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 Packers backfield, 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.
Rather than rot on Indy's practice squad while Hughes continues to bumble and stumble all over the field, Chick went to a division rival and is now on an active roster.
Good for him.
Bad for the Colts.
Should significant injuries happen this year, and the Colts struggle to replenish lost talent along the d-line, look no further than dumb moves like this for reasons why. I'm not saying Chick is the next Bruce Smith. Chick is a decent back-up. Nothing more.
What I am saying is Hughes isn't a decent anything. Keeping him, when he offers nothing, at the expense of a better player like Chick hurts the team.
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!
Crazy concept, right?
It's about winning football games. Nothing more. Nothing less.