Kaimon Rucker
Football - DE
College
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kaimon Rucker came out of Hart County High School and was listed as a three-star recruit by 247sports, rivals.com, and ESPN. He lettered 3 times in football during his high school career including two years as a starter. In these two seasons (junior and senior year) he had 130 tackles, 15.5 sacks, 30 TFL and 50 pressures all while missing several games for an injury. He was named AAA all-state and AAA all region as a senior.
Rucker entered the college game a bit undersized at 6’1” and 243 lbs, however, he quickly became an important bench piece for the Tar Heels defense. In his first two years with North Carolina, he was a rotational linebacker/edge rusher and was able to collect 51 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 4 sacks, and a forced fumble in 23 games.
Rucker has grown into a very functional and mature 6’2” 265 lb. frame, which is much more suitable for the NFL. A senior at UNC, he collected 37 tackles, 7 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and forced 2 fumbles in 14 games last year. He has been one of, if not the biggest, pieces of the UNC pass rush and run stopping game plan since he became a starter.
In 2023, Rucker started 13 games and collected 61 tackles, 15 TFL, and 8.5 sacks.