Get to Know Your Orange Man: #5, TE/DL Chris Elmore

Name: Chris Elmore

Position: Tight End/Defensive Line

Year: Senior

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 288

Hometown: Chicago, Ill.

High School: Phillips Academy

2019 stats: Elmore played in all 12 games, with technically five starts at tight end on the year. That said, he played more in both positions than that shows. He was an integral piece of blocking schemes on offense, was a part of most special teams units, and saw 76 snaps at defensive tackle over the latter half of the season.

2020 projections: There’s a few different ways to look at Elmore, and it’s all predicated on both new coordinators and what his role is in both the offense and the defense. He is listed as a TE this year rather than a fullback. This is likely a function of a lack of a FB in the roster form and likely intimates that Gilbert will use more TE and blocking H-back type formations than a true fullback. On defense, he may end up as the backup to McKinley Williams, or the option behind Kevon Darton as third on that depth chart, but there’s some options for him on that side of the ball as well. No matter what, Rhino will see the field this season in what should be an important role.

How’d he get here?: Originally a Western Michigan commit, Elmore flipped to the Orange when Babers reached out and gave him a shot on offense. The rest of the MAC schools also offered.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Three stars all around.

Money quote: When he added the defensive move to his repertoire, Elmore and Josh Black, his defensive line partner last year, spoke to the Daily Orange on the switch. Black had some seriously high praise for Chris. —

“He’s almost like a wrestler,” Black said. “You can hear the pop right off the ball. He keeps the separation off of them…The way he keeps separation with his arms and the strength at the point of attack, he becomes unblockable at that point.”

Twitter feed: @ChrisElmore36

Tweets of wonder: Elmore and Pitt DT Amir Watts were teammates from the beginning, in the same class at Phillips Academy. Always cool to see a quality jersey swap.

What movie would Dino Babers recommend for him?: It may not be the best film, but I hear “Rhino” and I head right to Spider-man and the iconic supervillain. In 2014, Sony released The Amazing Spider-man 2 which was the final film before the re-boot of Spidey within the MCU. In the movie, Paul Giamatti portrays Aleksei Sytsevich, known as the Rhino, one of the members of the Sinister Six.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Chris hosted a series of interviews last year with his teammates known as “Rhino’s Jungle Rumble.” It’s worth a checkout and a great look behind the curtain on the team as well.

Let’s get a good look at ya: An interview with Elmore last year during spring practice. It’s got some solid footage of him as well.