Ballard throws fuel on the Lamar Jackson-to-Colts fire

[Chaka]

Per Keefer:

"Anytime a special player is available – which he is — you gotta do the work. I'm not gonna get into deep discussions on where it's at, what we're doing or what we might do, but he's a really special player. You never know how any of this will work out."

— Chris Ballard on Lamar

Source:
https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1640446081438990337

[Hoopsdoc]

I was just coming here to post this. I’d be intrigued by having him but not for a long term fully guaranteed contract. And not for the 4th pick.

If they’re gonna do it, wait until after the draft.

Those comments sure make it seem like they’re interested.

[Brylok]

Keeps people talking anyway.

[apballin]

Do it

[Brylok]

Originally Posted by apballin

Do it

Do it and you'll have Lemar and a bunch of JAGs. No money left for good players. Just rookies from drafts. Sounds great.

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...1/70022743007/

Why the Colts didn't trade up to No. 1
Joel A. Erickson
Indianapolis Star
View Comments


PHOENIX — The Bears put the No. 1 pick up for sale this offseason. From the sounds of it, plenty of teams made a run at the pick, none stronger than the Carolina Panthers, who ended up sending two first-round picks, two second-round picks and talented wide receiver D.J. Moore to Chicago for the right to pick the quarterback of their choice.

The Colts were never a major player in that race.

Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard did not feel like there was a quarterback who stood head and shoulders over the rest of a quarterback class that he believes is deep, even beyond the top four.


“Didn’t want to make a blind decision without all the information, and I know for people, they might not understand that, but history just kind of tells you that when you do that, you better know what you’re getting,” Ballard said. “We weren’t quite ready to do that at that time.”

If the cost of the deal — Ballard has famously said before that he loves to stockpile draft picks — was a significant factor in the decision to stay out of the race, the Colts general manager didn’t acknowledge it in his Monday interview with reporters at the owners’ meetings.


When he’s been asked directly about the possibility of a sure-fire, can’t-miss quarterback in the past, Ballard has always said he’d move heaven and earth to move up and get that player.

“I think we all know the importance of the position, so I think people are about willing to do whatever it takes to get their hands on one,” Ballard said.


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The Panthers struck a deal with the Bears on March 11, the week after the NFL scouting combine. The Colts were not ready to say that one of the quarterbacks in the 2023 draft is the kind of no-doubt prospect who could tempt Ballard to make the big move up the board.

Indianapolis had already done a lot of work on this quarterback class.



But the Colts believed there was still more work to do, particularly by new head coach Shane Steichen, who has repeatedly said this offseason that the quality he cares about most in a quarterback is an obsession with getting better, with putting in the work to be great.

“There’s a difference between studying the tape, which is the most important part of it, but then spending actual time with them,” Ballard said. “Carolina, give them credit, they feel like they’ve done their work, they felt like they were able to do it. They made the move.”

The Colts also were not worried that they’d get all the way through the process, only to realize the quarterback they had graded higher than anybody else was going to go to the Panthers at No. 1.

“We feel like there’s enough depth in this draft that if we do end up taking one, and finding one, that we’re going to be OK,” Ballard said.


Four quarterbacks are widely expected to be first-round picks: Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson and Kentucky’s Will Levis.

A fifth, Tennessee star Hendon Hooker, has reportedly impressed teams enough that NFL draft analysts have started predicting he might be a target for teams late in the first round.

Because the Colts hold the No. 4 pick in the draft, just about everybody has assumed the team will use it on one of those first four.

But Ballard tried to make the case that the team could find a franchise passer outside of the targets who have everybody’s attention.

“Everybody talks about the top four, but there’s some more guys out there, and they’re pretty good players,” Ballard said. “I think history’s shown, especially the last few years, with Jalen (Hurts) being one, Brock Purdy coming in and playing really well, they come at every level.”


The Colts know they need a quarterback.

Preferably a young quarterback, a player who can stop the revolving door the team has had at the position since Andrew Luck’s shocking retirement. Outside of the possibility of signing Baltimore superstar Lamar Jackson — a possibility the Colts didn’t shoot down on Monday — the team knows it’s most likely to land that player in the draft.

Instead of pursuing a veteran starter, the Colts released Matt Ryan and gave Gardner Minshew a backup’s deal to provide some security at the position.

Indianapolis wants to draft a quarterback.

“We’ll do our work on every one of them,” Ballard said. “At the end of the day, we’ll try to get one that we like and fits us, that we think we can win with.”

The Colts did not think they had to move up to No. 1 to get that player.


“At the end of the day, we feel good at 4,” Ballard said. “I’m not saying we won’t move up, and I’m not saying we won’t move back. What I’m saying is we’re still doing our work, and when that moment comes, we’ll make a decision and do it.”

And the player the Colts draft — along with the quarterbacks the Panthers and Texans take — will end up proving whether or not it was the right decision.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by Brylok

Do it and you'll have Lemar and a bunch of JAGs. No money left for good players. Just rookies from drafts. Sounds great.

As a practical matter, I think fully guaranteed contracts for top QBs are now inevitable given the Watson contract and the outsized importance that QBs play in the success of a franchise. If any top QB reached the open market today, he'd almost certainly be able to secure a similar contract. After all, teams were lining up for Watson, warts and all.

I'll admit I'm a bit concerned about this type of contract given Lamar's recent injury history, however, not to mention the trouble some QBs have recently had translating their skills to a new team.

I will say that while it's true $50 million is a huge chunk of the cap, it still leaves the team with nearly $175M to work with. No question it would require some belt-tightening though.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Per Keefer:

"Anytime a special player is available – which he is — you gotta do the work. I'm not gonna get into deep discussions on where it's at, what we're doing or what we might do, but he's a really special player. You never know how any of this will work out."

— Chris Ballard on Lamar

Source:
https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/1640446081438990337

All he is saying is they are doing their due diligence. Which is what they should do. They gameplan, or wargame, whatever you want to call it, getting that person.

[Oldcolt]

The issue to me is that a running QB gets injured and he may no longer be a running QB. His value may tumble. A pocket QB gets injured and unless it is his arm or a major injury, he is still good to go usually without a significant drop off