Omarion Hampton Injury Update Far from Good News
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Omarion Hampton has not played since Week 5 against the Washington Commanders. His versatility in the Los Angeles Chargers' offense has been missed. For as nice of a story as Kimani Vidal has been, having Hampton back would make some fantasy football owners happy.
Unfortunately, any chance of that happening soon has been dashed by Coach Jim Harbaugh.
NFL Injury Roundup 🤠
— Sebastian Fearon DPT, CSCS, OCS (@TheDegenDoc) November 4, 2025
Monday, NFL Week 8/9
Offense#BoltUp LT Joe Alt (ankle) - Season ending ankle surgery after his second high ankle sprain ❌#BoltUp RB Omarion Hampton (ankle) - Not expected to return to practice until after their Week 12 bye#FTTB WR Brandon Aiyuk…
A few smaller updates have come out since Monday on Hampton. One thing to note in all of this is the significance in the wording. Hampton will not return to practice until after the Week 12 bye. Playing or anything close to a return is not even mentioned.
Fortunately, second year running back Kimani Vidal has been able to pick up the slack. However, the maddening inconsistencies of the Chargers' running game have certainly not gone unnoticed. Roller coasters are less up and down.
Do We Even Know The Ankle Injury Severity?
The answer is no! Unlike Joe Alt, who is out for the year after ankle surgery, Hampton's case is far more fluid. Speculation has run wild since the injury happened more than a month ago. Is it a fracture? Is it a high ankle sprain? Does anyone other than Harbaugh and management truly know? Some arguments have been tossed out there that the truth is no one knows.
Anyway, the bottom line is Hampton is not getting on the field until Week 13 at the earliest against the Las Vegas Raiders. It is crazy that all three Chargers' starting running backs are still on injured reserve.
Hampton had been seen in a walking boot as recently as last week in and around Los Angeles. This is the reality we currently face. There is a running back with a likely fracture of some sort. No one knows if it needs or does not need surgery. The expertise leans to the latter with such vagueness from Harbaugh and others.
Fantasy Football Impacts
While it would be great to get Hampton back sooner, the unknown is how much will his explosiveness be altered by the injury. This kind of malady usually saps a lot of that quick first step pivot and even acceleration. It is starting to feel like Hampton might be available for the fantasy football playoffs at a questionable capacity.
The emphasis is on might. A what we call "tib-fib fracture" would be potentially season ending even if it was a simple fracture (6-12 weeks recovery). That is one of the worst-case scenarios. Some optimism can be gathered from the fact that the Chargers did not seek out a top running back before the trade deadline.
The range of return is wide and expansive. Again, the earliest is Week 13 and the latest could be the postseason. With how the Harbaugh family is regarding injuries, the only thing any fantasy football owner can do is wait. For the foreseeable future, it is Kimani Vidal, Justin Herbert (305 rushing yards), and depth options for the Chargers.
