Who Should I Start? Kenneth Walker III or Omarion Hampton

Wednesday, January 21, 1:44 PM

The loss of Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (knee), who tore his ACL in the Divisional Round win over the San Francisco 49ers, is a significant one, but ESPN's Brady Henderson writes that it shouldn't matter if Kenneth Walker III "continues his recent tear." Walker had 19 carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns last Saturday in the win over the 49ers, and he finished with 100 yards in the big Week 16 win over the division-rival Los Angeles Rams. In the regular-season finale against San Fran, he had 97 yards to put him over 1,000 rushing yards on the season. "I thought this was the most decisive he's ran up to this point, and as expected, you just keep getting better and keep finding ways to improve, especially in the run game. He's done a great job," head coach Mike Macdonald said. With Charbonnet now out, Walker's volume should increase, making him a top-three fantasy RB in the NFC Championship against the Rams.

Sunday, January 11, 7:42 PM

Los Angeles Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton (ankle) is officially active for Sunday's playoff contest against the New England Patriots. He had been listed as questionable and missed a pair of practices before being upgraded to a limited participant on Friday. Hampton sat out Week 18 with an ankle injury, but his absence was more of a precaution as Los Angeles rested many starters, and the rookie running back was just four weeks removed from a seven-game absence. He took a little while to get back to 100 percent after the injury, but his 81% snap share and 22 touches from Week 17 should indicate that he's back to a starter's workload. We wouldn't be surprised to see him handle another 20-plus touches against the Patriots, whose run defense started to falter down the stretch but still finished with the third-fewest fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs in 2025.