Easton

Stick

Stick was released by the Colts at the end of the preseason. He’ll be third on the depth chart to begin the year behind Baker Mayfield and Jalon Daniels.

Stick struggled in four starts, all losses, with the Chargers in 2023 and hasn’t seen a regular season snap since. He was behind Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson on the Colts’ depth chart before being released. Also waived or released for the Colts were DT Cameron Ball, RB Ulysses Bentley IV, S Austin Brown, CB Rob Carter Jr., RB Anderson Castle, T Blake Freeland, TE JJ Galbreath, WR Anthony Gould, K Blake Grupe, WR Sahmir Hagans ,CB Kenneth Harris, C Josh Kreutz, T Roy Mbaeteka, DE Mitchell Melton, TE Tyler Moore, C Jimmy Morrissey, DE Durrell Nchami, WR Ben Nikkel, WR Eli Pancol, CB Mekhi Rodgers, T Nolan Rucci, S Daniel Scott, WR Raylen Sharpe, C Geno VanDeMark, LB Devin Veresuk, S Trey Washington, T Trey Wedig, DT Colby Wooden, TE Pharaoh Brown, DT Derrick Nnadi, G Josh Sills, S Juanyeh Thomas, and WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, Easton Stick will also have a tryout during mincamp. Trask re-signed with the Bucs last offseason but failed to crack the roster at the end of training camp. He later joined the Falcons’ practice squad. The Saints currently have Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson as options to back up Tyler Shough.

The Falcons also waived TE Joshua Simon, OL Joshua Gray, WR Dylan Drummond, CB Dontae Manning, DL Simeon Barrow Jr., RB Carlos Washington Jr., CB Cobee Bryant, K Lenny Krieg, RB Elijah Dotson, TE Nikola Kalinic, WR Quincy Skinner Jr. and S Josh Thompson. The Falcons released OL Jordan Williams, S Henry Black, S Jordan Fuller, EDGE Khalid Kareem, OL Brandon Parker, QB Easton Stick, DL Kentavius Street, CB Keith Taylor, OL Jake Hanson, CB CJ Henderson, LB/S Ronnie Harrison, WR Chris Blair, OL Matthew Cindric, QB Ben DiNucci, DL Morgan Fox, LB Caleb Johnson, CB Lamar Jackson, LB Nick Kubitz, WR Jesse Matthews and EDGE Ronnie Perkins.

Stick is a former fifth-round pick who has seen action in six games since entering the league in 2019. Sporting a 0-4 record as a starter, Stick has a career passing line of 1,133-3-1 and has rushed 28 times for 142 yards and one touchdown. He’s a dual-threat quarterback who excelled in the college ranks while playing for North Dakota State, but Stick has never been anything more than a low-end backup for his career. He’ll have a chance to compete for a spot on the Falcons’ 53-man roster in camp, but he could be on the outside looking in depending on who else the Falcons add in the coming weeks.

Hurt will be playing for the first time since the end of November after being placed on injured reserve with his hip injury He isn’t likely to be a major fantasy contributor, but with Will Dissly (shoulder) inactive, it could open up some snaps/targets. The remaining inactives for the Chargers are CB Cam Hart S Elijah Molden LB Shaquille Quarterman OL Brenden Jaimes OL Jordan McFadden and QB Easton Stick (emergency QB)

Schefter noted that the team hasn’t made a final decision on his status yet and that won’t happen until pre-game warmups. Herbert suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Chargers Week 2 win over the Panthers. He logged a limited practice on Thursday but was listed as a DNP for the other two sessions of the week. Herbert has a chance to play but remains a true game-time call. Fantasy managers need to have a backup plan in place and it shouldn’t be another LA quarterback. Per Schefter, “The team has contingencies that involve both Easton Stick and Taylor Heinicke.”

Herbert told reporters he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the Chargers’ Week 2 win over the Panthers. Few players play through that injury without missing any time, so it looks like Herbert is going to be a true game-time call for Week 3. Per The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, Herbert did not practice on Friday before being listed as questionable. He was a limited participant in Thursday’s session. Jim Harbaugh wouldn’t say who will draw the start if Herbert can’t play. The Chargers have Taylor Heinicke and Easton Stick on the active roster. Either way, LA projects to lead the league in rush attempts versus a Steelers team that wants to play the same game.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Stick had one career pass attempt heading into 2023. Justin Herbert went down for the season late in the year and Stick stepped in for the first four starts in the league. He went winless in those games but put up a respectable 1,129 yards, three scores, and one interception. Stick will return to LA for QB2 duties in 2024, his age-29 season.

Stick, a prodigious rusher in college and a good athlete, finally used his mobility in the season’s final game. He picked up a few chunk gains in the first half before dropping back to pass in most of the second half. Stick, 28, got four starts this season after Justin Herbert went down with a season-ending finger injury. He struggled mightily through most of those games, throwing three touchdowns and one interception. Stick will be a free agent this offseason.