his ability as both a powerful and play-making runner. 

He joins a backfield that includes Najee Harris and Kimani Vidal and should be the perfect player to spell Harris, one of the team's big free-agent signings this offseason. The Chargers can create a brand new thunder-and-lightning combination with this running back duo, and with the way Harbaugh likes to pound the rock, it will be a formidable combination to deal with. 

Hampton rushed for over 3,100 yards and scored 30 touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry in his last two seasons at UNC. Things will get tougher in the professional ranks, but this is a pick that a large portion of Chargers fans should be able to get behind. 

Hampton adds an extra dimension as a receiver out of the backfield and he goes to a team that may be just a few pieces short of making a deep playoff run. 

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After watching the team fall flat in the Wild Card round of the playoffs last season against the Houston Texans, Harbaugh knew he needed to get more firepower on offense for Justin Herbert. This pick accomplishes that. 

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