Fantasy Football Impact of Injuries to Omarion Hampton, Antonio Gibson

Two pieces of running back injury news came down on Monday that shake up fantasy football: the Los Angeles Chargers have placed rookie RB Omarion Hampton on IR with an ankle injury, and New England Patriots' back Antonio Gibson is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Every injury is impactful, but running back injuries mean more in fantasy football because starting RBs are the most precious commodity in the game. When a true starter goes down, it throws everything into flux, including the roster of the unfortunate owner and the waiver wire.

Let's go through what these injuries mean for the real-life teams of these players and the fantasy fallout. Most stats are from NFL.com.

Check out FantasySP's injury report to stay up to date with each player at risk of missing that week's games.

LA's Hampton Hits IR

The Chargers drafted Hampton in the first round and signed veteran Najee Harris as a free agent this offseason to remake the backfield. Harris sustained an eye injury in the offseason from a fireworks accident and had to ease into the season, then he tore his Achilles tendon in Week 3, ending his 2025.

That put Hampton squarely in the bellcow role: he took all 12 running back carries for the Chargers in Week 4 and had 12 more in Week 4 with no other player running more than five times. It was a perfect chance for the rookie to show that he could handle the full load and do it all.

Now down their top two backs, the Chargers will be tasked with building a functional running game with replacement players both toting the ball and blocking up front. Left tackle Rashawn Slater was lost for the year before the season started; Joe Alt, his replacement who would have been at right tackle originally, suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 4 and has an uncertain return date.

Before Week 5, Los Angeles ranked 26th in pass blocking and 15th in run blocking (according to ESPN). They were 11th and 13th last year, respectively, so they are feeling the effects from the missing tackles, as well as guard Mekhi Becton dealing with a concussion.

They have been doing well running the ball so far, averaging the seventh-most yards per rush attempt, but that will be tested with so much shuffling in all aspects of the running game.

Fantasy Football Implications

Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal figure to pick up the slack in the running game. They have been essentially uninvolved to this point, each taking their first carries in Week 5. Both players have been uninspiring in their short careers, showing nothing that points toward a coming breakout.

It's tough to choose one guy who will be better in fantasy. It will probably be a split backfield, which takes away much of the potential fantasy value either guy would otherwise get by taking the top slot. I'm not sure there's much here in terms of a budding fantasy star.

Justin Herbert might end up making up a lot of the difference, as he's a strong runner with the football. That increases his fantasy value while leaving the two backs even a little lower.

Picking up either Haskins or Vidal as a bench guy is a good move, but I don't see either one being a major factor on a consistent basis. Hampton could return after four games, so this is probably temporary, but maybe you can steal a week or two if one guy stands out. I'll give Haskins just a slight advantage because he has been on the field a small amount, but I don't recommend him greatly; both guys are lottery tickets.

Patriots' Gibson Done for Season

Of the three New England running backs, Gibson had been playing the fewest offensive snaps, making more of a contribution in the kick return game, where he had the most attempts and yards on the team and scored a touchdown.

His offensive work can easily be covered by Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson, who both are involved in the passing game as well as the rushing game. This hurts the team's depth more than anything else; if either Stevenson or Henderson were to go down, then the team might be scrambling for useful backs.

Those two might cover most of the kick returns also, as they have returned all nine kicks that weren't handled by Gibson (Henderson has seven). Cornerback Marcus Jones, who handles punt returns and has taken one back for a touchdown, could factor in there also if the team wants to keep their backs out of harm's way.

Fantasy Football Implications

Gibson wasn't owned in many fantasy leagues, so this is more about what it will do for the top two guys. Splitting work three ways doesn't make for good fantasy consistency, so at least now that it's only being split between two players, that gives both Stevenson and Henderson a small boost.

As far as which guy to trust more, that's dependent on the week. Stevenson has more yardage (139 to 121 in rushing yards and 154 to 90 in receiving yards) and has scored two touchdowns to Henderson's one (both coming in Week 5). Stevenson has also lost three fumbles.

The two backs split work in Week 1, but Stevenson dominated the touches in Week 2. To keep owners on their feet, Henderson then dominated the work in Week 3. They have again split the touches in Weeks 4 and 5.

The most likely outcome moving forward is that Stevenson and Henderson have a similar number of carries and receptions every week. If one player gets an advantage, it will probably even out over the next few games. That also caps both of their values.

For the time being, owners of both players can consider them each week in the flex range while maybe pushing low RB2 status (especially in PPR). Bye weeks have started, so anyone who touches the ball has value, but Stevenson and Henderson will also hold each other down in fantasy. An injury would make the other guy a hot commodity.