Denver Broncos: What Anthony Chickillo can bring to the table

What can Anthony Chickillo bring to the table for the Denver Broncos?

The Denver Broncos placed cornerback AJ Bouye on injured reserve on Wednesday, opening up another spot on the active roster after the team also put Von Miller on IR and called up De’Vante Bausby from the practice squad.

With their final open roster spot, the Broncos signed edge defender Anthony Chickillo off the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad.

The Saints were able to use this year’s practice squad exception to stash Chickillo — a vested veteran — on the practice squad, and the Broncos obviously liked him enough to bring him in for depth with Von Miller out a minimum of three months.

Chickillo was a sixth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Miami (FL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he wound up playing five years and earning a second contract with them.

It’s clear that in his time with the Steelers, Chickillo was nothing more than depth defensively and not someone who was counted on to play extensively, but like any player who lasts five years on the same team, he had flashes of brilliance and was a significant contributor on special teams.

Chickillo was let go by the Steelers this offseason for salary cap reasons as he had a diminishing role in the defense, and $5 million is simply too much to pay for a player who is limited to just special teams.

Coming out of Miami, it’s easy to see why the Steelers decided to take a shot on this player. He is a heck of an athlete.

Scanning through some of his top plays with the Steelers, you see obviously good effort on pass rush reps lead to some second effort sacks, but he has some nice speed wins around the edge in some of the clips out there as well.

The Broncos attempted to make contact with bigger-name free agent pass rushers like Clay Matthews and Cameron Wake, but couldn’t come to contractual agreements.

Instead, the Broncos have opted for two guys in Anthony Chickillo and Isaiah Irving (practice squad) who have modest NFL experience, some flash plays both in preseason and regular season, and special teams ability.

John Elway and the front office perhaps leaned a bit on Mike Munchak with this move, a guy whose offensive line went up against Chickillo every day in practice since Chickillo came into the league. If anyone knows Chickillo’s profile, it’s Munchak.

On the pro scouting side of things, it’s hard not to notice that Jordon Dizon (Broncos pro scout) has favored the Pittsburgh Steelers in the past couple of years.

The Broncos have likely had a combination of factors at play here, but they poached Patrick Morris from the Steelers off waivers last year (now a practice squad center) and they’ve brought in guys like Jake Rodgers (practice squad tackle), tight end Nick Vannett, and return specialist Diontae Spencer from Pittsburgh.

They also had former Steeler Coty Sensabaugh on the roster for a brief bit in 2019.

Chickillo is the latest former Steeler to make his way to Denver, and he will have plenty of familiar faces on the team.

What should expectations be for him early on?

At this stage, Chickillo should be counted on to play mostly special teams, similar to recent trade acquisition Austin Calitro.

If the Broncos suffer any more injuries at the outside linebacker position, Chickillo could see some snaps. Even if they don’t, it’s possible we could see Chickillo rotate in for a series or two to give one of Jeremiah Attaochu, Bradley Chubb, or Malik Reed a breather.

The Broncos need some juice behind those guys in the pass rush department. Hopefully, a change of scenery and a new opportunity for Chickillo will bring out the best in him more consistently.