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

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I’m talking about Rivers, not Jones. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the DJ decision, but I think it was a completely stupid move to sign rivers and not go all in with him. All Ballard’s supporters will point out (like Dam is) that Ballard hasn’t drafted high enough to get a franchise guy. The reason he hasn’t drafted high enough is because of moves like that. I would have been fine going all in for 1-2 years with Rivers origins with starting a complete scrub and bottoming out. I wasn’t fine with splitting the middle like Ballard did. Moves like that are why the team is where it is - the only team in the division to not have a division title in Ballard’s tenure.

I feel this is the year that ends. I know a lot of you don't want that to happen, because of irrational hate for Ballard, but I think our roster is good enough, if we can get solid QB play out of Jones. Houston is not as good as some think, and neither is Stroud. Jaguars are in the same boat, although Hunter might be a huge help. Lawrence is JAG at QB. Titans are the Titans, talentless, and starting a rookie QB. Maybe one of those three surprises me, but I think we have just as good of a shot as anyone in the division, with solid QB play. Heck, we were close with the 55th ranked QB last year.

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

I feel this is the year that ends. I know a lot of you don't want that to happen, because of irrational hate for Ballard, but I think our roster is good enough, if we can get solid QB play out of Jones. Houston is not as good as some think, and neither is Stroud. Jaguars are in the same boat, although Hunter might be a huge help. Lawrence is JAG at QB. Titans are the Titans, talentless, and starting a rookie QB. Maybe one of those three surprises me, but I think we have just as good of a shot as anyone in the division, with solid QB play. Heck, we were close with the 55th ranked QB last year.

I honestly don't know how a team with the 55th ranked QB and 28th ranked defense wins 8 games? Statistical anomaly, a credit to offensive coaching, or a better than average roster?

I sincerely doubt that this has ever happened in the NFL before.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

I honestly don't know how a team with the 55th ranked QB and 28th ranked defense wins 8 games? Statistical anomaly, a credit to offensive coaching, or a better than average roster?

I sincerely doubt that this has ever happened in the NFL before.

Because the toughest strength of schedule this team has had in the Ballard era is 23rd. Divisions play a huge role in that and the AFC South has also been the worst division in football over Ballard’s tenure. That’s how good he has been. Imagine if he played in an actually competitive division.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

Not to speak for him, but I've read him say it, and I agree... It's not so much fear of something worse.

It's fear of booting a guy who puts out a good roster and THEN landing a QB. He's right. If we had one of those QB's listed, the Colts would run away with this division yearly.

I mean that would suck as well, but my biggest fear is another Grigson, whether or not he gets a franchise QB. Ballard can build a roster. If you replace him, will the new guy be able to build a roster?

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Why on earth does everyone think we have such a great team? The only quasi all pro on this team is a guard. We have zero difference makers on defense, unless you count Buckner, who wasn't even drafted by us.

What does it matter how talent was acquired? If the Colts signed a QB no one here had ever heard of off the street tomorrow and he won 2025 NFL MVP, would you care that the Colts didn't draft him? Also, you realize there are less than 50 All-Pro players every year in a league of 2,240 players, right? If you just do a per team average, it works out to 1.56 All-Pros per team, and that's first and second team, by the way. Oh, and the Colts had 2 All-Pros last year, and while Franlin probably shouldn't have made it, Buckner should have over Zach Allen.

Regardless, how can we say the roster is good? Because with bad QB play, it's still a ~.500 team. All that's needed is good QB play.

Originally Posted by omahacolt

starting Gardner minshew wouldn't have really inspired much confidence in the fan base

Why not? 2023 was supposed to be a down year, and starting Minshew would've meant sitting AR for the year, which would've been good for his development.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

I honestly don't know how a team with the 55th ranked QB and 28th ranked defense wins 8 games? Statistical anomaly, a credit to offensive coaching, or a better than average roster?

I sincerely doubt that this has ever happened in the NFL before.

Jonathan Taylor is good, but not THAT good. Maybe the 55th ranked QB was not actually the 55th best QB, but still not solid enough to manage a team well.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Irsay, handed AR the starters keys. I hope that nobody on this forum believes that AR beat out Minshew after a week of TC, and then 2 years later, couldn't beat out Daniel Jones? He didn't beat out Minshew and probably wouldn't beat out Minshew today.

Not sure how you got that I was saying or suggesting that AR beat out Minshew in '23. He was clearly handed the starter job from pretty much day one. As far as Irsay pressuring the FO and coaches to start AR here's what Ballard said about it:

Ballard said earlier this offseason that he regretted playing Richardson right away as a rookie, a revelation that prompted a question to Ballard on Wednesday about whether the front office and coaching staff were pressured by late owner Jim Irsay to play the rookie immediately.

Ballard bristled at the question.

“No, not at all,” Ballard said. “We made the decision. You learn sometimes with decisions that didn't go the way you wish they would have gone and so – but no, there was no pressure.”

The article then goes to state that Irsay did say he thought AR would get better by playing right away, but that was aligned w/ what Steichen had said from the point right after we drafted AR. So based off of all of their comments it seems like Irsay, Ballard, and Steichen were all aligned in starting AR from day 1.

I honestly don't know how a team with the 55th ranked QB and 28th ranked defense wins 8 games? Statistical anomaly, a credit to offensive coaching, or a better than average roster?

I sincerely doubt that this has ever happened in the NFL before.

Jonathan Taylor is good, but not THAT good. Maybe the 55th ranked QB was not actually the 55th best QB, but still not solid enough to manage a team well.

You guys are really underestimating how soft our schedules have been, especially last year. We played 6 games against the bottom 4 teams in the league, another 2 against bottom 10 teams, and 1 against a Tua-less Phins which is a bottom 5 team. 7/8 wins in '24 came in those games.


Some other thoughts I have based on the discussion:

On Ballard - yes, he's a good GM, but IMO he's not a great GM. He's a pretty good talent evaluator and for the most part has drafted well, but his phobia of top tier FAs has handicapped his effectiveness and has been a big factor in our mediocrity over the past 5 seasons. I agree w/ rn that his decision to bring in win now QBs and slow play other parts of the roster is not a winning strategy. It was really good to see him finally step out of his comfort zone this offseason, so if we have a good season and he keeps his job then hopefully he doesn't go back into his shell.

Also, I don't think the fear of bringing in someone worse should be the reason we keep Ballard. If we think we can go get someone better then we should go get them.

On Grigson - Yeah he was god awful, and his incompetence has definitely made Ballard look better than he actually is. Something I've always found interesting about Grigson's tenure is that he made a lot of really good moves when we were backed up against the cap in '12, but once the cap handcuffs were taken off things went to shit. We lost Tom Telesco after the '12 season, so I think a lot of the success from the Grig's first offseason probably came from Telesco.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I did. It’s an example of my issue with his philosophy. Best record and not a division title to show for it. Just year after year of middle of the road finishes. Mediocrity. The numbers would be even “better” (worse) if not for Irsay’s intervention. You can crow about it, but it’s exact what I hate about Ballard’s style. And I expect a similar outcome this year.

I'm not crowing. I don't think I've ever even brought that stat up, let alone bragged about it. I'm just pointing out that the "no division titles" narrative has a particular connotation and I would wager that most fans would be surprised to learn that the Colts have the best record.

Division titles aren't meaningless, but they're also not binary like they're being presented. Like any stat, there is context. Nobody here cared too much about a division title in 2018 when we beat the division champs twice on the road, including the playoffs. Neither did the Texans.

Congrats to JAX for taking the division in 2022 at 9-8 while the rest of the division was imploding. We were 11-5 in 2020 and lost a tie-breaker. Steichen was a bad 4-yard pass away from the division title with Gardner fucking Minshew at QB in '23.

The Texans earned the 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd overall draft picks consecutively from '22-'24 after two overrated years with Watson. And then the retarded Browns gave HOU THREE more 1st-rounders, a 3rd, and two 4ths in that same stretch. And they barely got by the Colts the past two years with Gardner fucking Minshew and a 47% passer.

TEN was in a similar boat with a solid roster and underwhelming QB play until Ryan Tannehill was available. They had four straight 9-win seasons, but by chance, that resulted in two playoff berths. Both of our 9-win seasons sent us home.

Originally Posted by rm1369

I think it was a completely stupid move to sign rivers and not go all in with him.

What does that mean?

[omahacolt]

Originally Posted by rm1369

You can probably convince me Irsay added pressure to start AR. After year after year of reclamation projects I could see it taking its toll on Jim’s patience. It did with the majority of the fan base. I’m sure that played into the one thing we know was Irsay’s decision- hiring Saturday and tanking the season to actually be in a position to draft a QB. Everything else is Ballard. You likely can’t convince me otherwise. Signing an aging QB and doing a slow rebuild with the rest of the roster is exactly Ballard’s philosophy at work.

starting Gardner minshew wouldn't have really inspired much confidence in the fan base