2021 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Edge Chris Rumph II, Duke

EDGE CHRIS RUMPH II

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 235 lbs.
Class: Junior (red shirt)
School: Duke

A former three-star recruit out of Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida. Was the 1,223rd ranked recruit in the 2017 cycle, according to 257 Sports. He was named First Team All-State during his senior year at Buchholz High School. His father was a football coach.

Started 11 of 36 career games for Duke and was a team captain in 2020 - a year where he finished Second-Team All-ACC. He was Third Team All-ACC in 2019. Rumph II recorded 124 total tackles while at Duke. He had an impressive 33 tackles for a loss, 17.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five passes defended.

Rumph II showed a lot of versatility in college. According to Pro Football Focus, he lined up 346 times on the defensive line, mainly as a LEO (hybrid linebacker/END EDGE). He also lined up in the box 193 times, mainly as the left inside linebacker. Rumph II has intriguing traits but has tweener qualities to his game.

Traits

Thin framed, high cut, long-limbed, with exceptional quickness off the snap. He explodes out of his stance, is twitchy, and moves very well in space. Excellent overall athletic ability is highlighted by his quickness, change of direction, flexibility, balance, short-area quickness/burst, and speed.

He challenges offensive sets with his speed up the arc. He does a good job getting to the outside shoulder of tackles and turning the corner - he can bend through contact, sink his hips, and swivel tight corners. He has a solid chop/rip/dip move that allows him to gain an edge against tackles who can’t keep up with his speed.

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He is very controlled as a pass rusher, and he knows how to employ his moves. He is crafty with his hands--they lack the desired pop, but he knows how/when to grab, rip, or shed while using both hands and feet to put himself into advantageous positions.

He tilts so well through contact, and he really can get his hips flipped. He excels with his lateral agility on slants/twists and does a good job turning tight corners with great ankle flexion.

Strings pass-rushing moves together and plays with a very high football IQ--he has a plan when rushing the passer. He knows when to get skinny through double teams as a pass rusher, uses timing very well. Excellent competitive toughness--he's always running around looking for someone to hit. His speed and backside pursuit ability pop up on tape.

He struggles against power and lacks pop in his hands. I love his explosive traits, but his inability to sink and play the run is problematic, as is his anchoring ability against the run. He will struggle to set the edge consistently in the NFL and may have to switch to an off-ball linebacker role that features him as a blitzer.

However, he wasn’t asked to drop into coverage too often; his processing ability, combined with his movement skills, suggests that it shouldn’t have a problem with coverage, but it’s still an unknown.

If he uses his length well to stack and shed, he could be effective as a consistent linebacker, but he has to handle power better. He can avoid the grasps of OL better at the second level, which is a positive, but it may take a more creative defensive coordinator to unlock his skill-set fully.

Overall, Rumph II has a lot of intriguing pass-rushing traits to work with: he can bend well through contact, has an explosive first three steps, is sudden with his movements, has polish to his moves, has plenty of finesse moves to employ, and he’s excellent on slants and twists.

His lack of ability to set the edge may force him to a more linebacker role in the NFL, but the right defensive coordinator may be able to unlock a player with high potential in Rumph--he has to get stronger. 

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