Just saw the Ticats announce that import defensive end Justin Hickman has signed again with the Cats. Hickman's stats the second half of last year weren't that great after a sojourn in the NFL, however combined with Eric Norwood as the other end and a good interior, the Cats have a excellent defensive line.
Getting pressure on the quarterback in the CFL is critical. The Cats look to have that handled next year.
Showing posts with label justin hickman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justin hickman. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Brian Bulcke Being Out for the Season Really Hurts the Ticats
The news that Stanford grad Brian Bulcke is out for the season with a torn bicep muscle is terrible news for the Ticats. The non-import defensive lineman was part of a Ticat defense that had been unusually starting four Canadians (Laurent, Butler and Stephen) and part of a pair of starting Canadians in the interior of the defensive line, Ted Laurent being the other.
The only thing that ameliorates the situation somewhat is that the Cats recently signed their 2013 number one pick Lynden Gaydosh who happens to be a defensive tackle like Bulcke. With former Ticat defensive end Justin Hickman recently resigned by the Cats, the front four should be still fairly strong for the Cats and not cause too many ratio problems. Hopefully Gaydosh as a rookie can partially fill Bulcke's large shoes on the defensive line.
The only thing that ameliorates the situation somewhat is that the Cats recently signed their 2013 number one pick Lynden Gaydosh who happens to be a defensive tackle like Bulcke. With former Ticat defensive end Justin Hickman recently resigned by the Cats, the front four should be still fairly strong for the Cats and not cause too many ratio problems. Hopefully Gaydosh as a rookie can partially fill Bulcke's large shoes on the defensive line.
A Look At the Stats for the Eskimos at Ticats Game 2014
Here's some analysis of the stats for the Eskimos at Tiger-Cats game on Sunday that ended up as a Ticat victory 25 to 23. The Cats came back from a 15-3 half-time deficit.
Collaros had a good day passing with a total of 318 yards from 25 passes on
35 attempts. That's a 71% pass completion percentage with a TD and a pick and continues his recent run of good games.
Collaros' play compared favourably with Mike Reilly who had 283 yards from 23 passes and
42 attempts for Edmonton. That's a mediocre 55% pass completion percentage which indicates either good pass defence from the Cats or Mike Reilly playing like Michael Bishop. Reilly had two TD passes compared to two picks.
Collaros spread it around to eight different receivers. The normally little used Brandon Banks had a great game with 111 yards with 6 passes and a TD. Fantuz had a typically Fantuzian day with 87 yards receiving from 5 passes. Tasker also had a good day with four catches for 53 yards. Collaros did fumble twice, losing one at the end of the first half that was taken in for a TD.
Non-import Nate Coehoorn had the best day receiving for the Eskimos with six passes for 87 yards.
The Cats had a pretty good day against the run. Thomas only ran four times for 36 yards. The Eskimos only ran nine times for 48 yards. That's an average of 5.3 yards per carry.
The Cats only rushed for slightly more yards, which wasn't surprising considering C.J. Gable was injured really early. The Cats had 56 yards rushing total on 15 carries for an average of only 4.3 yards per carry. Collaros had the most yards rushing for hte Cats with 8 rushes for 35 yards and at TD. The non-import Prime had 17 yards on five carries taking over rushing duties for Gable. Considering Gable being injured so early and the Cats not dressing another running back (i.e. no Madu) the Ticat offense did pretty well. In some ways it is surprising the Cats don't have a Canadian running back playing special teams who could fill in in case of a running back injury.
Eric Norwood, a defensive end for the Cats had a monster game with seven tackles and four sacks. That's now seven sacks for the year for him which I'm guessing leads the Cats. The Cats had five total sacks, improving on what had been a terrible year for sacks early. Combining Norwood with the returning Justin Hickman hopefully leads to a strong Ticat pass rush for the rest of the year.
The Eskimos also a big sack day with six with Willis having three. One could blame the line, however Collaros does like to hang onto the ball for the possibility of making a Doug Flutie backyard football type pass. Sometimes it works, sometimes there's a sack.
Medlock was three for three on field goals continuing his good season, while the Eskimos had none.
Collaros had a good day passing with a total of 318 yards from 25 passes on
35 attempts. That's a 71% pass completion percentage with a TD and a pick and continues his recent run of good games.
Collaros' play compared favourably with Mike Reilly who had 283 yards from 23 passes and
42 attempts for Edmonton. That's a mediocre 55% pass completion percentage which indicates either good pass defence from the Cats or Mike Reilly playing like Michael Bishop. Reilly had two TD passes compared to two picks.
Collaros spread it around to eight different receivers. The normally little used Brandon Banks had a great game with 111 yards with 6 passes and a TD. Fantuz had a typically Fantuzian day with 87 yards receiving from 5 passes. Tasker also had a good day with four catches for 53 yards. Collaros did fumble twice, losing one at the end of the first half that was taken in for a TD.
Non-import Nate Coehoorn had the best day receiving for the Eskimos with six passes for 87 yards.
The Cats had a pretty good day against the run. Thomas only ran four times for 36 yards. The Eskimos only ran nine times for 48 yards. That's an average of 5.3 yards per carry.
The Cats only rushed for slightly more yards, which wasn't surprising considering C.J. Gable was injured really early. The Cats had 56 yards rushing total on 15 carries for an average of only 4.3 yards per carry. Collaros had the most yards rushing for hte Cats with 8 rushes for 35 yards and at TD. The non-import Prime had 17 yards on five carries taking over rushing duties for Gable. Considering Gable being injured so early and the Cats not dressing another running back (i.e. no Madu) the Ticat offense did pretty well. In some ways it is surprising the Cats don't have a Canadian running back playing special teams who could fill in in case of a running back injury.
Eric Norwood, a defensive end for the Cats had a monster game with seven tackles and four sacks. That's now seven sacks for the year for him which I'm guessing leads the Cats. The Cats had five total sacks, improving on what had been a terrible year for sacks early. Combining Norwood with the returning Justin Hickman hopefully leads to a strong Ticat pass rush for the rest of the year.
The Eskimos also a big sack day with six with Willis having three. One could blame the line, however Collaros does like to hang onto the ball for the possibility of making a Doug Flutie backyard football type pass. Sometimes it works, sometimes there's a sack.
Medlock was three for three on field goals continuing his good season, while the Eskimos had none.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Justin Hickman Back with the Cats?
The Scratching Post is reporting that former Ticat defensive end Justin Hickman has signed with the Cats after being released by the Colts.
Considering how few sacks the Cats have had this year (although they have picked it up lately including five last week against the Riders), signing Hickman is a good thing. Hickman had 13 sacks in 2011 for the Cats in his last season of CFL ball.
Hickman is now 29 which makes one wonder if he's past his prime. There have been numerous defensive ends that have had long careers (Elfrid Payton) so I don't think that's a particular concern for this season.
Considering how few sacks the Cats have had this year (although they have picked it up lately including five last week against the Riders), signing Hickman is a good thing. Hickman had 13 sacks in 2011 for the Cats in his last season of CFL ball.
Hickman is now 29 which makes one wonder if he's past his prime. There have been numerous defensive ends that have had long careers (Elfrid Payton) so I don't think that's a particular concern for this season.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Justin Hickman
Considering the Cats past season and especially their troubles on defence, I thought I would look to see how Justin Hickman, the Cats former defensive end who signed with the Indianapolis Colts is doing this season. He's listed as an outside linebacker, with ten tackles (six solo and four assisted) through nine games. I'm not sure what that means for next year, but he is seeing the field so the chances of him coming back to Hamilton.
In 2011 Hickman led the CFL with 13 sacks (tied). Losing him to the NFL last year definitely hurt the Cats defensive line, especially early in the season when sack production was very weak. Obviously if the Cats had been able to sign him, they couldn't have spent money elsewhere so the team probably would have ended up differently. Still if you're looking to where the Cats went wrong in 2012, not having Hickman was a factor.
The Cats did sign free agent defensive end Greg Peach and the line did improve somewhat later in the season, but was certainly never a force. I don't really see the Cats signing a big name defensive end free agent next year. More likely the Cats will bring in a ton of guys to camp and try to augment the defensive line with the players they already have. Assuming the Cats get non-import Eddie Steele back from a leg injury before camp and another Canadian emerges from recent drafts as a backup, the Cats could try for a non-import starter on the defensive line again. Having an all American line and not being very good like this year isn't a good strategy in the CFL.
In 2011 Hickman led the CFL with 13 sacks (tied). Losing him to the NFL last year definitely hurt the Cats defensive line, especially early in the season when sack production was very weak. Obviously if the Cats had been able to sign him, they couldn't have spent money elsewhere so the team probably would have ended up differently. Still if you're looking to where the Cats went wrong in 2012, not having Hickman was a factor.
The Cats did sign free agent defensive end Greg Peach and the line did improve somewhat later in the season, but was certainly never a force. I don't really see the Cats signing a big name defensive end free agent next year. More likely the Cats will bring in a ton of guys to camp and try to augment the defensive line with the players they already have. Assuming the Cats get non-import Eddie Steele back from a leg injury before camp and another Canadian emerges from recent drafts as a backup, the Cats could try for a non-import starter on the defensive line again. Having an all American line and not being very good like this year isn't a good strategy in the CFL.
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