With a little over three weeks until the Chargers open the season in Brazil vs. the Chiefs, the Najee Harris NFI situation remains unresolved. Harris did some jogging on the field yesterday, but still has not participated in practice.
Chargers OC Greg Roman was asked about his expectations for the running back room if Najee Harris isn't back by Week 1. While most would probably expect a heavy dose of rookie RB Omarion Hampton in that case, Roman gave a bit of a curveball answer:
"I think there will definitely be a rotation, no matter what happens," Roman started. "Trying to keep guys fresh throughout the game. I think the day of the one running back taking every rep, that's kinda gone the way of some prehistoric creatures. So, I think we'll dose things out accordingly at the appropriate time. Different guys will get different reps."
Chargers will use Omarion Hampton in a rotation, even if Najee Harris is out
Roman was asked a follow-up question on if the rotation would be Hampton and Kimani Vidal in the event Harris couldn't go Week 1. He maintained that the running back competition behind Hampton remains "wide open".
Roman gave the same, rather vague answer when talking about the backup quarterback competition between Taylor Heinicke and Trey Lance. Until the end of the preseason, the leaders/winners of the positional competitions will probably remain unknown.
Unsurprisingly, Hampton has led the backs in first team reps during training camp. In the absence of Harris, Vidal has mixed in with the first team primarily on 3rd downs. Vidal has played the most special teams snaps in the preseason of all the running backs. Hassan Haskins is second on that list.
Last season, Roman gave J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards a similar amount of carries through the first three or four games. When Edwards hit IR and Dobbins started absorbing a much heavier bulk of the carries, the competition worked itself out. Perhaps the same thing could happen this season as the Chargers look to get Hampton acclimated in his first NFL games.
Time will tell, but it's also worth noting the heavy first-round pick investment the Chargers placed in Hampton. While I'm not sure he'll be a bell cow back from the jump, that time will come sooner rather than later.