During the biggest moment of his athletic career, former Tar Heel Omarion Hampton heard his name announced 22nd overall Thursday night in the 2025 NFL Draft.
With the star running back on his way to play for the Los Angeles Chargers, North Carolina football has massive shoes to fill in their backfield. Hampton is a versatile, one-of-a-kind back that single-handedly carried UNC to victory on several occasions. Simply put, North Carolina won’t find a one-for-one replacement for a stud like Hampton.
However, Head Coach Bill Belichick and the UNC football staff have done a standup job of beefing up their backfield this past week. North Carolina has put together a strong committee of talented young men in the running back room thus far.
In fact, on Friday, North Carolina got some big news, giving them a much-needed boost in the backfield. 4-star running back and 2026 North Carolina commit Jaylen McGill announced he will reclassify to 2025. Earlier this week, UNC also landed Michigan running back transfer Benjamin Hall. So the Tar Heels will add another couple of running backs to their arsenal this upcoming season.
🚨NEWS🚨 North Carolina 4-star RB commit Jaylen McGill has reclassified from 2026 to 2025🐏https://t.co/ADGuKygxzV pic.twitter.com/UyspH0nDXa
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) April 25, 2025
McGill attended Mountain View Preparatory in Spartanburg, South Carolina for high school. During his junior season, McGill put up gaudy, stat-sheet-stuffing numbers. In just 12 games, McGill rumbled for a ridiculous 1658 rushing yards and 31 total touchdowns, while tacking on 379 receiving yards. That’s a video-game-like statline.
McGill is a sturdy 5-foot-10, 200-pounds. According to On3 Sports, he’s a four-star recruit, ranked No. 397 overall in the 2025 class. He’s also the No. 33 running back in the class. McGill will learn from UNC running back returnees Davion Gause, Charleston French, and Caleb Hood, along with transfer running back Hall, and he’ll join fellow incoming freshmen running backs Jariel Cobb and Demon June.
In the post-Hampton era, North Carolina has done an excellent job assembling its running back room with talented players who each bring a unique skill set to the backfield.