Should You Draft Ashton Jeanty or Omarion Hampton?
Draft Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2026 fantasy football. Both running backs were first-round NFL picks in 2025, but Jeanty went sixth overall to Las Vegas, sixteen slots earlier than Hampton at twenty-second to Los Angeles, and Raiders coverage after Week 2 of the 2026 season was still framing the offense around getting Jeanty back to his Week 1 form. Hampton remains a strong pick a round later, yet Jeanty is the one to take first.
What separates Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton on draft day?
The clearest dividing line is how their clubs invested in them. Ashton Jeanty entered the NFL in 2025 as the sixth overall pick of the first round, selected by the Las Vegas Raiders. Omarion Hampton came off the board in the same first round, but at pick twenty-two, taken by the Los Angeles Chargers. Draft capital is not a fantasy scoring category, yet it is a durable signal about how a franchise intends to use a back: teams that spend an early pick on a runner plan to feature him, while late-first selections more often share a room.
Age tilts the comparison the same way. Jeanty was 22 as of the 2026 season, while Hampton was 23. Neither number raises a durability concern on its own, and a one-year gap is small. But in a decision this close, the younger back with the higher draft slot carries the better long-term profile, which matters in dynasty formats and does nothing to hurt a redraft case.
What did Week 2 of 2026 tell us about both backs?
The two players shared a field in Week 2 of the 2026 season, when the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14. Silver And Black Pride's recap credited contributors such as Cody White and Hezekiah Masses for the win, while Bolts From The Blue ran its winners and losers piece under the headline "Omarion Hampton giveth then taketh away" — an acknowledgment that the Los Angeles Chargers back produced real highlights and real mistakes in the same afternoon.
The Jeanty signal pointed the other direction. On September 23, 2026, Silver And Black Pride published "Raiders need Week 1 Ashton Jeanty to return," which tells you two things: Jeanty's Week 1 showing set the standard the Raiders want back, and the coaching staff's public framing runs through him rather than around him. When a team's own coverage asks for a player's best version to come back, that player is the engine of the offense, not a complementary piece.
How should the pick change by league format?
In a standard redraft league, take Jeanty at his going rate and let Hampton fall to whoever wants the second running back off this board. Jeanty's featured role in Las Vegas, reinforced by the Week 2 aftermath coverage, supports the fuller touch volume that fantasy scoring rewards most at the position. Hampton's volatility, captured bluntly in the Chargers site's winners-and-losers framing, suggests a wider range of week-to-week outcomes.
In dynasty leagues the case for Jeanty only strengthens. He is the younger player by close to a year, he carries the higher draft pedigree, and the Raiders have shown no reluctance to build their offensive identity around him. Hampton is still a hold with genuine upside in Los Angeles, particularly if the Los Angeles Chargers' offense stabilizes. The gap is a round of draft position, not a chasm.
If both are on the board in the same round and you can only take one, Jeanty is the pick in every format.
Common questions
Who was drafted higher, Ashton Jeanty or Omarion Hampton?
- Ashton Jeanty was drafted higher. In the 2025 NFL draft, the Las Vegas Raiders selected him sixth overall in the first round, while the Los Angeles Chargers took Omarion Hampton sixteen picks later at twenty-second overall.
How old are Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton?
- As of the 2026 season, Ashton Jeanty is 22 years old and Omarion Hampton is 23. Jeanty was born on December 2, and Hampton in March.
Did Jeanty and Hampton play against each other in 2026?
- Yes. The Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14 in Week 2 of the 2026 season, a game in which Bolts From The Blue's coverage described Omarion Hampton as a player who both gave and took away.
Is Omarion Hampton still worth drafting if I miss on Jeanty?
- Yes. Hampton was a first-round NFL pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025 and remains a legitimate fantasy asset with real upside, even though Ashton Jeanty is the preferred pick between the two. Treat Hampton as a target roughly a round after Jeanty comes off the board.