Elorm Lumor, the hometown kid from Piscataway, is gearing up for his redshirt junior season for the Rutgers football team.
The Scarlet Knights wrapped up spring practice No. 10 of 2019 on Thursday, and TKR caught up with the former Chief afterwards.
“It’s going good, man,” Lumor said. “We’re all out here getting better. Couldn't ask for anything else. I still have some things to work on.”
One of those things, according to new position coach Vince Okruch, is getting after the quarterback.
“He’s a guy who needs to up his game in pass rush situations,” Okruch said. “That’s what we’ve focused on this spring.”
Last season, Lumor played in 11 games with 10 starts at the JACK. Playing hurt at times, Lumor led the defense with seven tackles-for-loss and tied the team high with four sacks. He finished with 35 tackles overall, recovered a fumble, and blocked a field goal as well.
“It went alright. I got hurt and I was playing with my injury,” Lumor said of the 2018 campaign. “The results weren’t great, but we progressed as a defense as the year went on so that was something to build on.”
Last season, the JACK meeting room was a lonely one. TiJaun Mason got hurt in the season opener, C.J. Onyechi was suspended, and Olakunle Fatukasi and Mike Tverdov had to switch over to the position for added depth. Now, Mason and Onyechi are back and Nihym Anderson moved down from linebacker.
“The room was small last year. There wasn’t a lot of people to talk to, but now, there’s more guys and more coming in. I love it,” Lumor said. “We’re all brothers, so we’re embracing it well. We want to make each other better and help each other. They see what I’m doing and tell me what I need to work on and I do the same for them.”
This spring, head coach Chris Ash mentioned they are managing Lumor’s workload so he can stay fresh. That has given the other aforementioned players more reps and opportunities.
“He’s just played a lot of football, and he’s really comfortable in what we’re asking him to do,” Ash said earlier in March. “He’s one of those guys who has played a lot, and he’s one of our better players on defense. He was on and off with some stuff last year and we just want to make sure the wear and tear happens in the season with games, and not necessarily in spring practice if we don’t need it to be. We don’t want to get him hurt and banged up unnecessarily. He’s going to get the work he needs to get better, but we’re going to monitor him, because we think he has a chance to be a dynamic player for us.”
With five practices to go, including the Scarlet-White Spring Game, Okruch has liked what he’s seen out of the JACK group as a whole.
“So far it’s good,” Okruch told TKR. “All four have showed they can help and contribute. Elorm being the older and established guy, C.J. has had a great spring, and Nihym Anderson and TiJaun Mason are young guys and they’ve gotten reps and have improved. I’m happy with all four of them.”
A few days ago, Lumor went over past game tapes from the last two years and a few things caught his eye, including improvement.
“I think I’ve progressed a lot,” Lumor said, who is listed at 6-foot-3, and 246-pounds. “I was watching past film the other day and I’m a totally different player compared to when I first got here. I got bigger and I got more confident playing the position. With experience comes confidence.”
The Scarlet Knights are going to heavily rely on the steady Lumor to be productive. Rutgers tallied 16 sacks the last two years which pitted them No. 118 in the country and last in the Big Ten. The team has ended up 91st or worse in the state in the nation for four straight seasons as well.
Lumor is ready to step up in all areas.
“Leadership and a little bit of everything,” Lumor said on what he hopes to bring to the table. “The JACK is a little bit of everything. I’m going to be a really aggressive run-stopper, a pass rusher with finesse.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky
