CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held its 13th practice of fall camp Thursday, and afterward, three Tar Heels were made available to the media. One of them was sophomore running back Omarion Hampton.
Among the things Hampton was asked about were his emphasis on improving in pass protection, running with his head up, using better vision, his strength, British Brooks, D.J. Jones, George Pettaway and much more.
Last fall, Hampton ran for 401 yards averaging 4.1 per attempt. He ran for six touchdowns, and also caught six passes for 40 yards and a score.
Above is video of Hampton’s Q&A session, and below are some notes and tidbits from what he had to say:
*One of the reasons Hampton’s playing time was a bit inconsistent a year ago was that he struggled with pass protection. Among his points of emphasis the last eight months has been to fix that. Now, it’s a matter of executing efficiently all of the time instead of some of the time.
“Just being more consistent. I know I have good days and bad says, I’m just trying to stack good days on top of each other and keep on having good days.”
*Another area Hampton had to improve was his vision and reading the situation: When to cut where and when to dart straight ahead. That has been forefront on his mind for eight months as well.
“I’m being more patient now in the backfield, and just reading the offense, reading the defense and just knowing everything about the game.”
*D.J. Jones was in the running backs room a year ago but is now on defense, what did Hampton think about Jones going to the other side of the ball, so what does Hampton think about that transition?
“He made that transition real good. I feel like it’s good for him since he knows if he’s coming on a blitz, he knows what the running back’s going to do when we try to block him. I feel like that’s an advantage for him.”
*UNC Coach Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey have both said it may take some time into the season for the running backs room to get sorted out. The expectation from”
Not that Hampton is being coy, but it’s entirely possible that’s where things stand with everyone in that room right now.
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