Chick expects Dressler to fare well in NFL

SASKATOON — At first glance, says John Chick, you’d never know Weston Dressler plays a pretty good game of football.

It’s the second glance that sets things straight.

“When you first see him ... he takes a lot of grief for his size, but he’s a big guy in the community,” Chick — the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ hulking defensive lineman — says of the diminutive Dressler, who signed a contract this week with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. “The first things everyone says is ‘Oh, you’re a lot smaller ...,” that kind of stuff. I’m sure he gets tired of that. But I’m sure no one likes covering him in a football game.”

Chick, who left the Roughriders after the 2009 season for a three-year NFL stint before returning to Saskatchewan in 2013, says he hasn’t talked to Dressler since he signed with the Chiefs.

But he plans to do so, and he notes from first-hand experience that there’s definite differences between playing in the CFL and the NFL.

Chick was quick to answer when asked what advice he’d give Dressler as he prepares for his trek south.

“You’re under a bigger microscope (in the NFL), and you’ve got more competition,” said Chick, who was in Saskatoon Friday for the Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner. “It is more intense. It’s a multi-billion-dollar business, and it’s run that way. They’re cut-throat, and expect perfection. But all that aside, you have to relax and not put too much pressure on yourself. Just do the things that got you there.

“I don’t think (Dressler’s) felt pressure a day in his life, that I’ve seen. I think he’ll do great with it.”

Dressler, listed at 5-foot-7 and 179 pounds, signed a reserve-futures contract with the Chiefs after compiling five 1,000-yard receiving seasons with the Roughriders.

This past season, he caught 70 regular-season footballs for 1,011 yards and nine touchdowns on a Roughriders team that won the Grey Cup.

Chick recorded two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass knockdown during the Grey Cup win over Hamilton; Dressler chipped in five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown.

Chick said there’s no way to tell right now how Dressler’s size will play out at the NFL level. But he’s seen enough of Dressler to figure he’s got a legitimate shot at landing his dream job.

“There’s too much unknown,” Chick said. “What he lacks in size he makes up for in heart, and his ability to get open, catch the ball, get yards after the catch. For every negative thing you can say, he’s got a positive to make up for it. You see some of these other guys who kind of remind you of him — like a (Wes) Welker, who has a way of getting open and avoiding the big hits and the blocks.

“(Dressler) does all the right things. He’s a weightroom guy, he’s a go-get-er guy. There’s no concern there.” Chick grinned. “As far as playing the receiver position, I don’t think I’d have a ton of advice there.”