It's Safety First for Huskies' Well-Traveled Dominique Hampton

Dominique Hampton is not unlike some adventuresome kid who decides to go backpacking through Europe before settling into society's grind.

Except his trip is now approaching 2,000 days of wandering through the back roads of college football and dropping his sleeping bag wherever it suits him.

Hampton is this vagabond University of Washington football player, a certified wandering gypsy, this troubadour in purple and gold.

With spring football practice ready to resume in nine days, this 6-foot-3, 218-pound Arizona native finds himself dealing with his fourth Husky secondary position since coming to Seattle.

Hampton arrived as a cornerback, moved to safety, converted to the Husky hybrid role and has returned to strong safety, with the latest move making perfect sense to him.

"It allows me to just come down the hill and hit," he said, "which is really what I like to do."

Dominique Hampton, entering his sixth UW season, has appeared in 42 games and started 14, including 11 outings in 2022.

A physical player, Dom Hampton has rung up 81 tackles in his Husky career, including 42 last season as a full-time starter for the first time.

The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Dom Hampton has all the equipment accessories required to be a hard-hitting, physical player at Washington.

Dom Hampton came to the UW after intercepting 8 career passes for Centennial High in Glendale, Arizona. He's still awaiting his first Husky pass theft.

Dom Hampton closed out the 2022 season with 5 tackles in each of his last three games against Oregon, Washington State and Texas.

UW defensive-backs coach Juice Brown offers some position insight to the Dom Hampton during practice.

Dom Hampton patiently waited to become a UW starter and stands to spend his final two-plus college seasons with the No. 1 defense.

Dom Hampton returned to his home Phoenix area to face Arizona State and here he tackles ASU running back Daniyel Ngata, now a UW teammate.

Dom Hampton originally wore No. 21 at Washington before switching last season to 7, which was worn by Husky greats Taylor Rapp and Shaq Thompson.

While the hybrid role appeared to be tailor made for him in concept, leading to 11 starting assignments last season, Hampton found himself more often lining up in pass coverage.

Again, he's foremost a hitter. Let the new cornerbacks and his hybrid replacement backpedal and provide the intricate pass defense.

If all goes as planned, Hampton will step into a spot vacated by Alex Cook and team with fellow senior Asa Turner, giving the Huskies a pair of extra-tall safeties. Turner checks in at 6-foot-3 and 206 pounds. Yet another candidate, redshirt freshman Tristan Dunn, brings a 6-foot-4, 189-pound frame into the competition.

Hampton always has been an intriguing defensive back with his great size and decent foot speed. It's just been a matter of finding a custom fit for him.

Jimmy Lake brought him in as a cornerback, then put 25 pounds on him and turned him into a safety. His position transition was marked by a couple of late-hit penalties, including one at Michigan, that cost him game-day minutes as a punishment until he drew three midseason starts in 2021, replacing an injured Cook.

Kalen DeBoer's staff saw Hampton as its hybrid defender, or nickel, and he handled his responsibilities reliably until getting injured at Arizona State, missing the Arizona game and then getting beat for a long touchdown pass at Oregon while rounding back into secondary shape, with the latter proving to be no harm, no foul in a big victory in Eugene.

Now he's a safety again. The idea to move Hampton was raised shortly after the Alamo Bowl victory over Texas in late December, after Cook had played his final game as a sixth-year senior and moved on. Hampton's coaches wanted his veteran leadership on the back row.

"I felt I could fit in his spot pretty well in physicality, movement and different communication," he said. "Just learning that."

Hampton is a sixth-year senior himself now, still backpacking through Montlake and seeing all the sights.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.