Making the transition from college football to the NFL is extremely difficult, regardless of position or talent level. Going from the FCS level to the pros is even tougher – especially when you’re a wide receiver coming from a triple-option system where receptions were tough to come by.

Former Kennesaw State wide receiver Justin Sumpter is attempting to make that leap with the Rams after signing with them as an undrafted free agent. Heading into the 2019 NFL draft, he was hoping to become the first player selected from Kennesaw State – a football program that’s only four years old.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of the players selected in Nashville, but he still hopes to put his lesser-known school on the NFL map.

Only a few former Owls have reached the NFL, the first being Dante Blackmon, who signed with the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2017. Sumpter was joined by Darnell Holland as two Kennesaw State products to sign after the draft this year as both try to make it in the NFL.

Sumpter knows it won’t be easy to make the team, but he feels he was fortunate to have gone to Kennesaw State where the football program was started his freshman year in 2015.

“I felt like it was a blessing,” Sumpter said in a phone interview with Rams Wire. “I was still kind of new to the game because I didn’t play in middle school and I didn’t play freshman year of high school. I played like three JV games my sophomore year, so my junior year I was a backup. I started my senior year, so I was still learning as I went. My freshman year at Kennesaw was their first year so as was learning new things about how to play football, the school and the team, we were still growing together. I feel like that fit me perfectly.”

Sumpter had offers from Ball State and Presbyterian, and was also recruited by Kentucky and Georgia Tech, but he doesn’t think going to a big program would’ve benefitted him because of his lack of football experience.

He chose Kennesaw State because of the proximity to home, and one of his closest friends got an offer from the Owls, too. Playing in front of the home crowd was something he loved.

“If I went somewhere else, I might’ve redshirted while I was trying to learn, and then they’re bringing in other guys who already know things, so I probably would’ve had to sit on the bench my sophomore year. Whereas at Kennesaw, everyone was on the same page, we were all learning together and growing together,” Sumpter continued. “So I wasn’t losing anything. Being in that program and seeing where it came from, when I first got there, we looked like a high school team. To see now, where it’s starting to become almost like a national powerhouse.”

Kennesaw State doesn’t get the attention that top programs get at the FBS level. However, the football team’s progress since its inception in 2015 has been remarkable.

In Sumpter’s freshman season, the Owls went 6-5. The following year, they finished 8-3. In 2017, they made real headway with a 12-2 record, making the FCS playoffs and reaching the quarterfinals. Last season, the Owls went 11-2 and made the playoffs again, unfortunately coming up short in the quarterfinals for the second straight year.

Sumpter led the Owls in receiving each year, including an impressive 2017 campaign when he caught 33 passes for 610 yards and five touchdowns. Seeing passes come his way wasn’t a frequent occurrence for Sumpter – or any other Owls receiver, for that matter – considering the team ran a triple-option, wing-type offense.

Making the transition to a standard drop-back offense may not be as seamless as most other receivers going to the NFL, but Sumpter is excited about the opportunity to run more routes and catch the ball more often.

“My first year, I’m still going to be learning a lot,” he said. “There might be some bumps here and there, just making the transition from blocking the whole time to now having to read coverages and stuff like that. But it shouldn’t be that bad. I feel like I’m a really quick learner. I don’t feel like it’ll be that bad, but it’s going to be a fun experience just being able to run other routes like posts and I get to go show I can run a quick out and run some double-moves, so I’m really excited about the opportunity.”

Sumpter’s route tree was limited with the Owls, given the type of offense they ran, but he hopes to show off his route-running ability with the Rams. As for his favorite pattern in college, it was the go route.

“That was my bread and butter. Hopefully they turn me into an out-route, slant guy because I’ve always wanted to do that,” he added.

Coming from a triple-option offense does have its benefits, though. Sumpter is no stranger to run blocking, having to do it often on the outside. The Rams, as we know, love for their receivers to be willing blockers with how often they run the ball – especially on outside zone plays.

He enjoys blocking, whether it’s getting up on a cornerback or cracking down on a defensive end. He’ll do whatever the Rams ask, and he’ll do it at a high level, too.

“I’m a big, physical receiver. Brandin Cooks is probably one of the fastest guys in the league, you got Todd Gurley in the backfield, so you need someone to block on the outside for him. And being around the edges, that’s what I really took pride and joy in. Not really getting the ball that way, I was like, ‘At least I could be one of the reasons we score a lot of touchdowns.’ My main thing was just stay in the pathway on the outside for our running backs.

“I’m going to make a block they need me to make, no matter if it’s a linebacker, a crackdown on the D-end or a safety or corner. I’m going to make sure I block for them.”

That might be Sumpter’s best asset, but receivers in the NFL have to, well, catch the ball. In college, he only caught a total of 111 passes in four years. But he brings something to the table that not many other Rams wideouts possess: size.

“Being a big-bodied receiver, I probably have one of the highest red zone percentages in the nation, in the whole draft class,” Sumpter said. “A lot of people say, ‘He’s got the 50-50 jump ball.’ But for me, I’ve got the 80-20, so I feel I bring that to the table, as well – being a bigger asset. Because most of the guys aren’t that big or tall.”

Leading up to the draft, Les Snead said the Rams would consider taking a wide receiver late on Day 3 if he was a “red-zone threat.” Sumpter has the potential to be exactly that, as he showed in college.

Sumpter has a knack for making one-handed catches. His most famous one came against Liberty, which landed him on SportsCenter and ESPN’s “You Got Mossed.” Sumpter had to go off the grid for a few days after that catch landed him in the national spotlight.

“I had to turn my phone off for a couple days because it was on SportsCenter that night and then the following Monday, it was on ‘You Got Mossed.’ That whole weekend it was just blowing up,” he said. “People were mentioning me. Even people I went to elementary school with were like, ‘Hey I know that guy, we went to elementary together.’

“It was fun getting that exposure. It really helped the team out because people didn’t realize who Kennesaw State was and we went on a little run after that – that was the year we made the playoffs and made a deep run.”

As for the one-handed catches, it’s just reactionary for the 6-2 receiver. However, it is something he practices – not to be flashy, though.

“It’s really just a reaction thing. I do practice it a lot in practice, just like worst-case scenario situations,” he said. “Thursday is our perfect practice day, so sometimes while special teams was going on, me and the quarterback would practice fade balls because that’s usually what we’d be running. So sometimes I would just go up there with one hand in case someone was grabbing my arm, I want to be able to know I can adjust quickly and come down with it.”

DeAndre Hopkins has made some highlight-reel grabs with the Texans, coming down with passes using just one hand. He’s also one of the best wideouts in the NFL and someone Sumpter’s watched a lot of film on.

“I’ve been watching a lot of film recently and two guys that I mainly watch are DeAndre Hopkins – he’s not the fastest guy out there but he finds ways to get open and uses his hands well – and the other guy I like to watch is Brandon Marshall, just because me and him have a similar body type. He’s a big-bodied receiver, strong hands and I like the way he plays the game,” Sumpter explained.

So how did he land with the Rams? Strangely enough, they weren’t a team on his radar throughout the pre-draft process. In fact, they were one of the only teams he hadn’t heard from leading up to the draft.

“The Rams were probably one of the only teams that throughout this whole process, I didn’t have a workout with, I don’t remember them coming to see me at the school,” he said. “I think it was one scout that was at the College Gridiron Showcase that said something to me as I came off the field. That was the only interaction I had with the Rams throughout this whole process. So when I heard they were calling to sign me, it kind of caught me off guard.”

Sumpter was originally going to join the Titans on a tryout basis, but the Rams called 20 minutes after Tennessee. The Rams wanted to sign him as an undrafted free agent rather than bringing him in as a tryout player, which made it the better landing spot for Sumpter.

After talking to his family and agent, he picked L.A. over the Titans.

“We talked it over and felt like it was a better opportunity for me to go to L.A. They both called at the same time – the Rams called like 20 minutes after the Titans called,” Sumpter said. “At first, I was going to go to the Titans but they called the next day and I talked to my agent and that’s when they called back and said they were going to sign me for a minicamp tryout, so it was a win-win.”

if Sumpter makes it in the NFL, he’ll have something in common with Calvin Johnson. Both attended Sandy Creek High School in Georgia. Coincidentally, his parents live in the same neighborhood as Johnson’s parents, so Sumpter sees the retired Lions receiver “all the time.”

“I actually went to his camp two times when I was in high school because it was at the high school. But it’s actually funny because his parents and my parents live in the same neighborhood, so I see him all the time,” Sumpter chuckled. “But I don’t really try to reach out, I know he’s enjoying his whole retirement life. Eventually I might try to contact him, but for right now I haven’t really reached out to him or anything.”

There’s a lot riding on rookie minicamp and offseason workouts for Sumpter, who reports to the Rams on Monday. If he makes the team, he’ll be the first Kennesaw State product to earn a spot on an NFL roster.

That’s likely on his mind, but right now, he’s just focused on the task at hand: rookie minicamp.

“Only three people have actually been close to being in the NFL out of our whole program,” he said. “But overall, it’s really a blessing to be able to be one of the guys that they’re considering at the next level.”