The Chargers’ fourth-round pick is a polarizing pass rusher who has the upside to be disruptive in the NFL.
The Chargers entered the draft needing to add another player who would fill out the edge defender group. In the fourth-round, the team selected former Duke EDGE Chris Rumph II.
Starting 11 of 36 career games for the Blue Devils, Rumph II recorded 124 total tackles, an impressive 33 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended.
This was a position that I had a lot of my attention on, wondering who head coach Brandon Staley would bring in that meets his criteria, with that being a player that has athleticism, length and versatility.
Rumph met all those traits to a tee.
According to Pro Football Focus, Rumph II lined up 346 times on the defensive line, primarily as a wide-9, but he was also deployed in the box 193 times as an inside linebacker.
Rumph II, the 6-foot-5 and 236 pounder, possesses a wiry frame with long arms coupled with explosiveness, short-area quickness and natural bend that enables him to live in opposing backfields.
While lacking a complete arsenal of pass-rush moves, Rumph II shows quick hands and the desired length to keep his chest clean.
Rumph is effective when used to blitz from the inside, showing good snap instincts and timing to shoot gaps.
Rumph has impressive lateral agility on slants/twists.
Rumph has good core strength and flexibility to get skinny through narrow windows.
While he’s not one to take on offensive tackles in heads-up situations in the run game due to his lack of size and strength, Rumph reads and processes things very quickly, showing the range, speed and backside pursuit ability to make plays.
The big knock on Rumph II is that he can struggle if blockers win inside leverage and control his chest plate or against combo blocks due to his lack of power and bulk, but you’re not going to see any plays taken off, even if he’s beat – always showing good competitive toughness.
The lack of size and strength would also show as he would fail to bring down ball carriers when he had them in his grasp (as seen in the first clip above).
Rumph’s physical profile may be working against him at the moment, but the concerns he draws should be mitigated by the polarizing pass-rush skillset he has and him landing in the most ideal situation to mold him into a great player in this league.
Rumph will be playing under Staley, the defensive guru who has worked with the likes of Von Miller, Khalil Mack and Bradley Chubb, while being the one who unlocked the full potential of others like Leonard Floyd and Justin Hollins.
He will also be coached by Jay Rodgers, current outside linebackers coach and former Bears defensive line coach, who developed players like Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, as well as numerous veterans, including Mitch Unrein and Nick Williams.
Overall, Rumph’s blend of athleticism, length, fluidity and hand technique gives him an exciting ceiling. He projects as a sub-package contributor initially, but Rumph could eventually blossom into a double-digit sack artist once he physically matures and is properly coached up and utilized.
