Chargers RB Omarion Hampton ran for 56 yards and caught the team's lone TD in his return Monday night from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since Week 5. Hampton rushed 13 times vs. 14 for Kimani Vidal, who officially got the start. Hampton also edged Vidal 2-1 in catches, though Vidal led the backfield in targets and routes. His 23 routes marked a 56% rate vs. total Chargers dropbacks and beat Hampton by 15. Vidal took his lone catch for 60 yards and gained 44 yards on his 14 rushes (3.1 per carry).
It wasn't shocking to see a limited usage plan for Hampton in the rookie's first game in nine weeks. But the particulars of that usage deserve further breakdown.
Hampton not only trailed Vidal in pass routes. He also logged just two pass-blocking snaps to Vidal's nine, and Pro Football Focus graded Hampton the much worse performer.
Hampton noticeably got blown up by blitzing LB Nakobe Dean on a second-quarter play that produced a strip-sack. Yahoo Sports noted that the team later leaned on Vidal for a stretch after Hampton yielded a third-quarter sack.
But the rookie took the field for the OT drive that produced the game-winning FG, and he scampered for 18 yards on the second play to get into Philly territory.
Hampton's pass-blocking limitations do threaten to cut into his playing time going forward, especially in an offense struggling to protect QB Justin Herbert in general.
But we'd also bet on Hampton's role picking up further and expect him to lead in carries the rest of the way.
Unfortunately, the next three weeks sandwich a positive matchup with Dallas between two strongly negative spots:
That further inhibits Hampton's fantasy outlook. Expect to find him in lower-RB2 range of our weekly rankings.
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