Thor Nystrom and Ian Hartitz offer reactions and grades to the Los Angeles Chargers after their selections in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Who Did the Los Angeles Chargers Draft?

In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders drafted …

  • Omarion Hampton | RB
  • Tre Harris | WR
  • Jamaree Caldwell | DL
  • Kyle Kennard | EDGE
  • KeAndre Lambert-Smith | WR
  • Oronde Gadsden II | TE
  • Branson Taylor | OT
  • R.J. Mickens | S
  • Trikweze Bridges | Florida

Grading the Chargers NFL Draft

Los Angeles Chargers | Draft Grade: F

Omarion Hampton is a hard-charging north/south runner who does not mess around behind the line. The fact that HC Jim Harbaugh fell in love with him this spring is the least-surprising thing that has ever happened. I felt it was a reach in a potentially historic running back class.

Hampton has a disciplined running style, never out over his skis, consistently keeping a sturdy base beneath him as he travels his north/south path. The downside to this style is a lack of evasion. It’s not what Hampton is trying to do, and he doesn’t have the wiggle to try. 

One of Hampton’s most impressive traits is his contact balance. Hampton is a banger, and his style requires a fortified center of gravity—he’s got it. He brings a hammer into contact, trying to blast his way to a few extra yards.

The Chargers double-dipped at the receiver position, with WR Tre Harris in Round 2 and WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith about 100 slots later. Lambert-Smith is a field-stretcher with 4.37 wheels.

Harris is a linear-moving boundary receiver. Harris’ routes at Ole Miss were radically skewed to keep him moving north/south, whether he had the ball or not. Unfortunately, Harris was limited to eight games due to a lower-body injury. He still put up a 60-1,030-7 receiving line, averaging 128.8 YPG receiving. Ole Miss’ offense was heavy on first-read concepts, and Harris, when healthy, was very clearly that for the Rebels.

Harris derived a chunk of his production from empty-calorie concepts. Of Harris’ 79 targets, 40 (50.6%) came on either hitches or screens. A hitch route is a tiny hook—you turn around five yards upfield and park against off-coverage for uncontested freebies.

You play off Harris because he’s very good downtown, and Ole Miss regularly sent him deep—21 of his targets last year came on either posts or go routes (26.6%).

Opposing defenses threw a ton of press coverage at Harris, knowing how often he was the primary read and attempting to throw a wrench into his timing. The work Harris has put into his release package to ensure he wouldn’t get snared off the line is clear—he has a deep bag of tricks.

Harris isn’t going to beat you at route breaks with agility, but he has other tricks to gain separation. His favorite is confusing defenders with speed changes along his path. Harris’ NFL route tree needs to be pared down a bit to leverage what he’s best at.

The Chargers deferred their need along the defensive trenches until Day 3. I didn’t love the values they got on either DT Jamaree Caldwell or EDGE Kyle Kennard. S RJ Mickens, however, has a real shot to outperform his draft slot.

Omarion Hampton Fantasy Football Value

Ian Hartitz: The much-rumored Broncos landing spot would have been ideal, although landing with Jim Harbaugh and Co. *should* provide plenty of fantasy-friendly returns in the long run. 2025 could be just a bit problematic due to the presence of ex-Steelers bell cow Najee Harris, but Round 1 RBs don't tend to spend too much time on the bench. Ultimately, I'm approaching this Chargers backfield as a middle-class man's version of the Lions: Give me Hampton over Harris straight up, but both are deserving of borderline RB2 treatment, and an injury to either would instantly lead to RB1 upside for the healthy back.