[Chaka]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Where did I criticize Ballard for not panicking? My point with dam is that nothing Ballard has done previously indicates he values the QB position to the degree he would make the risky decision to sign Bridgewater to a big contract or trade all of his draft capital to move up in the draft. He’s pretty much said and done the exact opposite in his time here. That’s my point with dam.

Agree that Bridgewater isn’t likely the way that Ballard would go, but I could see an expensive trade up if he believed the target was a likely to be a franchise QB.

Originally Posted by rm1369

As to the rest of it, you and I will never agree, but it’s not nitpicking to criticize Ballard’s decision to follow a long term rebuild with a franchise QB on the roster. I’ve been saying it since he started. With a franchise QB in place it was the wrong decision. I stand by that assessment. I’m sure you’ll point out Luck’s retirement was unforeseen and screwed it all up. I get that, however I’m on the record in our discussions saying that he shouldn’t be looking more than about 2 years ahead anyway because shit changes too quickly for a 4-5 year plan. So while the specific circumstance was unforeseen the fact something changed everything before he completed his master plan is not.

Well said, but I disagree. I won’t rehash our old debates here, but suffice it to say that I do not see Ballard’s approach as conservative or risk averse, but rather simply practical. The guy has always been a long term thinker, and clearly has a very specific idea about building a team – create a culture first, keep young, and use competition as a motivational factor. Reward those who excel in your system. That kind of an engine takes a few years to build, but should produce reliable performance once constructed.

As far as free agents are concerned, he’s called free agency “fool’s gold”, so he obviously doesn’t see it as a desirable way to build a team. No surprise there. Nevertheless, he’s been in the bidding for a number of high profile free agents, but the prices just went too high for the value he placed on the player. He also signed two risky free agents - Funchess and Houston – to large (though short) contracts last off-season.

Originally Posted by rm1369

Look, I like the guy. I have never asked for him to be fired. You can spin how close they were to a one and done playoff birth all you want, but IMO this team is further away from a title today than it was the day Ballard was hired. Thats with or without Luck ever coming back from the shoulder injury. The roster is just improved enough that they won’t be in the running for a top QB prospect without mortgaging the future to move up.

To suggest that we are further from a title now than when Ballard was hired seems ludicrous, particularly since you exclude Luck from this analysis. Go look at our 2017 roster, excluding Luck. We are now younger at nearly every position, and as good as or better at nearly every position as well – particularly RB, OL, and LB. Complain all you want about our current stable of WRs, but we were severely hampered by injuries, and in 2017 we were fielding the likes of Kamar Aiken, Donte Moncrief and Quan Bray.

I suppose your point is that by being merely average now, it will be harder to get the high draft picks to launch yourself to the head of the class. However, that hasn’t necessarily been true in recent years either, as the top recent QBs (Mahomes, Jackson, Watson) have all be drafted in the mid-to-late first round.

Anyway, I’m glad you like the guy, because my hope is that he stays around a long time. I think he’s one of the best – if not THE best – GM in the league, though his resume doesn’t show it yet. It’s a real bummer that Luck retired.

Originally Posted by rm1369

The three most important positions for winning in the NFL are QB, LT, and pass rusher. Right now the Colts have questions or holes at all 3, so I’m not nearly as optimistic as you. And I sure as hell don’t see any glimpse of the dynasty you and Ballard have been envisioning.

I think that’s pretty unfair to say - 2 of the 3 positions you mentioned (QB and LT) were locked down prior to the season (albeit by people drafted pre-Ballard), and Ballard had no reason to think otherwise until the Luck retirement and the threat of a Castonzo retirement reared its head.

As for pass rusher, he’s drafted a few promising ones (Turay and Banogu) and signed a big name free agent DE (Houston). Admittedly still a work in progress, but outside of taking Chubb instead of Nelson in 2018, what moves didn’t Ballard make that you believe would have helped here? I don't think keeping John Simon would have made that big a difference.