De John Chick Waived/said 'no' To Colts, Signed With Jaguars

[Coffeedrinker]

Honestly Coffee I know you watch the tape,as I do, but my god Chick did outplay Hughes!! Watch the GB game again. Chick wasn't perfect but gave Clifton, mind you an ALL PRO TACKLE FITS all day long & even was held repeatably.

Oh well, you say it so it must be true. I watched the GB game twice and most plays at least a half dozen times. Clifton did not hold Chick any more than any lineman holds any defender and no more than Hughes got held as well. According to my notes there were 16 plays in which Chick could have affected the outcome (for example if Chick is lined up on the right side and the play goes off tackle to the defensive left, I do not count that play against Chick, but I do count it for Chick if he makes the tackle or an assisted tackle within 10 yards of the LOS). He was doubled on 2 of those plays, he filled what I thought was his role on the play 8 times (meaning he got to his gap and held his position), he went above and beyond on 1 play (meaning for example, he got to his gap and held his position and then came off his block and made the tackle for a 3 yard gain or less), I credited him with 1 Qb pressure (part of the 8). The rest, he not only did nothing but actually was not able to maintain his assignment leaving bigger holes. Now, I will freely admit that I don't watch tape, I watch and replay the television broadcast. There is a difference especially with angles. So there may be plays where I thought it was Chick but it was actually another player because it can be hard to tell sometimes, although I do my best to figure it out. So by my count he was effective on 50% of the plays in which he could have affected the outcome.

If you're interested, I can type the stats for Hughes, but I will tell you in the Green Bay game, Hughes was around 67%. Freeney was at 92%, Anderson was at 88% and Brayton was at 82%.

[Smonroe]

Some of the reasons why Chick was cut have already been mentioned, but apparently need repeated. First of all, Chick is almost 29 yrs. old and has reached his full potential. What you seen is what you get. With Hughes, he is 23 yrs. old and only in his 2nd yr. with a lot more potential. 2nd of all, The Colts wanted to keep 2 bigger DE's for a better run defense, plus either one can slide inside to the DT posistion and still be effective. Lastly, They already have Freeney, Mathis, and Hughes who are essentially the same type of players. 3 fast pass rushing ends. It made no sense what so ever to keep Chick who would have been the 4th guy in the same type players. Its not the fact that they didn't want Chick, he was just caught up in a numbers game and Chick was the logical choice to be cut.

Exactly. All that and add in what Coffee just posted, it was a good decision.

We all have to remember that anything you read from BBS on Stampedeblue is going to be written with an anti-Polian slant. The article Barry posted from him is typical poor blogging and even worse reporting.

[OLD FAN MAN]

I wanted to highlight this because it kind of gets to the heart of what I'm talking about when I rant about the Colts keeping scrubs because they were first day picks over better, overall talent regardless of draft stock...

... John Chick pretty thoroughly outplayed 2010 first round pick Jerry Hughes during training camp and preseason. This was especially true in the Colts third preseason game, where Chick was routinely in the Packersbackfield, fighting off holds from Chad Clifton that were so obvious a blind monkey with an ax embedded in his skull could have seen them and thrown yellow.

Chick also had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in four exhibition games.

Meanwhile, all throughout preseason, Hughes was getting stoned in one-on-one match-ups with third string tackles, to say nothing of the beatdown he took going up against first stringers. Rodger Saffold, the man the Colts passed over to take Hughes in 2010, dominated the former-TCU standout in the Colts first preseason game.

When it came time to cut down from 80 players to 53, the Colts opted to keep Hughes and cut Chick, who, at 28, had shown real progress from last year when he came to the NFL as a rookie free agent after leading the CFL in sacks.

This decision from the Colts did not seem to sit well with Chick. From TSN[emphasis mine]:

Former CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player John Chick, who was waived by the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, has found a new team.

Chick was added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice roster on Sunday

after turning down a practice roster spot with the Colts.

According to Chick's representatives, they feel that the 28-year-old defensive end has a better chance to be activated this season in Jacksonville.

Sure enough, John Chick was activated from the Jaguars practice squad today.

Also, it shouldn't matter where Hughes was drafted. We just saw the Patriots dump Brandon Meriweather (first round, 2007) and Darius Butler (second round, 2009). Didn't matter where those guys were taken. They stunk. Thus, they're gone. Why are they gone? Because the other guys outplayed them and are better!

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2011/9/7/2410329/john-chick-said-no-to-colts-signed-with-jaguars

jacksonville must think we know how to pick players because they sure do want any that we cant keep because of numbers. reminds me of the way tenn used to grab any of us they could

[JCPatriot]

...and * john chick!

This is the only part of your post I don't agree with. The guy made what he felt was the best move for his career, and he was right. It is doubtful that he would have been bumped up to the active roster as a Colt. He has already been bumped up to the active roster in Jacksonville. I can't fault the guy for going to a team that wants him on the active roster. His goal is to play, and I wouldn't want him on our team if it wasn't.

The Colts brought Chick in when no other team in the NFL wanted him. It's my understanding that even though he was on the PS he was getting paid more than an average PS player. The Colts had him play against #1 players, which gave other teams an indication of his talent. That upped his value.

Sure, he'll want to show the Colts what they missed, but I'd say he's very grateful to them.

This is what kind of bothers me about the situation. By all accounts, Chick pretty much played as well as anybody could have expected him to. I would say he met expectations, but they still cut him in the end. Now if they feel that Hughes has more potential and could be a better player in the long haul while Chick has pretty much maxed out his potential, I don't have a problem with that. Keep Hughes for the potential future reward. I'm fine with that. But why bring Chick in at all if they weren't going to keep him even if he met expectations? All they did by bringing him in was alert other teams to a player that probably would not have shown up on anybody else's radar otherwise. They pretty much scouted him out for the opposition.

[everybodysgotone]

Brown's days may be numbered but he has shown enough in real NFL games to warrant a LAST chance. We are not going to cut him in favor of J James.

JJ was already cut, but Brown is currently listed 3rd on the depth chart behind Addai and Carter.

[Steagles]

Polian thinks everything has to do with where they were drafted. Thank God he kept Jeff Saturday!

[buccolts]

I think the Colts did the right thing.

I think Chick did the right thing.

What's the problem?

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

I never thought that Hughes should have got cut. My god he is a first RD pick in his second year & IMO he is improving maybe not fast enough, but improving. I thought Bratten should have got cut. Plan & simply. I reacted to a comment that Hughes outplayed Chick in the pre season & In my mind he clearly didn't. Also Coffees assessment of the GB game is in IMO which I get to have Clifton Again an all pro tackle is beat repeatably by Chick. He get 1 sack would have had 2 but literally gets MUGGED by Clifton resulting in a holding penalty. I have seen holding & Clifton was holding by desperation not ORDINARY HOLDING. Also your 50% score is hard to follow as he played MUCH BETTER THAN THAT. Verse the run an ends job is to stand up the tackle & hold your ground I saw him do that many times. Aw we agree to disagree again honestly not surprising. I understand the 2 run Ends & 2 pass rush ends, but for anyone who has played the game you have got to play enough to be in the flow of the game to maximize potential. Our 2 all pro Ends are not as bad as advertised verse the run IMO especially Mathis. I do like Anderson DT rush skills, but was unimpressed with his DE rush skills as were Atlanta was that's why they moved him inside. I just hope Mathis or Freeney don't get hurt because Bratten can't rush the passer & Anderson isn't that good at it either. You might be forced to move Foster there if one did get hurt. Pass rusher are hard to find we gave one away. & to boot he will now play against us.

[MAC]

Polian thinks everything has to do with where they were drafted.

Nonsense

[#1 Colts Fan]

I agree good for him. We need to stop with politics and mental games and focus on who has more natural talent. These guys come out here for preseason and play better then a lot of the guys who make it on the team. What does this tell other players that come to tryouts for us? It tells them we may just be wasting their time. And our team does not get any benefit from it at all. I hope we actually make these guys worry and TRY to keep their roster spots by having a real tryout camp.

[WoolMagnet]

Chick didn't impress me that much. In fact, in most of the plays i atched, he was a non-factor.

From my standpoint, Hughes and Chick at the very least were about equal.

That being said, if we cut Hughes, I'm sure we have "lost money" due to his contract.

Chick, on the other hand, we really don't have money to "lose" by cutting him.

Does anyone know the numbers?

Hey, i certainly am no expert, but my gut and eyes see "something" more in Hughes.

As far as him picking the Jags..... We have FREENEY and MATHIS for heaven's sake. Of course he's gonna see more playing time (which has higher % to lead to better future contract) with the Jags. Hughes isn't Chick's primary problem. Anderson has shown more than Chick too, imo.

[Rich Cannon]

2 run down DEs, 2 elite pass rushing DEs ahead of both Chick & Hughes, neither was going to see much playing time. So he made a logical choice once he was cut.

Good for him I thought he played well this pre season now he has a chance to make an impact for another team in our division. Im sure he's licking his chops to play the colts

[Coffeedrinker]

Good for him I thought he played well this pre season now he has a chance to make an impact for another team in our division. Im sure he's licking his chops to play the colts

I'm sure the Colts are licking their chops to play against him as well.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

I'm sure the Colts are licking their chops to play against him as well.

Yea I am sure Link & Castonzo at this point just strike ABSOLUTE FEAR INTO ALL OUR OPPONENTS AS WELL AS CHICK

[GoColts8818]

Good for Chick he probably looked at the Jags and figured he had a better chance of getting on their active roster than he did here since we already have five ends on our active roser.

[Guitar Villain]

Having seen a lot of John Chick in the CFL, I'll say this: He's no Cam Wake. Don't get me wrong, though Chick may have been a little overrated up here, he was still a very good player. Wake on the other hand, was utterly dominant like arguably no defensive end (he switched back to linebacker after returning stateside) the CFL has ever seen. He out sacked several entire teams during his final season prior to heading south to try his hand at the NFL.

Chick isn't big enough or athletic enough to beat NFL tackles with any regularity. Without the one yard separation (in the CFL, offensive and defensive lines set up with a yard separation between them prior to the snap) he'll have a lot of difficulty getting a step on anyone because the NFL's bigger, more physical offensive linemen will have their mitts on him immediately and will be able simply swallow him up the majority of the time. The fact after two years that he's still floating around the NFL in any capacity has already exceeded my expectations. It won't last.

The Colts did not make a mistake keeping Hughes over Chick. Maybe Chick deserved to be on the roster in some capacity, maybe not, but it certainly wouldn't have been at the expense of a young, highly talented (if raw), first round talent entering just his second year in the league. It often takes 3 years for defensive linemen to come into their own. Wouldn't it then be a tad premature to cut a sophomore DE with a near ideal skill set for the Colts defense, in favor of a 28 year old journeyman who has already reached his prime and will soon be on the down slope of his career?

[bayone]

Having seen a lot of John Chick in the CFL, I'll say this: He's no Cam Wake. Don't get me wrong, though Chick may have been a little overrated up here, he was still a very good player. Wake on the other hand, was utterly dominant like arguably no defensive end (he switched back to linebacker after returning stateside) the CFL has ever seen. He out sacked several entire teams during his final season prior to heading south to try his hand at the NFL.

Chick isn't big enough or athletic enough to beat NFL tackles with any regularity. Without the one yard separation (in the CFL, offensive and defensive lines set up with a yard separation between them prior to the snap) he'll have a lot of difficulty getting a step on anyone because the NFL's bigger, more physical offensive linemen will have their mitts on him immediately and will be able simply swallow him up the majority of the time. The fact after two years that he's still floating around the NFL in any capacity has already exceeded my expectations. It won't last.

The Colts did not make a mistake keeping Hughes over Chick. Maybe Chick deserved to be on the roster in some capacity, maybe not, but it certainly wouldn't have been at the expense of a young, highly talented (if raw), first round talent entering just his second year in the league. It often takes 3 years for defensive linemen to come into their own. Wouldn't it then be a tad premature to cut a sophomore DE with a near ideal skill set for the Colts defense, in favor of a 28 year old journeyman who has already reached his prime and will soon be on the down slope of his career?

]\

Never new that about way teams lined up in CFL, thanks for the knowledge

[Fatboyslim11]

I wanted to highlight this because it kind of gets to the heart of what I'm talking about when I rant about the Colts keeping scrubs because they were first day picks over better, overall talent regardless of draft stock...

... John Chick pretty thoroughly outplayed 2010 first round pick Jerry Hughes during training camp and preseason. This was especially true in the Colts third preseason game, where Chick was routinely in the Packersbackfield, fighting off holds from Chad Clifton that were so obvious a blind monkey with an ax embedded in his skull could have seen them and thrown yellow.

Chick also had 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks in four exhibition games.

Meanwhile, all throughout preseason, Hughes was getting stoned in one-on-one match-ups with third string tackles, to say nothing of the beatdown he took going up against first stringers. Rodger Saffold, the man the Colts passed over to take Hughes in 2010, dominated the former-TCU standout in the Colts first preseason game.

When it came time to cut down from 80 players to 53, the Colts opted to keep Hughes and cut Chick, who, at 28, had shown real progress from last year when he came to the NFL as a rookie free agent after leading the CFL in sacks.

This decision from the Colts did not seem to sit well with Chick. From TSN[emphasis mine]:

Former CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player John Chick, who was waived by the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, has found a new team.

Chick was added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice roster on Sunday

after turning down a practice roster spot with the Colts.

According to Chick's representatives, they feel that the 28-year-old defensive end has a better chance to be activated this season in Jacksonville.

Sure enough, John Chick was activated from the Jaguars practice squad today.

Also, it shouldn't matter where Hughes was drafted. We just saw the Patriots dump Brandon Meriweather (first round, 2007) and Darius Butler (second round, 2009). Didn't matter where those guys were taken. They stunk. Thus, they're gone. Why are they gone? Because the other guys outplayed them and are better!

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2011/9/7/2410329/john-chick-said-no-to-colts-signed-with-jaguars

Chick would not make most NFL rosters - practice or active. Having said that, Hughes is a failure. Only Polian's ego keeps him on the Colts.

[John Waylon]

Oh well, that's his problem, not ours.

[Rich Cannon]

I'm sure the Colts are licking their chops to play against him as well.

And we will have a nice big birthday waiting for him lol

[wordofmouth]

Chick would not make most NFL rosters - practice or active. Having said that, Hughes is a failure. Only Polian's ego keeps him on the Colts.

Big Blue Shoe is that You?

[wordofmouth]

Chick is a great story and a hard worker, but he's a fringe player with no upside. If the team were so bad that Chick and Hughes were competing for a starting spot, than maybe you'd start Chick and work Hughes in slowly. But for a playoff caliber team debating fringe roster positions - you keep the kid with the enormous upside that you're in the middle of developing. In three years Hughes MAY be a star, or he MAY be a fringe player. We don't know. But in three years Chick WILL be a fringe player, or out of the league entirely. He's a fringe player now and I can't see him suddenly getting bigger or faster. I don't understand why people are so enthralled with him. The real debate should be whether he should have been kept over Brayton - but that's all about stopping the run better, and I love their experiment. I see no rational argument for keeping Chick.

Speaking of rational arguments, what is it with Stampede Blue anyway? I'm sure that all player decisions are made on a sound football and financial basis. Polian may be a little bombastic, but he is about the most rational, level headed and successful front office executive that it has ever been my pleasure to support. Doubting his integrity and concluding that everything he does is a reflection of some imagined personality flaw is utter nonsense.

I have no idea how much BBS knows about football, but what IS obvious is that many of his articles reflect a personal and incredibly un-objective bias against Polian. He seems to think that they are equals having an endless and juvenile flame war. It is painful to witness.

Perhaps somewhere along the line he sought a pat on the head from Polian and got a rude smackdown instead. I say this because he writes like his ego has been bruised, and so he unrelentingly and unjustifiably accuses Polian of common human failings while simultaneously and ironically demonstrating identical (or worse) traits himself. They aren't equals, and while he has every right to offer up his opinion for our entertainment, his tantrums when Polian doesn't happen to comply with his wishes are both comical and sad.

Polian may not be particularly respectful towards the media, but he is unrelentingly honest and forthright, and detailed and informative. I learn something most everytime I read his words. The only thing I learn reading BBSs words is that he has a lot of growing up to do.

This is the post of the year!

It is funny how you can counter moronic anti Polian platitiudes with a carefully thought out rational argument and people will still just repeat the same talking points over and over.

PS Why is my reply stuck in the quote box for the original post?

[themacs@feathersnfins.net]

Y`All need to keep in mind... (so long as hes on the Jaguars Practice Squad)at any time the Colts can Activate John Chick by simply adding him to the Colts Roster...

Do ya think this might have crossed John Chicks mind

[JCPatriot]

Y`All need to keep in mind... (so long as hes on the Jaguars Practice Squad)at any time the Colts can Activate John Chick by simply adding him to the Colts Roster...

Do ya think this might have crossed John Chicks mind

Reading comprehension, my friend.

Chick was added to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice roster on Sunday

after turning down a practice roster spot with the Colts.

According to Chick's representatives, they feel that the 28-year-old defensive end has a better chance to be activated this season in Jacksonville.

Sure enough, John Chick was activated from the Jaguars practice squad today.

[FairleySuhper]

Jax needs all the pass rushers they can get.

[MAC]

This is the post of the year!

It is funny how you can counter moronic anti Polian platitiudes with a carefully thought out rational argument and people will still just repeat the same talking points over and over.

PS Why is my reply stuck in the quote box for the original post?

Thanks.

I feel compelled - as apparently do you - to refute some of the comments, but they keep coming like a flood. Very frustrating. Probably a waste of time, but I always think that if you don't tell someone they're spewing toxic garbage they might assume that the silence means that everyone agrees with them.

PS - you must have written your answer above the "/quote" thingy.