Duke’s do-it-all defensive end is going to the NFL.
After four seasons in Durham, Chris Rumph II has been drafted 118th overall in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Chargers. Rumph racked up 17.5 sacks and 125 tackles in his stellar Blue Devil career, giving Duke a tall task in filling the void his departure creates.
The Gainesville, Fla., native exploded onto the national scene after the 2019 season, with his play making him a First Team All-America selection on Pro Football Focus’ list. While Rumph is undersized for the defensive end position, he did not let that stop him from garnering buzz around being a first round draft pick prior to the 2020 season.
His athleticism and quickness on the snap allows him to be incredibly effective as a pass rusher, and it especially showed in Duke’s Syracuse and Charlotte games this past season. Rumph’s skillset and football instincts made it a no-brainer for the Blue Devil defensive coordinators to allow him to roam around the line of scrimmage before the snap, but that’s not something many NFL coordinators will be comfortable letting Rumph do.
Regardless of if Rumph has to make some tweaks to his playing style in the NFL, he’s got more than enough tricks in his pass-rushing bag to make his way onto a roster. He has proven time and time again how well he can use his hands to prevent lineman from getting up into his shoulder pads, and that's just the tip of the iceberg, so don’t be surprised when you see Rumph playing on Sundays in the near future.
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Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.