Surprise player of the year: John Chick

by Brian Levenson on Oct 17, 2011 5:12 AM EDT

Everyone knows who the Jaguars biggest pass rushing threat has been thus far in 2011, Matt Roth. Roth has been a starter and earned three sacks during his time in the starting lineup while playing the run well also. Of course, there's been a big surprise player up front for the Jaguars as well: John Chick.

Who is John Chick? Chick was undrafted in 2006 after graduating from Utah State. He's bounced around on a few teams' practice squads and also played a few years in the CFL. He was released from the Colts' practice squad in the 2011 preseason, and made his way on to the Jaguars roster. His time with the Jaguars is his first NFL action after being a stud pass rusher in the CFL.

Chick has been mixed in at Defensive end for the Jaguars this season as a designated pass rusher. In the last two games, he's earned two sacks, one a sack fumble of Ben Roethlisberger yesterday. Chick only saw the field for a maximum of 12 plays in those two games, and he's taken advantage in a very big way.

Chick is 6'4" around 250 pounds, but he has been extremely quick off the snap in his limited play. Chick has great burst, which has allowed him to just run right around opposing team's tackles. Make no mistake about it people, he's at right DE rushing against the opponent's best pass blocker and beating him.

Why do I mention this? Two reasons actually.

Reason one: because I love seeing unsung players perform. A guy like John Chick can be our our little secret weapon now, because from week to week, no one is going to know who the heck he is. Then, when Chick comes flying around the corner for a sack against some poor unsuspecting LT, all of the opposing fans are gonna be like "Who the #%@$ is that guy?" and Jags fans can just smile and say "Oh, the guy who just demolished your best O-lineman? That's John Chick, our fourth or fifth-best DE." Nothing feels better than that.

Reason two: because people seem to be seriously talking about getting rid of Gene Smith. I know fans like to blame front office guys for the failings of a team, but let's be honest here, would anyone other than GM Gene have signed a guy who's been cut off of two teams' practice squads? Did anyone even know who John Chick is, even two weeks ago?

I would guess no. Now, of course, Chick has been very effective and teams might even have to start game planning against him a little bit when he's on the field. Gene found that guy out of freaking nowhere, and there are silly fans out there that want to tell me that GM Gene hasn't done well enough to keep his job?

Oy...

Anyway, I'm hoping to see more out of Chick. It'd be great to have a really good pass rusher on this team. We've given up a lot in the hopes of finding a pass rusher for this defense (see 2008 draft), and in Chick, we might genuinely have found one. If so, this week will be where it all started.

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Comments

The most disappointing thing about Gene Smith so far is the O-line. Two high picks in 09 and barely any improvement from the 08 season. I think this is more pressing on him than the receiving corps because he hasn’t really done anything to address that (nothing higher than a 4th round pick and then guys off practice squads). This is HIS O-line and it’s not playing well. The only get-out-of-jail-free card he gets is injuries which Monroe and Britton are dealing with. Can’t predict those. But yeah. John Chick. Nice grab, Gene.

by Vicbow on Oct 17, 2011 6:32 AM EDT reply actions

When players are healthy, it's a completely different O-line from what we saw last week.

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by Brian Levenson on Oct 17, 2011 6:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Bradfield played very well yesterday

Rackley, eesh. I think he got thrown into the hooper a lot earlier than they intended. Team has tried to patch the Manuwai vacancy with mixed results.

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by Joe Fisher on Oct 17, 2011 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions

hopper not hooper

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by Joe Fisher on Oct 17, 2011 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh no...

don’t talk about Gene doing something good. The way most probably will see this, he got lucky with this find. The same way he got lucky by drafting Rashad in the 7th round, because he wasn’t supposed to be there. Not because he does his due diligence but because he got lucky.

by Keenan J on Oct 17, 2011 8:56 AM EDT reply actions

I don' think Chick was cut from the Colts' practice squad

Wasn’t he released in final cuts and then offered spots on both practice squads? I remember he said he chose the Jags because he felt he had a better chance of getting activated. Which was spot on because he ended up getting activated the very next day (after the shocking release of Garrard)

This guy was Defensive Player of the Year in the CFL so he had/has a chance to be special.

by Maxwell Lee on Oct 18, 2011 3:52 PM EDT reply actions

links

so this is what I found:

yes, I did remember correctly. He was probably also a little peeved that the Colts waived him when he felt he deserved to be on the team.
http://www.stampedeblue.com/2011/9/7/2410329/john-chick-said-no-to-colts-signed-with-jaguars

and with regard to your comments on Gene, looks like he was also interested a few years ago before the Colts nabbed him.
http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Saskatchewan+Roughriders+John+Chick+signs+with+Indianapolis+Colts/2422266/story.html

by Maxwell Lee on Oct 18, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

From a Colts fan perspective here

I believe a lot of Colts fans hoped/thought he would make the 53 man roster as he displayed better pass rushing ability than Jerry Hughes (Colts 2010 first round pick). However, the front office (Jim Caldwell has no say on who to keep, cut, play, etc) thought it was best to keep Hughes, who clearly was outperformed by Chick. BTW, Hughes only has 1 sack the past 2 season and is looking more and more like a bust of a first round pick. I thought Chick should have made the team whether Hughes was cut or not.

by ColtsFanNChiTown on Oct 18, 2011 11:19 PM EDT reply actions