Ballard
 

I supported Ballard for the first 7 years he was gm. I finally got sick of mediocre QB play and holes in the team he was unwilling to fill because he would only use the draft to build a team. He has blown me out of the water this last year and has done everything I was pissed he never did before. Starting with actually fixing the backfield with of all things free agency and a trade for the ages. He has been a genius drafting offensive lineman, absolutely incredible what he has done there. When Luck retired I remember Ballard saying you don't need a franchise QB to win if you have a good well rounded team. Well I thought that made sense then and now we are about to put it to a real test. He took a swing with AR (unlike most of you I think that story hasn't fully played out yet-i believe that sitting behind a well run and functioning team is exactly what this young man needs) then finally found an adequate QB (again in my mind the fact that Jones and Steichen are on the same page is huge). This is such a radical change I have to give huge props to our new owners, no way they didn't have s huge hand in doing this. First time in many years I actually believe we are in the hunt. Loving this as we are finally using everything available to build. Ballard will be here a long time and I couldn't be more happy about it.

When ranking GMs in the NFL, I don't think Ballard is in the top 10 or even the top 20. But, that may change if the Colts can go deep in the playoffs. If they somehow got to the Show, his ranking would go way up.

Jones is the only starter on offense who wasn’t drafted by Ballard. I’m not sure how common that is, but i suspect it’s pretty rare.

The defense is a different story but that’s where Ballard has grown. Understanding that outside help isn’t always a bad thing.

I think he either had to adjust or get fired.

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Also, Jones was acquired by Ballard, even though he wasn't drafted by him. And prior to the Sauce Gardner trade, the overwhelming majority of this 2025 team was put together by Ballard, under the late Jim Irsay's watch.

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we all know this

why the fuck would you waste your time posting this

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Because many posters here on ColtFreaks have stated numerous times how much different things are with Carlie as the new owner ...... and to me, that is revisionist history that I think needs to be rebutted in Jim's defense.

So everybody here on ColtFreaks "may know this", but they don't always act like they know it ...... if Jim were still alive today, the Colts would be right where they are now atop the AFC South with a record of 7-2.

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The knock for me has largely been Ballard’s willingness to push issues down the road to next year. We’ve seen it at multiple positions over multiple years. Enough for it to be a clear trend in my eyes. The way he has handled the secondary this year is completely different. This is not the same Ballard. His drafting has always been solid to good, but this is the first year IMO he has been in win now mode. You can argue it’s because of Jones and maybe for the Sauce trade that is true. But that is definitely not the case for Bynum and Ward. Hard for me to believe it’s not because he knew his job was on the line and the patience had ran out. It was asked in a thread early this season what it would take for Ballard haters to support him. My answer was basically a playoff birth wasn’t the end all for me, I wanted to see him be aggressive and attempt to win. Sauce could suck as a Colt and I won’t criticize Ballard for it. He’s doing what I wanted to see. He’s different than he’s been. I honestly believe it’s from ownership, but I don’t care. I can support this version of Ballard.

I have a theory that his stance has changed with the passing of Jim. Carlie is selling the guitar collection. I think it is to free up funds to pay to improve the team so she can get a SB ring like her dad and her granddad. I don't think Jim wanted to spend as freely, and the guitar obsession caused it. Freeing the assets will lead to a more active free agency for the team in the future, IMO.

That doesn't make any sense. His job is not to win games, that's the coaching staff's job. His job is to put together the most talented roster possible for the coaching staff. In that respect, he's been top 5 in the league. This most recent move is very high risk, high reward. Basically, Gardner needs to be an All-Pro for this to be worth it. If he's not, Ballard may have made the team worse, which is poor job performance for a GM.

NFL GM rankings usually come down to one thing, whether you have a Quarterback. If you do, you’re automatically a genius. If you don’t…