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."
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.
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