D.J. Pumphrey hasn’t been the tall kid in class since elementary school, back when he stood out for both his size and athleticism. The latter quality remains, honed with time to produce a San Diego State running back who ranks as the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

As for his size, well, genetics won out.

The son of a 4-foot-11 Filipino woman was measured Tuesday morning at the Senior Bowl, hours before his first practice. He didn’t break the scale. He didn’t rip any tape measures, either.


But he established the task ahead.

Pumphrey must prove in the NFL what he did in high school and college: Size can’t slow him.

“I accept the challenge,” he said.

The 5-foot-8 former Aztec tipped in at 169 pounds during weigh-ins, making him lighter than all but one player at the annual all-star showcase game; Memphis kicker Jake Elliott is 166. Pumphrey looks to show evaluators his talents outweigh any drawbacks of his frame.


For NFL scouts, there is much to like.

When sizing up his projection to the next level, a handful of scouts this week spoke glowingly on background about his ability to create in space, posing a potential mismatch for linebackers and safeties as a receiver. This was demonstrated Tuesday when Pumphrey separated past 236-pound Clemson linebacker Ben Boulware on an inside-breaking route from the backfield.

Boulware reached and grabbed his jersey the way a plane-crash survivor might a drifting lifeboat at sea.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” a coach screamed at Boulware.


“No refs,” Boulware said to Pumphrey, referencing the practice’s absence of officials.

Along with such abilities in space, a tool NFL coaches can motion around the field, there are attributes such as vision and footwork in the running game that are apparent in his game film. That film isn’t short on production. Pumphrey, 22, led the nation with 2,133 rushing yards on 349 carries with 17 touchdowns in 2016. He finished with 1,059 career rushes for 6,405 yards and 62 scores at San Diego State.

Aztecs’ D.J. Pumphrey becomes NCAA’s all-time rushing leader.

Yet there are questions, too.


The more a player can do, the better. Pumphrey fielded some returns Tuesday, but special teams is not an area in which San Diego State relied upon him. So, this is an area NFL teams want to evaluate before the draft. The Senior Bowl makes a fine place to start.

When discussing Pumphrey, the first trait scouts often mention is also the most obvious.

His size.

Pumphrey cannot control his height or hand width or arm length. But his goal is to bolster his weight to 175 pounds come his March 1 weigh-in at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Even if he does, he knows he still must prove to scouts he can hold up in pass protection.


“I weighed 169 pounds today, so that’s the biggest question,” Pumphrey said. “I want to showcase my pass-blocking ability. I’m great on chop blocking, but I have to work on pass blocking up high because, at the NFL level, if you chop block, (defenders) are too athletic. They’re just going to jump over you and get to the quarterback. …

“It’s all heart for me. I’ve been this size my whole life, and it hasn’t stopped me.”

NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks, who is a former NFL player and scout, echoed the importance of protection.

“He’s a really productive player; he’s a really good college player,” Brooks said of the projected mid-round draft pick. “You can’t knock what he’s done at San Diego State. He has outstanding stop-start quickness. He’s slippery. He can get to the perimeter. He can make plays in the passing game.


“The biggest issue you have with playing a guy like Pumphrey: what are you going to do when teams blitz him? He’s going to have to hold up in protection, and that could be an issue. …In the right situation, he certainly can play. But it’s just hard to go big on a light, undersized player at that position.”

Pumphrey knows what the questions are.

Now, it’s about answering them.

He has practices Wednesday and Thursday before the Senior Bowl game Saturday. Then, he will return to Southern California and resume his off-season training, which is based at the EXOS facility near StubHub Center in Carson.


This is nothing new for Pumphrey.

He hasn’t boasted above-average size, he said, since the seventh or eighth grade.

“Everybody else was growing,” Pumphrey said. “I was staying the same size. But my ability just kept progressing, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Notable

Pumphrey is one of three ex-Aztecs on the Senior Bowl’s South roster. One of them exited Tuesday’s practice early. Guard Nico Siragusa suffered a dislocated thumb but X-rays revealed there to be no fracture, a source said. Siragusa hopes to resume participation this week, although it is unclear if he’ll do so. Cornerback Damontae Kazee also is present in Mobile.

michael.gehlken@sduniontribune.com


Twitter: @SDUTgehlken