I come to praise Chris Ballard, not to bury him.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I blame Ballard for signing Rivers and doing jack shit with the rest of the roster.

Give me a break. He signs two FA this offseason and everyone loses their minds like he's had some awakening... But in 2020 him bringing in Rivers, Xavier Rhodes, and trading a 1st for Buckner is "jack shit."

By the way, without a first he still got Pittman, Taylor, Blackmon, Pinter, and Rodgers in that draft. Top-10 in both offense and defense that year.

Originally Posted by rm1369

I blame him for acquiring Wentz and then trotting out a DE group with no player with double digit sacks COMBINED for their CAREERS.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-age...on/ed/type/ufa

There you go, big dog. It's even sorted for you. Show me the move you were clamoring for Ballard to make. Was it Carl Lewis? Romeo Okwara?

I somehow doubt the difference between your criticism and acceptance is the highly fussed-over Denico fucking Autry.

Top-9 in scoring for both offense and defense that year, too.

Originally Posted by rm1369

I blame him for acquiring Ryan and then trusting a 3rd round rookie who had only played LT for 2 yrs in college, and a journeyman guard to play LT.

Yes, bad move. But he wasn't relying on Raimann. He wasn't supposed to go in yet, although, unlike with Richardson: baptism-by-fire worked well for him.

Pryor was supposed to be the bridge, and he never looked anything like he did in 2022 prior (heh) to that. Pinter also never looked like that before or since. 2022 was fucking bizarro world.

Originally Posted by rm1369

And I blame him for drafting the rawest rookie QB ever, starting him game 1 and then benching him, starting him again, and benching him again - in basically two calendar years.

The whole team benched him. Sorry, tapping out of a game, turns out, rubs guys the wrong way. Buckner, Nelson, and whoever else had words with him. It wasn't a small thing. That's not even considering the 47%.

AR was not benched this summer, Jones beat him out. They said it since January that they tried the baptism-by-fire route, and he was drowning. They're trying an alternate route. I'm sorry you and most others didn't believe them.

Originally Posted by rm1369

And this is the best team he has ever put together and it is only because he is finally scared for his job. Otherwise CB and safety would have continued to wait like we’ve seen every other year under Ballard.

That's great. We haven't seen a down played, but you'll say this is the best team? I guess he did sign two FA's, which is goal. I know it doesn't occur to people... but consider that we brought in, not just a new DC, but one that is radically and fundamentally different than the previous.

This one has a particular type of DB room he wants which, maybe, factors into what the GM looks for and prioritizes.

Originally Posted by rm1369

It’s hard as fuck to find a QB. IMO if you don’t have a franchise guy you have two options 1) be aggressive in finding that guy or 2) build a complete team that can support a journeyman. To this point Ballard has done neither.

1.) I don't see how drafting AR wasn't aggressive. If you listen to every pundit out there today, apparently everyone knew AR never should have been drafted at #4 (except that whole consensus top-3 QB label).

2.) This is outcome bias. There's no other way to put it. Ballard has kept his job for a decade precisely and ONLY because of what he puts around the QB. I mean, 9 years... He doesn't have Epstein files on the Irsays despite what Chopped will tell you. It's his rosters.