Nicholas Hampton (born April 5, 2000) is an American professional football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Appalachian State Mountaineers, and began his professional career playing three seasons (2023-2025) with the Los Angeles Rams, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
| No. 39 – Carolina Panthers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | April 5, 2000 Anderson, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 251 lb (114 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Westside (Anderson) | ||||||
| College | Appalachian State (2018–2022) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 2023: 5th round, 161st overall pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||||
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Early life
editHampton grew up in Anderson, South Carolina and attended Westside High School. He had 63 tackles, 16 for loss, and seven sacks in his junior season.[1] Hampton committed to play college football at Appalachian State.[2]
College career
editHampton played in three games as a true freshman while maintaining a redshirt on the season.[3] He made 42 tackles with three sacks during his redshirt freshman season.[4] As a redshirt junior, Hampton was named third team All-Sun Belt Conference after finishing the season with 69 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks.[5][6]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 236 lb (107 kg) | 33+5⁄8 in (0.85 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 6 ft 8+5⁄8 in (2.05 m) | 4.58 s | 1.65 s | 2.61 s | 35.5 in (0.90 m) | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) | |||
| All values from NFL Combine[7][8] | ||||||||||||
Los Angeles Rams
editHampton was selected by the Los Angeles Rams with the 161st pick in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.[9] As a rookie, he appeared in 10 games and contributed four total tackles with one pass deflection. In 2024, Hampton appeared in 14 games and had three total tackles and a pass defense, but did not appear in any playof games for Los Angeles.
In his third season with the Rams, played in 12 games and had 10 total tackles. On December 9, 2025, Hampton was waived by the Rams and re-signed to the practice squad.[10] On January 13, 2026, he was signed to the active roster for the postseason.[11] Hampton appeared in all three of the Rams' playoff games, totaling three tackles (one solo, two assists) for the 2025 season.
Carolina Panthers
editOn March 20, 2026, Hampton signed with the Carolina Panthers.[12]
NFL career statistics
editReferences
edit- ↑ Morris, Lake (June 2, 2017). "Recruiting heats up for local juniors". Anderson Independent-Mail. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ "Class of 2018 recruit Nick Hampton commits to App State". Winston-Salem Journal. July 19, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ Joyce, Ethan (October 2, 2019). "Cooper Hodges and Nick Hampton are making an impact for App State this season. Their path to this point wasn't straight". News & Record. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ Fiutak, Pete (May 9, 2022). "Appalachian State Mountaineers Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022". College Football News. Yahoo Sports. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ Brugler, Dane (August 4, 2022). "2023 NFL Draft Edge class: Is Will Anderson a generational prospect?". The Athletic. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ Savage, Jason (August 14, 2022). "App State's Hampton Makes Freaks List". WHKY.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ↑ "Nick Hampton Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ↑ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Nick Hampton College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
- ↑ Jackson, Stu (April 29, 2023). "READ: Rams select Appalachian State OLB Nick Hampton with 161st pick in 2023 NFL Draft". TheRams.com.
- ↑ Greenawalt, Tyler (December 9, 2025). "Rams move on from 2 players ahead of Week 15". Rams Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ↑ DaSilva, Cameron. "Rams make 3 roster moves ahead of Sunday's game vs. Bears". Rams Wire. Retrieved January 14, 2026.
- ↑ Gantt, Darin (March 20, 2026). "Panthers agree to terms with outside linebacker Nick Hampton". Panthers.com. Carolina Panthers. Retrieved March 20, 2026.