NEWS: Dolphins Sign Tailback Chatman

[painnotpleasure]

Wow, I have to say that this signing caught me a bit off guard, but I feel that is a good signing to say the least. I think this does mean that Travis Minor WILL infact be released today and Gordon's days at a Phin are numbered.

 

[eagles fan]

While a trade with the Eagles would make sense, they've already announced their cuts and if they were making a trade one would think they would just delay announcing their cuts until the deal was official. Although the Eagles did somewhat surprisingly release FB Jon Ritchie and maybe they could be picking up Morris as a FB/short-yardage RB combo guy.

 

[SF Dolfan]

NO! Take it back! Gordon and Minor fine, Morris? I would like to keep. Really, Morris has more value than the other two, but I think he has more value to us than a alte round pick. Think about this though, after week 5, our running back corps will be as follows:

Ricky Williams
Ronnie Brown
Sammy Morris
Jesse Chatman

All four of those guys can put a clubbering on a defender and most likely will.

I fully agree. Morris can back-up 2 positions RB and FB with 1 roster spot. He's a decent player also. Minor gives us another returner, but I think that's less important if we intend to use Chatman there. Gordon really has no value for this team. He's not a better pure runner than any of the others and he doesn't play FB or special teams.

 

[PressCoverage]

I fully expect that the asking price for Morris would be much higher than for Gordon. If this is happening, I would expect no less than a 5th for Morris and probably a 4th.
.

i'm sorry... but unless you're a GM like Spielman, no one in their right mind is going to give a 4th-round pick (or even a 5th) for a 28-yearold backup running back who has durability problems and lacks speed and shake n' bake...

backs with that kind of resume are a dime-a-dozen on cut-down day... why would you give up a draft pick?

 

[Muck]

I was impressed with this guy as a RB when I saw him.

Here's a few bits from KFFL....

Chargers | More on Chatman's Release - from www.KFFL.com
Tue, 26 Jul 2005 21:49:26 -0700

Chargers.com reports free agent RB Jesse Chatman failed a physical prior to his release by the San Diego Chargers Tuesday, July 26. "Jesse's lack of involvement in what we were doing here in the offseason led us to go in another direction," head coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "His weight has been an issue as well as his not being here. I've talked to him at length, but we didn't gain any ground." Chatman was the Chargers' second-leading rusher in 2004. He carried 65 times for 392 yards (6.0 avg.) and three touchdowns, but team officials were not happy with Chatman's absence from Charger Park during the offseason.

NFL | Chatman Accepts Responsibility for Release - from www.KFFL.com
Thu, 28 Jul 2005 06:01:20 -0700

Kevin Acee, of the San Diego Union Tribune, reports free agent RB Jesse Chatman (Chargers) accepts responsibility for his recent release. "There are a lot of things I could have done differently," Chatman said yesterday. "It's not over. I'm still learning the system. This was a wake-up call. The NFL is a business. I'm definitely going to take this as a learning experience." Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer said Chatman had not been committed enough to offseason work. "I don't think that's 100 percent correct," said Chatman. Chatman, who said his agent has been in contact with a half-dozen teams, acknowledged he had ballooned to 250 pounds but said he is down to 235.

 

[DevilElias26]

hudson houck probably vouched for us to sign chatman, and i love it. ive always liked him

 

[ckparrothead]

Here's his breakdown from last year. I remember the dude well because in fantasy my friend and roommate had LaDainian and kept getting PISSED because Chatman was stealing all his carries.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/6189/situational

Basically, the bulk of Chatman's carries came in the 3rd and 4th quarter, while ahead, and on first down. 61 of his 65 carries came while ahead of the opponent, 60 of his 65 carries came in the second half of games, and 30 of his 65 carries came on 1st down, with 24 coming on 2nd down.

He gained 6.0 yards per carry to the left, 5.6 over center, and 7.0 to the right, with 60 of 65 carries falling into one of those three categories. Only 5 runs were wide left or wide right.

The normal accusation for a change of pace back like him who gets 6.0 yards per carry is that they did it a lot on 3rd downs, or they did it a lot on pasisng downs or when behind.

In his case, only 10 of his carries were on 3rd down, with only 2 of those being on third and 8+ yards, and those third down carries actually dragged DOWN his yards per carry, since he only gained 3.3 ypc on his 3rd down runs.

As for obvious passing downs, with the overwhelming majority of his carries coming in the 2nd half while the Chargers were up, I believe it should have been fairly obvious that the Chargers were running out the clock and therefore running the ball more.

On the other hand, he was not used on goal line situations much, with only 5 goal-to-go runs with 1 touchdown. But, he did have a 4th and 1 run for 22 yards.

So the dude ran through the center of the defensive line, on 1st and 2nd down, with the defense knowing that the Chargers were trying to run out the clock, and he gained an average of 6.0 yards per carry doing it.

Either the San Diego offensive line was the best the NFL had to offer last year (possible) or this dude's a pretty talented running back.

 

[vanquenton]

Dang I guess so but Chatman's not that old! He's going to be what 26 years old in a couple of weeks, and he's going into his 3rd year...was an undrafted free agent. Maybe they felt the offensive line created most of his production?

I guess Hudson Houck would know best.

 

[L.T.21]

Hey guys:

As said before, I am / was a huge fan of Jesse Chatman. However, his work ethic is questionable. He always reported into camp overweight, and that was not the main reason he was let go. Besides having Michael Turner and Darren Sproles in the backfield along with L.T. Jesse was let go because his big toe did not heal right. Once again, HIS BIG TOE did not heal right.

Im familiar with his manager here in San Diego and he himself questioned Jesse's desire to play football. There is NO DOUBT the kid is talented, his a bowling ball rolling down the hill, as said, his toe is not healed.

He never once tried to rehab his toe during the off-season, I also believe that the Raiders took a look at him but then his health was questioned. If he can control his weight, DEDICATE HIMSELF to rehab, and quit being a knucklehead, he will be a great pick up--until then, he's backfield fodder.

 

[Jimmy James]

i'm sorry... but unless you're a GM like Spielman, no one in their right mind is going to give a 4th-round pick (or even a 5th) for a 28-yearold backup running back who has durability problems and lacks speed and shake n' bake...

backs with that kind of resume are a dime-a-dozen on cut-down day... why would you give up a draft pick?

We know that Gordon's price was a 6th, so it only makes sense that the price on Morris would be higher. I'm not saying I'd want Miami to do this deal if they were getting Morris, but Miami is deep at RB while the Eagles are thin. It may be a seller's market if they really think Morris is better than what they'll find out on the wire.

 

[ckparrothead]

His situation reminds me of Alonzo Mayes (do I remember his name right?). Alonzo kept ballooning up in the offseason and insisting that the NFL gets to keep his body for the time period between training camp and the end of the season, but his body is his to have fun with during the offseason. He never changed his attitude and he ended up out of the NFL.

Chatman SOUNDS like he has learned a lesson from this offseason. We would have to wait until next offseason to figure out if he really has learned it...because this offseason he's been working like crazy just to get down to a weight where teams will sign him

 

[L.T.21]

His situation reminds me of Alonzo Mayes (do I remember his name right?). Alonzo kept ballooning up in the offseason and insisting that the NFL gets to keep his body for the time period between training camp and the end of the season, but his body is his to have fun with during the offseason. He never changed his attitude and he ended up out of the NFL.

Chatman SOUNDS like he has learned a lesson from this offseason. We would have to wait until next offseason to figure out if he really has learned it...because this offseason he's been working like crazy just to get down to a weight where teams will sign him

The question is the toe.

 

[ckparrothead]

Interesting, so his toe is also an issue.

 

[Surferosa]

I guess this means that Lamar Gordon will really be traded to the Eagles. Good news here!

 

[L.T.21]

Interesting, so his toe is also an issue.

Yeah ck. There is no question the kid is talented, no question...but from what I've heard, and spoken to people out here..the injury is serious.

Put it this way, we knew we had Michael Turner as our #3, we also know how important it is to have a good back up RB..Jesse Chatman "proved" he can carry the load--why would we release him?

Injury and work ethic were the reasons he was let go. The way AJ Smith is building the team is based on CHEMISTRY, people that dedicate 110 percent all the time..Jesse was questionable. But as said, DEFINITELY TALENTED KID.