4 Chargers we can safely call busts after the 2023 season

Chris Rumph

Are you starting to notice a trend? Tom Teleco was really bad at drafting players in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft and it was even worse while he was working with Brandon Staley. Telesco's best-ever mid-round pick came in his first draft (Keenan Allen in the third round) and it has been all downhill ever since.

Like the other two players on this list so far, Rumph was drafted as a developmental edge rusher for the Bolts. The Chargers seemingly liked Rumph's traits and with the right coaching (and NFL strength coaches), Rumph could theoretically blossom into someone special.

But this was often the problem with mid-round Telesco selections. The picks were almost always made on potential ceiling and more often than not, these players never even came close to reaching said ceiling. Instead of taking the best prospect available, the Chargers would try and take the player who they thought would be the best in four years. This strategy obviously didn't work.

Even if Khalil Mack gets traded for salary-cap reasons it is hard to find a concrete role for Rumph on this team. Tuli Tuipulotu instantly leapfrogged him on the depth chart and the new regime might want to bring in its own mid-round pick (or even a cheap vet) to play over Rumph.

As of right now Rumph feels like a mid-round bust and he is not going to get a chance to play himself out of that label.