Today, we continue our look at the 2024 Tar Heels with the unit that boasts the best player on the roster, the running back room.
Everything starts with the team’s latest preseason Heisman candidate, Omarion Hampton. After an up-and-down freshman season, Hampton put together one of the best seasons from a running back in Tar Heel history on the way to being a Doak Walker Award finalist and a second team All-American. He ran for 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns, while also catching 29 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown. Expecting him to match that performance would be asking a lot, but with this offense structured with him as the focal point this season, it’s hard to imagine he won’t put up similar numbers.
His backup will be senior Darwin Barlow, who transferred in this offseason from USC. His first five years at the college level saw his roles fluctuate quite a bit, but he is still a veteran who has run for 993 yards and eleven touchdowns on 181 carries (5.5 ypc). The staff was excited by what they saw from him in the spring and he seems motivated to prove he can handle that change-of-pace role he had when he first got to Los Angeles.
The battle for reps behind Barlow will be fierce, especially after what we saw in the spring. Senior Caleb Hood is clinging to a role in the backfield after missing the spring with another lower-body injury. When he’s been on the field, he’s been effective, rushing for 390 yards and two touchdowns on 80 carries, but he has appeared in just 21 of a possible 40 games. If he can stay healthy, there is a role for him in this backfield, but that is a big if.
He’ll be pushed by true freshman Davion Gause, who had a strong spring camp and impressed the staff. If he can build on that and show the decisiveness and physicality that he showed in the spring, he could very well earn that No. 3 spot on the depth chart.
Redshirt freshman Jordan Louie should be back in the fold as well in the fall after missing the spring with an injury. He has work to do to catch Hood and Gause, but the talent is there for him to do it.
The team added JUCO transfer Charleston French to the room a few weeks ago to solidify the depth at the position. With him having to join the team in fall camp, this year will probably serve as a redshirt year for him.
Projected Depth Chart
RB
#28 Omarion Hampton, Jr.
#24 Darwin Barlow, Sr.
# 4 Caleb Hood, Sr.
#21 Davion Gause, Fr.
#34 Jordan Louie, RFr.
#23 Charleston French, So.
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