As of now, I'm expecting us to sneak out a win in this division by going on a winning streak. And then we'll have a healthy team and shock everyone by crunching the Patriots in Foxborough.

It’s a valid question. My thinking is that guys should get on the field when they earn it. If you are trying to build a winning culture isn’t that a huge part of it? And it’s a huge part of coaching to be able to identify the guys that deserve to be on the field or show them why they aren’t good enough yet.

Either way, rarely can you both give young guys tons of time and win. And that’s where I feel like Chaka and a few others are simply being intellectually dishonest. The goal posts keep getting moved. Ballard sacrificed this season to get all of these young guys time, several clearly before they are ready. And he unnecessarily held other positions open to do it again next year. If you are fine with that, that’s ok. I just disagree. But it would be nice if guys quit denying that’s what happened.

It all depends on what you want out of the season whether you think Ballard sacrificed it. I want Super Bowl wins so to me anything that isn't part of getting us there is a sacrifice. To me, signing players so we can better, maybe be the worst team in the playoffs at best, is something I'm not interested in so to me Ballard sacrificed nothing. Let me also be clear that I would love to be the worst team in the playoffs this year. Difference to me is that if we do it this year it will be with young players who should be getting better, not veterans who are playing the best they ever will.

1) Look up my preseason predictions and my take on what they did in UFA. I have never moved the goal posts on what 2018 is about. Development & Evaluation. The team's record is secondary.
2) I never denied that's what happened, and if you've listened to Ballard, he told you this was his plan since the end of last season.

Your strategy is perfectly fine, but so is Ballard's. It all comes down to execution. It's way too early to know for sure.

Why draft them if your not going to give them a chance? Might as well trade all your picks for FA's

Why keep any player not on a rookie contract? Just trade away all good players over 25 for draft picks and bring in young players every year. Cap space forever, building culture forever.

Wait that sounds almost as dumb as your post, nevermind.

No question you are right - you are perfectly entitled to disagree with the approach, and I think you have defended your position well. I don't really get the last sentence of your post, if it was directed at me. I've never conceded that the "plan all along" was to be 2-5 or anything close to it. My expectation was (and remains) that while we might sacrifice some minor short term potential improvement by not signing a bunch of free agents, the long term benefits are well worth it and the Colts should nevertheless be competitive in all of the games they played. I think this has largely been true.

I am disappointed by the 2-5 current record, but the record doesn't tell the whole story and I haven't given up hope for this year. I assume you’ve seen the same games as me – do you think we’re watching a 2-5 team? (and please don’t quote Parcells on me). I think they’re better than that, and potentially a LOT better than that, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it because I think we’re on the right track even if our record isn’t that great at the moment.

I disagree, and I’m not trying to trap you into some sort of logic game. I simply think its incomplete to simply complain without offering a solution - empty complaints are just expressions of frustration, easy to make but not very convincing from an analysis standpoint.

To answer your comment, there are ALWAYS players who are available that could have helped almost any team, but the trick is finding them. You’re more likely to make a mistake, and free agency mistakes can be extremely costly (yet another reason to focus on developing your own players). Ballard’s track record on his free agency signings has been pretty good – not a lot of splashy free agents signed, but a high percentage of them have been significant contributors.

As far as "experience" if concerned, what kind of experience are you referring to? That's a buzz word that doesn't have a lot of meaning without context. Not all experience is the same, and some of it is quite bad. Are you talking about the kind of "experience" that Le'Veon Bell or Terrell Pryor bring? What about Matt Slauson or Denico Autry experience?

This is the kind of stuff I go through every Sunday at 12:30 pm. That's just the kind of fan i would like to be. If sports fans were logical we would all be Rams fans.

Do I really think we will win the division, well, no, but it's not as if it's completely impossible.

Because I don't agree with you I'm intellectually dishonest? That's silly - I always try to explain my position in terms of actual information. Please point out my prior posts where you think I'm not being forthright or "moving the goalposts" on you. My position has always been that a healthy Luck gives us a chance to win almost any game - perhaps our chances could be slightly improved by signing a bunch of free agents, but I'll trade a few extra mistakes in exchange for the long term benefits that I think following Ballard's plan will bring.

And by the way, what players is Ballard playing "clearly before they are ready"? It appears to me that the areas of greatest concern are those that are manned largely by players that have been in the league for several years: CB and WR. Most of the rookies have performed admirably, and a review of the stats reveals that our defense is actually far better statistically than it was with all of the old guard you argued so strongly that we should have kept (Hankins, etc.). Despite our 2-5 record, we've actually scored more points (189) than we've given up (185).

Simply put, while your comments often reflect commonly held sentiments about the Colts, they aren't supported by the facts. Now THAT is intellectually dishonest, and that's why I've been pressing you to provide me with real-world information that we can all analyze in support of your position.