Chargers OLB Chris Rumph II Has Gravitated to Joey Bosa Since Minicamp

Training camp is a time when coaches analyze and study each player to see which players can make an impact on the team this season. The Chargers rookie class made an impact during Saturday's victory against the L.A. Rams.

One rookie who has the Chargers excited about his potential is edge rusher Chris Rumph. He is long, he is athletic, and he is loud.

"Me personally training camp has been being going progressive," said Rumph. "Each day, I come out here and try to get better. I'm trying to absorb everything from these veteran guys anything to help me improve my game."

While the defense is on the field and he is on the sideline, he starts yelling to hype up his team. During Tuesday's practice, Rumph was on the sideline screaming, "offense doesn't want any today! Swallow them up defense!"

Ever since training camp started, the rookie has been the loudest cheerleader for his defense.

"When I'm tired like that, I'm like, 'Chris, just shut up for a second,'" laughed edge rusher Joey Bosa.

How does the veteran edge rusher really feel about the rookie?

"I really like Chris," said Bosa. "Not many rookies come in with that kind of energy and confidence. The first day he was spitting out the plays, I was like, shoot, he actually motivated me to want to study more and then get to know my stuff. I was like, dang. Not going to let this rookie frickin outshine me or know more than me but whatever."

The rookie is already challenging the veteran. Rumph has been at the facility since the beginning of May, while Bosa showed up for minicamp.

After being drafted by the Chargers, the first thing that Rumph told the media he was excited to join the squad because he wanted to learn from Bosa.

Why would Bosa make a good Mr. Miyagi to Rumph's Daniel-San?

"Have you seen the stat sheet?" asked Rumph.

In 63 games played, Bosa has 47.5 sacks, 240 tackles, and 68 tackles for loss while adding 109 quarterback hits.

"I mean, at the end of the day, Joey has been doing this at a high level for a long time, since his rookie year, and so any advice I go to him and talk to him about anything pass-rushing wise anytime I go to him after advice," explained the rookie.

Bosa has undoubtedly done it all in just six seasons. This year the Chargers are asking him to stand up more and even drop back into coverage at times, so it will be new, but getting to the quarterback is his specialty.

Even in the last few seasons, Bosa has tried to work harder to help in the run game, and that is why his tackling numbers have jumped up.

Rumph is even making friends with Bosa off the field because they both love a specific genre.

"He likes to watch anime," Rumph explained. "In our downtime, we talk about what shows we watch. What video games we like to play. So, just building a relationship outside of football has helped. It helped me being able to approach him and ask him questions about football."

The rookie pass rusher comes from a father who is a coach. Chris Rumph Sr. is the defensive line coach with the Chicago Bears and has been helping his son grow into a better pass rusher. He even pulled some strings during the offseason to help him learn from another great pass rusher.

"He actually worked out with [Bears OLB] Khalil Mack in Chicago," said head coach Brandon Staley. "As you guys know, Chris' dad is a coach in Chicago, so he worked out with Khalil. I was able to get a scouting report on him as a summer workout guy, too. Chris is a really hard worker. He's really smart, which we value."

He has learned from Mack and is learning from Bosa, who have combined for 118 career sacks. Both are aggressive at getting after the quarterback and have been two of the best in recent years.

The coaching staff and the players are very excited about what Rumph can bring to the team, but they need him to do one thing first.

"Chris has done a good job," explained Staley. "I had this high school coach, Bob Ridley, who, as I told you guys, was a legendary coach. When I was a young guy, he used to always squeeze my bicep to kind of let me know that I know that, 'You're not strong enough yet. You have a ways to go.' I'm kind of doing that with Chris Rumph."

Even Bosa sees the same thing his head coach sees from the rookie pass rusher.

"He's really impressive," said Bosa. "I think he's a natural pass rusher. He's long. We got to put a little meat on his bones. String bean I've been calling him, but I think he's he has all the tools to be a really great player just naturally can bend flip his hips. You can't really teach that right away. He's got it coming in."

Rumph knows he will need to gain weight but all in due time. He is still learning how to be a professional athlete.

"Going to my first training camp, I was trying to adjust and get my feet wet and get comfortable," said Rumph. "Right now, I'm just focusing the way I can improve my game to compete with the best of them."

The role that Rumph is playing right now is working on special teams while still growing as a pass rusher. He understands that having a role on special teams means a player is that much closer to seeing time on the field as a pass rusher.

Rumph isn't leaving Bosa's side anytime soon. On Tuesday, Rumph wasn't practicing, but he came up to Bosa, and they were going overhand placement when engaging an offensive lineman. He is hungry to learn from one of the best.

"So, that's kind of the main thing I'm trying to take into my game is playing full speed while being a technician at the same time, so he's been an incredible help," explained Rumph. "Like I say, he's one of the best to do it, and I'm in a great position to be able to learn from him."