EL SEGUNDO — The Chargers addressed their need for a playmaking wide receiver when they selected Tre Harris from Mississippi in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Harris was the 55th overall selection and will give quarterback Justin Herbert another target for 2025.
Harris, listed at 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, began his college career at Louisiana Tech before transferring to Ole Miss for the 2023 season. He had 60 receptions for 1,030 yards and seven touchdowns, and averaged 17.2 yards per catch during an injury-plagued 2024 season.
Harris played only eight games, but still topped 1,000 receiving yards as a fifth-year senior.
“They were definitely looking for a guy who can make plays happen and stretch the field,” Harris said when asked what he believed the Chargers sought in selecting him. “I definitely feel like I fit that mold. … Kind of knowing where I needed to be prepared me for those situations, for making those big plays.”
In addition to selecting Harris, the Chargers also had a third-round pick (86th overall) on the second day of the three-day draft.
Earlier in the day, running back Omarion Hampton made his first appearance at the Chargers’ practice facility less than 24 hours after he was their first-round draft pick (22nd overall). Hampton, a former North Carolina Tar Heel, said he’s determined to continue his schooling in the NFL.
“Learning from the best, getting with someone who’s been here for five or six years, seeing what they do, seeing how they stayed in the league so long, seeing how they go about their day,” Hampton said. “I want to learn from running backs like Najee (Harris, a free-agent running back who signed with the Chargers last month) how he teases the defense, how he runs the ball in one-on-one situations.
“Learning is a big thing for me.”
If all goes to plan, Harris and Hampton will help to establish the productive running game that Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh desires for his second season and beyond. Harris is signed for one season after gaining 1,000 yards or more in each of his first four seasons in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hampton rushed for 1,500 yards or more and scored 15 touchdowns in each of his last two seasons at North Carolina. He also averaged 5.9 yards per attempt in the 2023 and ’24 seasons. In addition, he caught 38 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns this past season.
The Chargers will have seven remaining picks (Nos. 125, 158, 181, 199, 209, 214 and 256) when the fourth through seventh rounds are conducted Saturday, including four in the sixth round. Their final three picks are compensatory selections, which gave them 10 overall in the seven-round draft.
More to come on this story.
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