Chargers news: Bolts sign former Super Bowl champ to replace Chris Rumph

LA Chargers edge rusher Chris Rumph suffered a season-ending injury in Week 10 before he even got a chance to take the field. Rumph fractured his foot during pre-game workouts on Sunday and was quickly placed on the IR and ruled out for the rest of the 2023 season.

While Rumph was the fourth edge rusher on the depth chart, this was still an unfortunate injury for the Chargers as the team was hoping to see the young edge rusher continue to develop. Now, with him out for the year, the Bolts are forced to go to the well and bring in a veteran to replace his spot on the depth chart.

It took a few days but the Chargers found their Rumph replacement and unsurprising to many, it is someone who has previous ties to head coach Brandon Staley. The Chargers announced on Wednesday that the team agreed to sign edge rusher Justin Hollins.

Chargers news: Bolt sign Justin Hollins to replace Chris Rumph

Staley has coached Hollins across two different stops in his NFL career. Hollins was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2019 when Staley was on the staff as the outside linebackers coach. When the Broncos waived Hollins during the 2020 season, Staley's LA Rams claimed him off waivers to re-join his former position coach.

Hollins would spend two seasons with the Rams, winning a Super Bowl in the process. The former fifth-round pick would once again be waived, this time by the Rams during the 2022 season. He finished that season with the Green Bay Packers. He played four games for Green Bay this season and one for the New York Giants.

Now in LA, Hollins brings multiple things to the table back under Staley. He is not going to come in and be some game-changer on the defensive side of the ball, that goes without saying. However, he is someone who at least understands Staley's defense and that makes his role as a rotational edge rusher much easier to manage.

Hollins also has plenty of experience on special teams, which is where most of his presence will be felt. Ryan Ficken's group needs someone to step in for Rumph and Hollins will be able to do just that. Rumph played 65% of the Chargers' special teams snaps so far this season, so expect Hollins to at least get around half of the special teams snaps.

Additionally, Hollins was in that Packers building earlier this season and can provide some kind of edge for the Chargers in Week 11 as the team heads to Lambeau Field. This is not an uncommon thing for a team to do (the Chargers added former Cowboy Simi Fehoko right before playing the Cowboys).