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Cody Benjamin offers his rat's ass of an opinion on the L'Jarius Snead trade. 3 Reasons Why the Chiefs Got So Little From the Titans for Their Super Bowl Champion Cornerback (By Cody Benjamin) https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/l...on-cornerback/ 1) ) The Chiefs weren't set to pay Sneed long-term. 2) ) Sneed is older (27), and his star replacement is already in place. 3) ) CB is a volatile position, and it may be losing some value. o
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BALTIMORE COLTS ))))))))))))))))))) INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Bert Jones, Johnny Unitas, Earl Morrall ))))))))).lll) Jim Harbaugh, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck |
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#83
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I brought up the Tyreek Hill trade because it is the type of difficult decision that well run franchises sometimes have to make, and I truly believe that most Colts fans would demand Ballard's head on a pike if he made a move like that, even if it was the right move to make. I agree with the idea of taking smart, calculated risks, but the ones that you and I think make sense may not be the ones the front office thinks make sense. I probably wouldn't have traded the 13th pick in 2020 for Buckner, but that was a good move. I wanted Hunter, and it was reported that the Colts had the better offer, but players get to choose where they go in free agency. Also, you keep saying Ballard is an "above average" drafter, that's like calling Peyton Manning an "above average" QB. Ballard is a better drafter than Polian, who is among the best drafters of all-time and whose drafting put him in the Hall of Fame. You don't get rid of that over small irritations. |
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Catching up on this one. Here's my .02 on several of the things being discussed:
Ballard - No question that Ballard is a MUCH better GM that Grigson, but damn near anybody would be b/c Grigson was completely incompetent. I think we need to pump the breaks pretty hard on this Ballard is a better GM than Polian talk. When Ballard's teams start reaching Super Bowls (or have any playoff success at all) then I think we can maybe start having that conversation. As far as just drafting goes - I mostly agree w/ Chaos that you can have the conversation, but I do not agree that it's an absolute fact that Ballard is a better drafter. On top of just the amount of all-pros and HOFers that Polian drafted, you have to consider that most of his HRs were at premium positions. Whereas Ballard's haven't been. Something else that you have to consider is that during Polian's tenure the salary cap was more restrictive w/ no rookie salary limits in place, which made it much harder to keep your own and likely led to really good players like Mike Peterson, David Thornton, Steve McKinney being allowed to walk. Something else about Polian is that he tended to be more proactive is drafting replacements 1-2 years ahead of time (Diem and DeMulling in '01 are really good examples of this) while Ballard tends to wait until the vet leaves and tries to replace them w/ a rookie. Overall though I do think Ballard is a good GM. He definitely drafts well. I do think his reluctance in FA and the fact that he gets scared shitless anytime another team is involved in pursuing a player is concerning. Let's say in a couple of years we're 1-2 players away and could fill that need(s) via FA. Based on his history I doubt Ballard will actually go for it and end up trying to fill the need(s) via the draft as always, which could lead to us missing our window. Sneed - I'm pretty disappointed that he ended up at Tenn and not here, especially considering that they got him for peanuts w/ draft compensation. He did get signed to a big contract, but it wasn't outrageous. $19M AAV is tied for 7th most at CB and $55M guaranteed is 5th most at CB, which IMO isn't unreasonable considering his production and how much the cap went up this year. Offseason so far - I would give us a C/C+ so far. It's great that we re-signed most of our own and added some depth at NT. But as of now arguably our weakest area (secondary) is actually weaker w/ the likelihood of losing Blackmon. We really need to replace him w/ a vet and IMO sign a vet at CB as well. Relying on mostly projects, 2nd year guys, and rookies in our secondary is a recipe for disaster IMO. We also need to add weapons in the passing game on O, but I suspect those will come in the draft. |
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I think quoting Diem and DeMulling as drafting replacements is stretching things a little. Diem possibly, he was a 4th round pick who you think will be good depth and maybe become a potential starter, but DeMulling was a 7th rounder flyer, who no-one really knew would become a replacement starter. Could just as easily have been a cut candidate.
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Either way there was a clear pattern under Polian of drafting replacement players at least 1 year ahead of time, which allowed them to develop and be evaluated. Another example is David Thornton being drafted in '02 and replacing Peterson in '03. I can list several of these (including ones that didn't work out), but the point being is that IMO this is a better strategy than relying on rookies to come in and produce right away which is what Ballard tends to do. |
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Starters by draft:
1998 Peyton Manning Jerome Pathon? (I wouldn't count him, others might) Steve McKinney 1999 Edgerrin James Mike Peterson Hunter Smith 2000 Rob Morris Marcus Washington David Macklin 2001 Reggie Wayne Ryan Diem Rick DeMulling 2002 Dwight Freeney David Thornton 2003 Dallas Clark Robert Mathis Cato June 2004 Bob Sanders Jason David 2005 Marlin Jackson Kelvin Hayden Tyjuan Hagler 2006 Joseph Addai Tim Jennings (though he wasn't really a quality starter as a Colt) Freddy Keiaho Charlie Johnson Antoine Bethea 2007 None 2008 Jacob Tamme Pierre Garcon 2009 Jerraud Powers Austin Collie Pat McAfee VS 2017 Marlon Mack Grover Stewart Anthony Walker Jr. 2018 Quenton Nelson Shaquille Leonard Braden Smith Zaire Franklin 2019 Bobby Okereke Khari Willis E.J. Speed 2020* Michael Pittman Jr. Jonathan Taylor Julian Blackmon Isaiah Rodgers *Traded 13th overall pick for DeForest Buckner 2021 Kwity Paye Dayo Odeyingbo Will Fries 2022** Alec Pierce Jelani Woods Bernhard Raimann Nick Cross Rodney Thomas 2023** Anthony Richardson Julius Brents Josh Downs Blake Freeland Jaylon Jones **These drafts are too early to tell, players who have received significant playing time and/or performed well were included. |
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Also, despite you notating that it's too early to tell I think you're still trying to count your chickens before they hatch from the past 2 drafts (especially w/ including Cross on that list). Of course I hope you're right on all of them. Admittedly Polian's drafts definitely declined when he started handing the reigns over to Chris after '06, but the fact that Polian has several HOFers and all pros at premium positions (even if you exclude Peyton) I would still give him the edge over Ballard. Which isn't a knock on Ballard at all. As I stated earlier he does draft well. |
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That's an excellent point!
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