Denver caught their rainbow

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

I considered 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2005 (which just illustrates how good Polian was consistently in the draft), but ultimately 2001 made the cut over those years because it had an All-Pro and likely Hall of Famer in Reggie Wayne, two long term quality OL starters in Ryan Diem and Rick DeMulling, another decent starter in Idrees Bashir, and a quality backup in Jason Doering. 4 starters beats 3, especially when one of those "starters" is a punter.



I would say Ballard's worst flaw is his evaluation of DE/ED talent, which is why I believe it is so important to retain Yannick Ngakoue. Given his weakness there, he should probably focus on filling that position through free agency or trade. I also agree with the overinvestment in non-premium positions, it's what prompted my idea of trading 4, Taylor, and Leonard for 1. That said, I don't think he has been unwilling to invest in the premium positions, he just hasn't really found them until recently. He did give Braden Smith one of the largest RT contracts in the league. He's probably going to extend MPJ. I imagine if they continue down good development paths the next few seasons, he'll extend Raimann and Pierce. As for QB, he hasn't had one to extend yet, not since Luck retired. That's why getting the choice guy this year (which IMO will be Stroud) is so important. If Ballard can't do that, it doesn't matter how good he is at everything else, unfortunately, because winning football in the modern NFL requires a franchise QB.

As for Ballard trading away picks, the only truly bad trade he's made involving picks is the Wentz trade, and that's primarily because the Colts didn't make the decision to mitigate their losses and only give up a 2 once they figured out Wentz wasn't the guy. The other time Ballard traded his 1, for DeForest Buckner, I'd argue Buckner is better than anyone the Colts could've gotten at 13.

My lack of valuing the premium positions comment is mainly based on Ballard's lack of investment at WR (in 6 years the only real investment he's put into the position is 2 2nd round draft picks) and his handling of the LT situation which up to this point has been a disaster. Hopefully Raimann pans out and rights the ship there. But even if he does it was still at least a big short term fuck up that Ballard could have avoided.

Ballard also traded out of the 1st round in '19, which next to '17 is probably his worst draft. Agree on Buckner and Wentz trades. You just made it sound like Ballard's hands have been tied a bit b/c he hasn't had a full allotment of picks frequently, so I wanted to point out that it was his doing.