I think you have to give Wentz another year.

o


I agree, and I know that you and I are in the vast minority here on ColtFreaks in regard to that subject ...... but if some issue is bubbling under the surface that has little to nothing to do with Wentz' play on the field, he may not get that chance ...... not necessarily because Reich, Ballard, and Irsay don't think that he deserves another chance, but rather because there is something else about Wentz that has turned them off to him.

And if that is indeed is what is happening and it plays out that way (Wentz gets cut from the team for some other reason besides his play/ability), then in a sense, the Big 3 in our organization will be cutting off their noses to spite their faces.


Now, is it possible that those 3 people do in fact cut their noses off to spite their faces and the Colts wind up with a better quarterback than Wentz for the 2022 season anyway ??? Yes, that is possible. But it is also possible that Wentz could improve next season after having had a full year of experience under his belt with his new team ...... the odds may not be in his favor, but it is possible. Somewhere inside of there is the quarterback who led his team to 3 consecutive playoff berths while throwing 81 TD passes and only 21 INT's with a 64.4% completion ratio in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons combined. It's a gamble that may be under 50%, but considering that he is already here and that we already gave up the 2022 first-round draft pick, I hope that the Colts roll the dice with him.

o

No you don't !!!!!! Colt's just can not keep waiting till next year !!!

Have to wait to see how the dominoes fall. Rodgers just ended his engagement. Maybe he is ready for something new. Options available seem to be:
1. Keep Wentz, hope he improves. But likely get same results.
2. Trade Wentz. Try to get a upgrade veteran. Lose lots of draft capital.
3. Trade Wentz, roll with a rookie or Sam. Maybe hope for a high draft pick next year.

Look, I wanted Wentz to be the answer once we traded for him. I see that he is not. However, if we keep him another year (which I doubt will happen) then I will wish for him to pull off a miracle and actually be the answer. I have blue sunglasses, and always hope for the best. However, I also like to cut the losses when they are obvious. Something about Wentz was just wrong for this team last year. Maybe we roll the dice elsewhere and hit paydirt.

I think Rodgers stays in GB or retires. I don't think Wilson will be traded, and if he is, we do not have the ammo to be in the mix. Maybe Bridgewater or Winston can be signed and work out. I am not convinced on either being successful. Maybe Sam is ready next year, but I doubt it. No good players in the draft available. That leaves a free agent, or Wentz. See my post above for my thoughts on him.

WWBB do?

We have the capital if we want to use it. You just throw future firsts and other picks to compensate.

I may be alone but I don't believe we have the capital to go after a top QB if they become available. Not with the number of teams needing a QB and us not having a number one this year. You are going to need at least two number ones and even if it was accepted it would give us three years in a row without a number one. Think Ballard will be in for that? We are not one QB away from the Super Bowl anyway. Our situation sucks big time. Missing on Wentz has put us in a world of hurt. I don't see any answer right now but don't want us pulling off some bullshit panic move that sets us back even further. We need calm heads, especially right now.

Nonsense. Wentz is not the answer, Wentz will never be the answer.

He is a fatally flawed quarterback whose shortcomings get magnified the bigger the moment. He is the antithesis of clutch. His mechanics fall apart, he has zero pocket presence, he locks in on receivers, and he never just takes the layup.

We will never win a big game with Wentz at quarterback, I firmly believe that now.

So the only logical thing to do is to move on and keep looking.

Sign Cam Newton & have Mac Jones fall in his lap.

This year's first is worth a whole lot more than future picks.

This has got to be one of he worst years ever to be looking for a QB. Nine teams, or so, need a QB. There are no good free agents to speak of and the draft doesn't have any elite QBs. We don't have a number one. Ballard and co. will do everything they can to improve the position, I just have a hard time seeing how. I'm betting we end up rolling with Wentz for one more year. Of all the QBs available to sign (I do not see us giving up draft capital for a lateral move) Trubisky would be my choice.

We were a bottom 10 team in pass blocking, one of the worst TE rooms in NFL and our number one receiver would be a number two or three on most playoff teams. Our number two and three receivers wouldn't even be in most playoff team rotations. And yet the issue was Wentz and only Wentz. Put some decent weapons around him, get a pass rush and see what we can do next year with a full off season.

It really seems like there's a lack of QB talent in the league right now. There's a few teams that have legit franchise worthy QBs and a bunch of guys who I have no confidence in, and a few question marks.
I mean just for fun, looking at the league:
Patriots: Jones is a ?? for me right now. He might turn out OK and be their guy but their success was really predicated on their defense. And now without McDaniels, how good will Jones be? (by the way, McDaniels leaving for the Raiders proves that when BB/Kraft talked him out of the Colts job, it wasn't because they promised him something special within their org, it was just a screw job against the Colts)
Bills: Allen is legit
Dolphins: I have no confidence in Tua and we all know Jacoby isn't it
Jets: Wilson might still be a ?? but personally I don't think he'll be any good

Bengals: Burrow is the man for sure
Ravens: Jackson is legit but possibly not good enough to get them all the way, they really melted down late in the season. Tyler Huntley is probably not going to amount to anything.
Steelers: Big Ben is gone, no one on their depth chart is gonna be the guy
Browns: I suppose Mayfield is the guy, but closer to ??

Colts: Wentz is clearly in the ?? domain
Titans: Tannehil is probably in the ??domain too, so far not enough to warrant the label franchise QB
Jags: clearly have promise but only time will tell with mr shampoo commercial
Texans: they have no one (Watson doesn't count, his career is over)

Chargers: clearly Herbert is the guy
Chiefs: no doubt about Mahomes
Raiders: Carr is probably past his window, but maybe McDaniels does something good with him. So I'll call it a ?? here. It's a no to Mariota
Broncos: Lock, Bridgewater, they all suck

Thats 16 teams in the AFC and only 5 QBs that would one even consider legitimate players that can lead a team to a superbowl (Mahomes, Herbert, Allen, Burrow, Lawrence), and 6 maybes (??, Wentz, Tannehil, Jones, Carr, Mayfield, Jackson) and out of them only 1 or 2, at most 3, are probably legit (Jackson, Mayfield, Jones, in that order).

That leaves at most only half of the AFC with a real QB, the rest are needing to upgrade. Of the 8 that I named, they are all locked up.

Seems like the numbers are even worse in the NFC.
The real QBs would be:
Rodgers (but also he's 38, he is not a long term solution for anyone except the packers)
Prescott (but I have my doubts about him sometimes)
Stafford
R. Wilson (though he just had a bad year too)

And that's literally it, 4 franchise QBs, assuming Brady really retires.

Murray is a headcase. Jimmy G is always injured. Cousins, Trubisky, Goff, Winston, Hurts, Minshew, they are all JAGs. Cam Newton sucks.

They’re still firsts. You just throw in a bit more. Rams did it.

MPJ was the best receiver in the NFL against the press. He was one of the best in the NFL on third down, and was leading the NFL for part of the season. All this in his second year. People need to stop with the narrative that he isn’t a number one. It’s bullshit and they don’t know what they are talking about.

TEs were functional, no mismatch athletes. But they got open and can catch.

He also had the best running back in the nfl. Faced stacked boxes the majority of the time with single coverage. He had the 6th easiest passing schedule of all QBs.

We had one of the lowest drop rates in the NFL. Do we need some better WRs, sure. A mid match TE would be great. But it won’t make Wentz more accurate. Won’t make him a better decision maker. If your pass protection is bad, you speed up your throw. He was at the bottom of the league in time to throw. It’s a problem when the guy is overthrowing Mo Allie Cox by five feet consistently. Fix Wentz and a lot will get better. If your QB sucks, your WRs will look like crap. Unless Randy Miss is walking through the door, a WR won’t make him better.

Hell we just saw a noodle armed Rivers take them to the playoffs.

Agree. I think we will end up with another year of wentz as he is currently on the roster and lack of real options. Ballard is not trading a ton a picks for any top end QB (non of which I think will be available anyway). Ballard is not trading picks for a short term/slight upgrade at QB. It will be another frustrating year with wentz (his last) or roll with sam or some random one year QB with looks toward next years draft or possible FA.

or maybe wentz surprises us all and has a really good year...but thats probably not happening.

It was not meant as a put down on MJP. I agree he is a number one. But he still isn't the number one on most of these playoff teams. And the cupboard is practically bare after that.

I agree about the tight ends being functional, that isn't good enough in this NFL. Especially if you are not explosive outside.

This was not meant to be somehow supportive of Wentz long term (or even short term). We need a long term solution and it probably isn't on the roster right now. We know how shit Wentz is, we didn't live through these other QB's shittiness. The whole situation just makes me sick. There is no option I can see that has any real promise.

I personally think if Wentz gets cut, or traded (Salvage what you can) they are going to give Sam a shot. They won't have to work a QB into the system, he knows it. I know I am probably 100% wrong, but trading Wentz for another Wentz is not solving anything, but if someone is willing to give a 2nd. this year for him, do it. We are no way getting a one out of him, we drew the short straw for that one.

Whats the problem with going with Ellinger next year, at worst he sucks, improving your draft position looking towards drafting his replacement, at best he surprises, has a fantastic year and proves that he just might be the guy!! Anyway you try, Wentz, Ellinger or FA, its probably going to be ANOTHER lost season!!

I doubt Sam would make it half the season before being hurt.

Sam Ehlinger is the answer to the question "What QB could the Colts go into the 2022 season with as their starter to ensure they will get the #1 overall pick in 2023?"

That was my point. Get what we can out of Wentz and roll with the kid. Worse case scenario we are in the same place but without the price tag. Best case scenario we suck and improve our draft position, or he pleasantly surprises and performs well.

Unless ‘the kid’ has somehow found an NFL arm it doesn’t matter how smart he is. And why does anyone think he is so wonderful at reading defenses and leading this team? Did you not watch his preseason? Seems like a nice young man but not our savior by any means. We are in a world of hurt.

I've just had this feeling that it's even worse than we think. Ballard and Reich are probably both on hot seats, and Reich is hanging by a thread. Ballard is floundering with an ill-built team with two offensive weapons, and Diamond Jim is pissed. To me, the shine is completely off of Ballard. We're bang average with a great RB, LG, linebacker, and a number 2 receiver. That's it. Five years and that's all we have. I just have a feeling it's worse than we think over there. Roast me if y'all want.

I forgot to mention Buckner. He's really good too, but he's double teamed so often he's rendered irrelevant.

That's why I don't understand why so many on here defend either one of these guys with such vigilance. When you look at the results, neither one of them has really done much of anything to speak of. We literally have the EXACT same problems we went into last off season with, and with a hell of a lot less options to try to remedy due to Frank massaging Wentz's sack and Ballard trying to get Freeney and Mathis year 5 results out of 2 rookies- one of which couldn't even play. When you step back and look at things with a wide lens, Ballard really kind of seems to suck at this GM thing.

I think the Wentz debacle has definitely hurt both Ballard and Reich, I'm sure they have both lost some level of respect across the league...it wasn't as bad as the Trent Richardson butt reaming that Cleveland gave Grigson, but it was close! Since Wentz is still on the roster, my guess is either Reich or Ballard, or both, want to try to salvage this deal and give him another shot and hope he proves everyone wrong! I would love to be proven wrong, but until I hear Wentz speak out and say he's wants to stay and work his ass off in the off season to get better, I don't see it happening!

Bottom line this is Taylor’s team on offense now

Wentz has zero precision passing/timing throws he holds it waaayyy too long every fucking time I don’t know if that’s fixable. Reich took a chance on his old long lost son and it failed we all wanted it to work but obviously it didn’t. I’d rather get a QB in here that is a game manager and doesn’t turn it over with the understanding he’s a compliment to JT. That’s my biggest concern is Reich continually game after game tried to make Wentz the hero and it fucked us.

Look how successful Rivers was he got the ball out quick and that’s before we knew how good Taylor was.

It didn’t work, blame whatever you want Wentz ankles, lack of weapons (which I don’t agree with) , Covid at the end of the year whatever we went to the playoffs with Rivers in year one and Wentz steps in with the exact same team a much improved running back and shits the bed

I’m with Irsay on this one Carson has got to go it’s Taylor’s team and Reichs biased emotions will always get in the way it’s not 2017 anymore Frank the Carson you loved is long gone

Objectively speaking Ballard is probably around the NFL average. He drafts pretty well, manages the cap well, and has made some good trades. On the other hand he has completely ignores glaring team needs and isn't good at proactively replacing players at super important positions (AC, TY, etc.). He also seems to put more much more importance on physical traits rather than production, which has led to some big misses with early round draft picks.

He's also gotten a pretty big pass on things b/c the guy he replaced was incompetent (that goes for Frank as well).

If we have another offseason or 2 of completely ignoring team needs then it might be time to move on.

Exactly. It'd be much better for the Colts to trade Wentz rather than just cut him b/c Ballard could put the $15M in dead money we'd be paying Wentz towards filling some of the glaring holes this team has.

Ignoring team needs? There is a pro bowler at every level of the D. There are 2-3 all pro O linemen, the best Rb in the league and a Wr on the verge of being something special.

The only big problem is the lack of a QB. Ballard has checked every box, except that one. The colts fucked up, they should have tanked a season to get a better draft position.

Is there a college player who could be drafted and play right now for the Colts? That or ask Brady if he wants to play? Give up picks this year and next for —————— or a vet. Thats about the only thing I can see that will get them over the hump

All those things you say in the beginning paragraph, and we sipped fruity drinks on the beach while others played the last 5 weeks. That smells like a crappy coach to me.

Ballard has checked every box ……. except QB, DE, and LT. The three most important positions to winning. That’s without getting into the debate about whether or not the WR corp is lacking (I think it is). Hopefully DE is checked now, but that remains to be seen and is far from certain. He went into the season with no DE on the roster with double digit career sacks. I honestly haven’t been able to verify it, but I have to believe the number of teams that have done that and did anything in the post season is pretty small. Especially when you consider that the guy he counted on to improve it had all of 11.5 sacks in 4 college seasons. That’s not a knock on Paye, he’s clearly talented. But that in no way addressed a major need for the season.

I can make an argument to defend most of Ballard’s individual decisions (even those I disagree with)but ultimately he is what his record says. And his methods have led to a team with holes at some of the most critical positions. I don’t necessarily blame him for the QB position, but he’s in danger of wasting all of the good things he has done due to his decisions at the three big positions.

If I told you a team was on its 5th different starting QB in 5 years, lacked a pass rush, and had issues at LT would you assume it was a successful team?

He drafted two DEs last draft. Both look pretty good. Fisher was hurt most of the year, that was a wiff. We know the Qb drama since Luck retired, and maybe he should have sold the future for Stafford. Thats in the past. Do you want kurk cousins? Thats about all that is out there. Or Brady.

We have and have had way more problems than just QB:

Our pass rush has sucked for years and was in an even bigger hole going into '21 after we let Denico Autry and Justin Houston walk. So what does Ballard do about it? He drafts 2 projects, one of which wasn't going to play until the middle of the season at the earliest. Maybe Paye and Dayo might actually work out, but there was really no chance that they would be able to provide the glaring help needed in '21.

The writing was clearly on the wall a couple of years ago that AC was going to hang it up sooner rather than later, but Ballard did squat to backfill him or build depth at LT to help transition until a long term replacement could be found. We were lucky that Fisher was on the market after his injury in the '20 AFCCG, and unfortunately we found out why he was available.

Outside of MPJ our WRs are all below average at best (even TY as father time and his injury history has caught up with him). Our WR corps needed upgraded at least at WR2 going into '21, but all Ballard did was draft a late round project. Clear failure on Ballard's part that we're not better at WR across the board.

Some other lessor needs that went unaddressed going into '21:

After letting Burton walk we needed a pass catching 3rd TE. Ballard again went with a rookie project. We're in even worse shape now as Doyle is probably going to hang it up and MAC regressed big time this year.

Our secondary depth, especially at safey was pretty bad going into the year. Losing Blackmon was a huge blow, but it could have been softened if weren't relying on ageing journeyman brought in off the street and thrown into the startling lineup. Also, Ballard still needs to address CB1 (or 2) having only band aided it the past 2 off seasons with 1 year contracts for Rhodes.

Obviously you can't expect all team needs to get addressed in an off season (or even 2), but the huge gaping holes in the top 3 team needs I listed are huge failures on Ballard's part.

Kirk Cousins would be an upgrade in my opinion...the guy is accurate and has a lot of experience.

Reich had a better record BEFORE Wentz showed up. And Reich wanted him, he was in on that decision. The HC is not exempt from the season results. If the Colts miss the playoffs, Irsay may clean sweep the GM, And HC.

I’m not giving anyone a pass. Ive made other posts that the entire organization is responsible for last season, including Irsay.

And how has he played in BIG games?