Zach Hicks on Colts real issue

[rm1369]

An excellent article from Zach Hicks on where the Colts issue actually lies. I’ve been saying nearly identical things since Ballard’s second season. He’s trying to build a 1970s dynasty in 2022. The Bill Polian and Ted Thompson comparison is excellent and one I have used. The only thing missing is pointing out that considering the generational talent those two had at QB, they under achieved in the end goal - SBs. They traded dominance for longevity.

Reich has his faults, but he’s never had the same starting QB. Every season he has major positions where they have to develop a solution on the fly. DE, LT, WR. Ballard is an excellent talent evaluator, but he sucks at constructing teams. Clean house and I’m fine. But anyone thinking Reich is the major problem is simply wrong. The team is exactly where I’ve said it would be with Ballard’s “next season” philosophy


Article:

The Indianapolis Colts are in dire straits this year, as they sit with a putrid 1-2-1 record through four weeks. To make matters worse, all three of the Colts' non-wins have come against divisional rivals. With the team falling apart and the road to the playoffs looking out of reach already, who is to blame for this disastrous start?

The common fall guy has been Head Coach Frank Reich thus far. While I am in no way trying to absolve Reich from blame, I implore you all to look at the bigger picture of the Colts' issues. Frank Reich may be worth firing after the season, and he absolutely will be the guy tossed aside if this team misses the playoffs, but the Colts' issues run much deeper than just the head coach.

The main issue with the Indianapolis Colts is the process and the conservative nature of their General Manager. Chris Ballard has been the local, and National, golden boy for GM's during his tenure, but his lack of self-scouting and his lack of overall aggression has turned this once successful franchise into the textbook definition of mediocrity.

The Colts aren't going to get out of purgatory under Chris Ballard. His process is simply not the way to build a team in the modern NFL (if you don't already have a legit quarterback).


The Poor Usage of Free Agency

Before we get into this part of the article, I do want to say that Ballard's approach to free agency isn't wrong (in theory). Ballard is very Bill Polian/Ted Thompson in how he views this aspect of the offseason. He won't overpay for middling talent and he never views his teams as being one good free agent away from being complete.

Here is what Ballard has said numerous times over the years about free agency:

“We’re just not the biggest fans of right out the gate free agency where you’re paying B players A-plus money… There’s a cost to that… Our players know we want to keep them. We’ve done a pretty good job so far of keeping the players we wanted to keep in-house… I think we have a really good culture. It’s one of accountability. One where they care about each other, and one where they want to win and do special things.”

This is the correct way to view free agency. Oftentimes, in the NFL, the teams that spend the most money in free agency tend to be the worst teams in the league the following year. All of the problems on a team can't be fixed by throwing money at it. This is what Ballard believes, and I personally tend to agree with him on this.

Where his philosophy fails is how he completely neglects the usefulness of this phase of the offseason. Ballard spoke with Joey Mulinaro prior to last offseason about his free agency approach. In that conversation, he mentioned how he adhered to a similar philosophy as teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers:

“The Steelers.. I think they are one of the great organizations and they are very disciplined in what they want to do. They draft most of their team and they work to develop them. Every once in a while you will see them dip into free agency, but not very often. When they do, it’s to plug a hole. We have a very similar philosophy.”

The problem with this is that Ballard rarely uses free agency to actually plug a hole. Let's compare Chris Ballard to one of the best GMs in the sport in Brandon Beane for a moment. Flashback to 2018 and the Buffalo Bills finished the season with a 6-10 record with their young quarterback running for his life on almost every snap.

Going into that offseason, Beane didn't come out and drop 20 million dollar a year deals on every free agent that he saw to fix these problems. Instead, he used free agency, and the draft, to plug a hole. The Bills brought in C/G Spencer Long (4 million a year), C Mitch Morse (11 million a year), G John Feliciano (4 million a year), T Ty Nsekhe (7.5 million a year), G Quinton Spain (2 million a year), and G Cody Ford (38th overall pick).


Did every single one of these moves work? Absolutely not. Cody Ford was traded to the Arizona Cardinals a few years later, and Ty Nsekhe certainly didn't live up to his contract. The point, though, is that the Bills threw resources at a position of need and ended up better as a result (despite a few misses and bad contracts).

The Buffalo Bills and Brandon Beane threw countless resources at a major problem area and, as a result, the team was able to take a major step forward in 2019 with a 10-6 record. There are multiple examples of Beane and the Bills doing this, as that team has continually taken steps forward with their usage of both free agency and the draft.

Now let's look at the Colts and Chris Ballard. Heading into the 2021 offseason, the Colts had MAJOR holes at edge pass rusher. The team went into the offseason with just Ben Banogu, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Tyquan Lewis as the team's top rushers off of the edge. Ballard elected to sit out of free agency at this major area of need (outside of signing journeyman Isaac Rochell) and elected to fix this problem area with two draft picks in Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo.

The problem with plugging major holes with only draft picks is that those picks take time to develop. With Paye figuring out his game and Odeyingbo recovering from injury, the Colts boasted one of the worst pass rushes in the entire league. This was a problem area that was easy to spot heading into the offseason and Ballard simply failed to provide the depth and consistency to properly support those rookies.


You all know my philosophy on free agency. You cannot buy a championship. You cannot buy a locker room. We will continue to go down the same road we've been going down.
You can't buy a championship, but you can buy depth. You can buy the bottom of the roster. You can buy stability. Chris Ballard's conservative nature and fear of giving out a bad contract has had a disastrous impact on the bottom of the Colts' roster. We are even seeing the impact of this approach in 2022, as the Colts' offensive line was plugged by in-house options rather than grabbing veterans to compete in camp (like the Bills did in 2019).


The frustrating part about all of this is that Ballard is actually great at identifying talent and hidden gems in free agency! Rodney McLeod appears to be a great signing this year and past signings like Chris Reed and Denico Autry worked wonders for the team. We just rarely see these signings at major positions of need.

Nobody is saying that Ballard needs to come out and spend monster contracts to fix this roster. He does, however, need to do a better job of actually fixing the many holes that this team does have. By completely sitting out free agency each and every year, the bottom of the team's roster has greatly suffered and the holes have become even more apparent.

The Quarterback Process is Utterly Broken

The other major aspect of team building that Ballard has been way too conservative with is the quarterback position. We can all agree that Ballard was dealt a terrible hand in 2019 when his superstar quarterback Andrew Luck decided to hang it up at just 29 years old. While that is a tough event to bounce back from, that was nearly four years ago. The excuses run out eventually.


Chris Ballard has had multiple offseasons to figure out the quarterback position since that fateful day, and he has yet to provide this fanbase with any hope for the future. Ballard spoke about drafting a quarterback last offseason and the inherit risk that comes with making that move:

“Taking one will get y’all off my ass for a little bit, but the second that guy doesn’t play well? I’m gonna be the first one run out of the building ... I promise you that position never leaves my mind.”

I totally understand self-preservation and valuing job security, but at some point there has to be a real shot taken at the most important position in all of sports. With every single move the Colts have made at quarterback since Luck's retirement, none of them have been risky for Ballard or his job security. Let's even take a look at the disaster that was the Carson Wentz trade.

The Colts sent a first and a third round pick for veteran Carson Wentz early in the 2021 offseason. While this seems like a big risk on paper, Ballard was planting the seeds all offseason that this was 100% Frank Reich's move. Ballard even said at the 2021 NFL Combine that Reich "stuck his neck out" for Wentz, and Ballard was entirely non-committal to Wentz throughout the whole ordeal.

By planting the seeds that that whole disaster was Frank Reich's fault, Ballard essentially escaped blame (on the surface at least). With that context in mind, Ballard has never made that aggressive move for this insanely important position. He may have helped his job security by doing this, but the Colts as a franchise has suffered as a result.


Ben Solak of The Ringer wrote a fantastic piece on Chris Ballard and the non-aggressive approach at QB this offseason. The entire piece is phenomenal, but this paragraph really stood out to me:

“But it’s not just that 2021 was the year to be aggressive—it’s that every year is the year to be aggressive. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and in a hypercompetitive league in which winning championships essentially necessitates quality quarterback play, Ballard and the Colts have been far more focused on the fragility of their eggs than the tastiness of their omelet. Taking a rookie quarterback who doesn’t play well may get Ballard run out of the building—but refusing to ever take that leap will get him run out of the same building as well, just a little bit slower and with a few more mediocre seasons to cushion the fall.”

The last line is what it all comes down to. Kicking the can down the road year after year may buy job security, but it will eventually run out. Chris Ballard is essentially a college kid constantly asking for extensions on a big research paper that is due. Will he ever turn in his paper? All the evidence we have at the moment points to no.

I'm not even saying that the Colts have had ample opportunity to draft a young quarterback of the future over the past couple of offseasons. The issue is the process. Band-aid after band-aid doesn't do anything for the future of this team. It just prolongs your own job security (for the time being).


The Bottom Line

Frustrated ranting aside, Chris Ballard is not a terrible General Manager. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this team would be among the best in the league every year if Andrew Luck were still playing. The conservative approach works exceedingly well when a GM is a fantastic drafter and the quarterback is already in place. At the end of the day, though, Andrew Luck is gone and the Colts have yet to recover from that.

Ballard is a fantastic talent evaluator that drafts well and finds gems when he actually uses free agency, but his fear of giving out bad contracts and his mishandling of the quarterback position has doomed the Colts to mediocrity. This roster has a lot of holes, and not a lot of answers at the moment. Personally, I'm not convinced that Ballard is the man that can fix them.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and myself hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!


Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.

Zach Hicks
BY ZACH HICKS
Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com.
Follow ZachHicks2

[njcoltfan]

An excellent article from Zach Hicks on where the Colts issue actually lies. I’ve been saying nearly identical things since Ballard’s second season. He’s trying to build a 1970s dynasty in 2022. The Bill Polian and Ted Thompson comparison is excellent and one I have used. The only thing missing is pointing out that considering the generational talent those two had at QB, they under achieved in the end goal - SBs. They traded dominance for longevity.

Reich has his faults, but he’s never had the same starting QB. Every season he has major positions where they have to develop a solution on the fly. DE, LT, WR. Ballard is an excellent talent evaluator, but he sucks at constructing teams. Clean house and I’m fine. But anyone thinking Reich is the major problem is simply wrong. The team is exactly where I’ve said it would be with Ballard’s “next season” philosophy


Article:

The Indianapolis Colts are in dire straits this year, as they sit with a putrid 1-2-1 record through four weeks. To make matters worse, all three of the Colts' non-wins have come against divisional rivals. With the team falling apart and the road to the playoffs looking out of reach already, who is to blame for this disastrous start?

The common fall guy has been Head Coach Frank Reich thus far. While I am in no way trying to absolve Reich from blame, I implore you all to look at the bigger picture of the Colts' issues. Frank Reich may be worth firing after the season, and he absolutely will be the guy tossed aside if this team misses the playoffs, but the Colts' issues run much deeper than just the head coach.

The main issue with the Indianapolis Colts is the process and the conservative nature of their General Manager. Chris Ballard has been the local, and National, golden boy for GM's during his tenure, but his lack of self-scouting and his lack of overall aggression has turned this once successful franchise into the textbook definition of mediocrity.

The Colts aren't going to get out of purgatory under Chris Ballard. His process is simply not the way to build a team in the modern NFL (if you don't already have a legit quarterback).


The Poor Usage of Free Agency

Before we get into this part of the article, I do want to say that Ballard's approach to free agency isn't wrong (in theory). Ballard is very Bill Polian/Ted Thompson in how he views this aspect of the offseason. He won't overpay for middling talent and he never views his teams as being one good free agent away from being complete.

Here is what Ballard has said numerous times over the years about free agency:

“We’re just not the biggest fans of right out the gate free agency where you’re paying B players A-plus money… There’s a cost to that… Our players know we want to keep them. We’ve done a pretty good job so far of keeping the players we wanted to keep in-house… I think we have a really good culture. It’s one of accountability. One where they care about each other, and one where they want to win and do special things.”

This is the correct way to view free agency. Oftentimes, in the NFL, the teams that spend the most money in free agency tend to be the worst teams in the league the following year. All of the problems on a team can't be fixed by throwing money at it. This is what Ballard believes, and I personally tend to agree with him on this.

Where his philosophy fails is how he completely neglects the usefulness of this phase of the offseason. Ballard spoke with Joey Mulinaro prior to last offseason about his free agency approach. In that conversation, he mentioned how he adhered to a similar philosophy as teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers:

“The Steelers.. I think they are one of the great organizations and they are very disciplined in what they want to do. They draft most of their team and they work to develop them. Every once in a while you will see them dip into free agency, but not very often. When they do, it’s to plug a hole. We have a very similar philosophy.”

The problem with this is that Ballard rarely uses free agency to actually plug a hole. Let's compare Chris Ballard to one of the best GMs in the sport in Brandon Beane for a moment. Flashback to 2018 and the Buffalo Bills finished the season with a 6-10 record with their young quarterback running for his life on almost every snap.

Going into that offseason, Beane didn't come out and drop 20 million dollar a year deals on every free agent that he saw to fix these problems. Instead, he used free agency, and the draft, to plug a hole. The Bills brought in C/G Spencer Long (4 million a year), C Mitch Morse (11 million a year), G John Feliciano (4 million a year), T Ty Nsekhe (7.5 million a year), G Quinton Spain (2 million a year), and G Cody Ford (38th overall pick).


Did every single one of these moves work? Absolutely not. Cody Ford was traded to the Arizona Cardinals a few years later, and Ty Nsekhe certainly didn't live up to his contract. The point, though, is that the Bills threw resources at a position of need and ended up better as a result (despite a few misses and bad contracts).

The Buffalo Bills and Brandon Beane threw countless resources at a major problem area and, as a result, the team was able to take a major step forward in 2019 with a 10-6 record. There are multiple examples of Beane and the Bills doing this, as that team has continually taken steps forward with their usage of both free agency and the draft.

Now let's look at the Colts and Chris Ballard. Heading into the 2021 offseason, the Colts had MAJOR holes at edge pass rusher. The team went into the offseason with just Ben Banogu, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Tyquan Lewis as the team's top rushers off of the edge. Ballard elected to sit out of free agency at this major area of need (outside of signing journeyman Isaac Rochell) and elected to fix this problem area with two draft picks in Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo.

The problem with plugging major holes with only draft picks is that those picks take time to develop. With Paye figuring out his game and Odeyingbo recovering from injury, the Colts boasted one of the worst pass rushes in the entire league. This was a problem area that was easy to spot heading into the offseason and Ballard simply failed to provide the depth and consistency to properly support those rookies.


You all know my philosophy on free agency. You cannot buy a championship. You cannot buy a locker room. We will continue to go down the same road we've been going down.
You can't buy a championship, but you can buy depth. You can buy the bottom of the roster. You can buy stability. Chris Ballard's conservative nature and fear of giving out a bad contract has had a disastrous impact on the bottom of the Colts' roster. We are even seeing the impact of this approach in 2022, as the Colts' offensive line was plugged by in-house options rather than grabbing veterans to compete in camp (like the Bills did in 2019).


The frustrating part about all of this is that Ballard is actually great at identifying talent and hidden gems in free agency! Rodney McLeod appears to be a great signing this year and past signings like Chris Reed and Denico Autry worked wonders for the team. We just rarely see these signings at major positions of need.

Nobody is saying that Ballard needs to come out and spend monster contracts to fix this roster. He does, however, need to do a better job of actually fixing the many holes that this team does have. By completely sitting out free agency each and every year, the bottom of the team's roster has greatly suffered and the holes have become even more apparent.

The Quarterback Process is Utterly Broken

The other major aspect of team building that Ballard has been way too conservative with is the quarterback position. We can all agree that Ballard was dealt a terrible hand in 2019 when his superstar quarterback Andrew Luck decided to hang it up at just 29 years old. While that is a tough event to bounce back from, that was nearly four years ago. The excuses run out eventually.


Chris Ballard has had multiple offseasons to figure out the quarterback position since that fateful day, and he has yet to provide this fanbase with any hope for the future. Ballard spoke about drafting a quarterback last offseason and the inherit risk that comes with making that move:

“Taking one will get y’all off my ass for a little bit, but the second that guy doesn’t play well? I’m gonna be the first one run out of the building ... I promise you that position never leaves my mind.”

I totally understand self-preservation and valuing job security, but at some point there has to be a real shot taken at the most important position in all of sports. With every single move the Colts have made at quarterback since Luck's retirement, none of them have been risky for Ballard or his job security. Let's even take a look at the disaster that was the Carson Wentz trade.

The Colts sent a first and a third round pick for veteran Carson Wentz early in the 2021 offseason. While this seems like a big risk on paper, Ballard was planting the seeds all offseason that this was 100% Frank Reich's move. Ballard even said at the 2021 NFL Combine that Reich "stuck his neck out" for Wentz, and Ballard was entirely non-committal to Wentz throughout the whole ordeal.

By planting the seeds that that whole disaster was Frank Reich's fault, Ballard essentially escaped blame (on the surface at least). With that context in mind, Ballard has never made that aggressive move for this insanely important position. He may have helped his job security by doing this, but the Colts as a franchise has suffered as a result.


Ben Solak of The Ringer wrote a fantastic piece on Chris Ballard and the non-aggressive approach at QB this offseason. The entire piece is phenomenal, but this paragraph really stood out to me:

“But it’s not just that 2021 was the year to be aggressive—it’s that every year is the year to be aggressive. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and in a hypercompetitive league in which winning championships essentially necessitates quality quarterback play, Ballard and the Colts have been far more focused on the fragility of their eggs than the tastiness of their omelet. Taking a rookie quarterback who doesn’t play well may get Ballard run out of the building—but refusing to ever take that leap will get him run out of the same building as well, just a little bit slower and with a few more mediocre seasons to cushion the fall.”

The last line is what it all comes down to. Kicking the can down the road year after year may buy job security, but it will eventually run out. Chris Ballard is essentially a college kid constantly asking for extensions on a big research paper that is due. Will he ever turn in his paper? All the evidence we have at the moment points to no.

I'm not even saying that the Colts have had ample opportunity to draft a young quarterback of the future over the past couple of offseasons. The issue is the process. Band-aid after band-aid doesn't do anything for the future of this team. It just prolongs your own job security (for the time being).


The Bottom Line

Frustrated ranting aside, Chris Ballard is not a terrible General Manager. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that this team would be among the best in the league every year if Andrew Luck were still playing. The conservative approach works exceedingly well when a GM is a fantastic drafter and the quarterback is already in place. At the end of the day, though, Andrew Luck is gone and the Colts have yet to recover from that.

Ballard is a fantastic talent evaluator that drafts well and finds gems when he actually uses free agency, but his fear of giving out bad contracts and his mishandling of the quarterback position has doomed the Colts to mediocrity. This roster has a lot of holes, and not a lot of answers at the moment. Personally, I'm not convinced that Ballard is the man that can fix them.

Need your fill on daily Colts' content? Head over to the Locked On Colts' YouTube channel where Jake Arthur and myself hit on all the major topics surrounding this team. Hit that subscribe button while you are there!


Follow Zach on Twitter @ZachHicks2.

Follow Horseshoe Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.

Zach Hicks
BY ZACH HICKS
Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com.
Follow ZachHicks2
That about sums up the Colts the past 5 years. Until they draft a young QB that they think is the next franchise guy, well, what you see is what you get !!!!

[albany ed]

I could be wrong, but I believe Irsay didn't want to suffer the down years that would happen with a rookie QB. He advocated for Rivers, listened to Reich about Wentz and advocated for Ryan. He wanted a vet that just might give him lightening in a bottle.

[rm1369]

I could be wrong, but I believe Irsay didn't want to suffer the down years that would happen with a rookie QB. He advocated for Rivers, listened to Reich about Wentz and advocated for Ryan. He wanted a vet that just might give him lightening in a bottle.

I don’t buy it. Irsay of all people understands the value of stability at QB. He moved from Manning to ensure what should have been the next 12 years at QB. It completely fits Ballard’s MO though and everything he’s said from day one. But even that doesn’t matter, let’s say Irsay does want to catch “lightning in a bottle”. Then the GM has repeatedly fucked up by not prioritizing winning this year. What Ballard did at DE and WR last year was not a win now move. What they are doing at LT and WR this year is not a win now move. So getting a win now QB and not shoring up major weaknesses is nothing short of incompetence- no matter whose idea the win now QB is.

[njcoltfan]

[QUOTE=albany ed;242667]I could be wrong, but I believe Irsay didn't want to suffer the down years that would happen with a rookie QB. He advocated for Rivers, listened to Reich about Wentz and advocated for Ryan. He wanted a vet that just might give him lightening in a bottle.[/Q
There are a few QBs that the Colts passed on that I wanted them to draft, Desmond Ritter or Malik Willis this year, and Jalen Hurts in 2020.

[ChaosTheory]

We act like it's easy. Just go get a franchise QB. Who should we have drafted? Who are the QB's from 2020 and 2021 that you think should've been the leader of your team?

Burrow, Tua, and Herbert went 1-2-3 in 2020 to teams that would not have traded those picks to God. You'd have the same chance of getting KC to listen to you about trading Mahomes.

Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance went 1-2-3 in 2021, also impossible to trade for. And on top of that, Wilson, Lance, and Fields (pick 11) all can't stay on the field and when they have played, it's not exactly been encouraging. So who was more realistic?...

1.) Jordan Love in 2020, who we still don't know anything about.

2.) Jalen Hurts in 2020, who's having a good start this season (we'll see), but whose skillset required a big gamble and a total revamp in scheme. Are we shitting on them for not instead going with Rivers (who played really well for us)?

3.) Mac Jones in 2021, who's... alright? I mean, would it really surprise anybody if he ends up on a path similar to Trubisky (11-3 his second year) where he gets replaced after a few years?


Who else should they have gone after? Wouldn't anybody else be a Jacob Eason- or Sam Ehlinger-caliber move?

[rcubed]

Yeah, Luck's departure really hurt and we are still swirling because of it. I read people saying "that was years ago, get over it" but its the single most important position and hard to come by really good ones. Many teams spend decades trying to get a long term franchise QB. I think ballard has done a pretty decent job overall patching the position, but there are still some what-if's, like biting the bullet and trading for stafford, or maybe carr. Maybe it would have worked out, maybe not but at least it would have been an aggressive move. I guess the same argument could be made for the wentz deal though....so who knows

[Oldcolt]

I believe the point wasthat the most important players in modern NFL are qb, wr, pass rushers an offensive line. He has failed at all of these, not just one.

[ZionsvilleColtsFan]

Ballard needs to go. Has been AWOL on free agency as Colts receiving corp is razor thin. Signing QBs on their last legs is a hard habit to break.

[ZionsvilleColtsFan]

We act like it's easy. Just go get a franchise QB. Who should we have drafted? Who are the QB's from 2020 and 2021 that you think should've been the leader of your team?

Burrow, Tua, and Herbert went 1-2-3 in 2020 to teams that would not have traded those picks to God. You'd have the same chance of getting KC to listen to you about trading Mahomes.

Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance went 1-2-3 in 2021, also impossible to trade for. And on top of that, Wilson, Lance, and Fields (pick 11) all can't stay on the field and when they have played, it's not exactly been encouraging. So who was more realistic?...

1.) Jordan Love in 2020, who we still don't know anything about.

2.) Jalen Hurts in 2020, who's having a good start this season (we'll see), but whose skillset required a big gamble and a total revamp in scheme. Are we shitting on them for not instead going with Rivers (who played really well for us)?

3.) Mac Jones in 2021, who's... alright? I mean, would it really surprise anybody if he ends up on a path similar to Trubisky (11-3 his second year) where he gets replaced after a few years?


Who else should they have gone after? Wouldn't anybody else be a Jacob Eason- or Sam Ehlinger-caliber move?

Not drafting Hurts was huge error by Ballard. Eagles wisely picked him up in the second round while Colts signed another old timer at QB.

[rm1369]

We act like it's easy. Just go get a franchise QB. Who should we have drafted? Who are the QB's from 2020 and 2021 that you think should've been the leader of your team?

Burrow, Tua, and Herbert went 1-2-3 in 2020 to teams that would not have traded those picks to God. You'd have the same chance of getting KC to listen to you about trading Mahomes.

Lawrence, Wilson, and Lance went 1-2-3 in 2021, also impossible to trade for. And on top of that, Wilson, Lance, and Fields (pick 11) all can't stay on the field and when they have played, it's not exactly been encouraging. So who was more realistic?...

1.) Jordan Love in 2020, who we still don't know anything about.

2.) Jalen Hurts in 2020, who's having a good start this season (we'll see), but whose skillset required a big gamble and a total revamp in scheme. Are we shitting on them for not instead going with Rivers (who played really well for us)?

3.) Mac Jones in 2021, who's... alright? I mean, would it really surprise anybody if he ends up on a path similar to Trubisky (11-3 his second year) where he gets replaced after a few years?


Who else should they have gone after? Wouldn't anybody else be a Jacob Eason- or Sam Ehlinger-caliber move?

I personally don’t blame Ballard for not solving the QB situation. What I blame him for is an overall building philosophy that keeps the team from competing. You can debate the merits of swinging for a QB vs hoping to catch a couple good years from an old guy. What you can’t do is chose the old guy and continue to build the roster as if you are 4 years from being competitive. That’s what Ballard has done and that’s what keeps killing the team. He throws a bunch of young athletes at a problem and hopes one steps up. The beginning of the season is basically fucking tryouts. Again, look at the actual experience the colts started the season with at LT, WR, and TE this year. DE last year. That’s not how you build a team to win.

[ChaosTheory]

Not drafting Hurts was huge error by Ballard. Eagles wisely picked him up in the second round while Colts signed another old timer at QB.

A huge error in what sense? First off, we're anointing Jalen Hurts a bit early. I said he's had a good start with PHI this season, but it's a long season. It's possible that we look back in hindsight and say he should've been drafted higher similar to how we look at Russell Wilson or Tom Brady or whoever... or he could come back to Earth. We'll see.

But as far as the draft... Most draft analysts had Jacob Eason and Jalen Hurts rated around the #5-#7 QB in 2020. Usually Eason was rated a spot or two above Hurts and a few analysts had it flipped.

After Hurts, we drafted Eason as the next QB taken like 70 picks later. In the meantime, we drafted Michael Pittman, Jonathan Taylor, and Julian Blackmon. And we also had Phillip Rivers.

Call that a huge error if you want.

[Brylok]

I'd trade Nelson, Leonard, and Taylor in a package deal right now for Trevor Lawrence. Or Joe Burrow. Or Josh Allen. Or Jalen Hurts. I'm also almost at the point where I want to Ehlinger start. Maybe he has something for the future. The other QBs don't.

[ChaosTheory]

I'd trade Nelson, Leonard, and Taylor in a package deal right now for Trevor Lawrence. Or Joe Burrow. Or Josh Allen. Or Jalen Hurts. I'm also almost at the point where I want to Ehlinger start. Maybe he has something for the future. The other QBs don't.

We couldn't get a top-flight QB for that trade. There might not be a team in the league that could offer 10 (non-QB) players in a trade for Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert, or another top-flight QB.

Off the top of my head, I don't know if that's hyperbole. Which is the point. QB's are too valuable and too hard to come by. Our team hit the lottery twice.

[ChoppedWood]

I agree a LOT about Ballard not doing a very good job. What I cannot shake however is a team with SEVEN, SEVEN fucking pro-bowlers- not making the playoffs.

SEVEN and this turd we have at HC can't figure out how to beat the local boys JV squad with all his fucking whacked out scheming?

Nah, fuck that, the problem is with the dude wearing the headset and being the one talking to these guys about being competitors- his voice is raspy and old and they don't listen to shit that dude is saying.

Need a new voice!

[HoosierinFL]

We couldn't get a top-flight QB for that trade. There might not be a team in the league that could offer 10 (non-QB) players in a trade for Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert, or another top-flight QB.

Off the top of my head, I don't know if that's hyperbole. Which is the point. QB's are too valuable and too hard to come by. Our team hit the lottery twice.

Yea thats the main reason why I'm not ready to shit on Ballard for not getting a franchise QB. Getting Manning and Luck were both like winning the lottery.

Trading for a franchise QB is impossible, while trading up to the top of the 1st round is expensive.

Sure Ballard could have sold the farm to move up in recent drafts, but there really weren't any sure fire picks to be had unless he was gonna go for the #1 spot.

2022 - literally 0 QBs worth having (Maybe there's a surprise among them but it will be pure luck akin to Tom Brady in the 6th round)

2021 - Jax would have never traded the #1 to us. I'm not sold on any of the others. Maybe Zach Wilson wouldn't suck if he wasn't on the Jets.

2020 - Getting the Cincy #1 (Burrow) might have been doable but probably not. But sure, there were other good QBs in the top of that first round (Tua, Herbert, we still haven't seen Love play for real)

So really, Ballard maybe could have or should have been aggressive in the 2020 draft, which was the 1st one after Luck's retirement. But after that, it's been 2 consecutive crops of bad QBs.

[rm1369]

I agree a LOT about Ballard not doing a very good job. What I cannot shake however is a team with SEVEN, SEVEN fucking pro-bowlers- not making the playoffs.

SEVEN and this turd we have at HC can't figure out how to beat the local boys JV squad with all his fucking whacked out scheming?

Nah, fuck that, the problem is with the dude wearing the headset and being the one talking to these guys about being competitors- his voice is raspy and old and they don't listen to shit that dude is saying.

Need a new voice!

Two issues:

1) the positions of the Pro Bowlers. Trade those 7 for Pro Bowlers at DE, LT, and QB and you end up with a better team.

2) the areas of weakness. The Colts need a QB, a LT, DE is a question mark and they have one total proven pass catcher. Those are the fucking money positions. When you are weak there you struggle. How the team is constructed matters. This is supposed to be a run first team that can’t run. It’s hard to coach around that.

[ChoppedWood]

Two issues:

1) the positions of the Pro Bowlers. Trade those 7 for Pro Bowlers at DE, LT, and QB and you end up with a better team.

2) the areas of weakness. The Colts need a QB, a LT, DE is a question mark and they have one total proven pass catcher. Those are the fucking money positions. When you are weak there you struggle. How the team is constructed matters. This is supposed to be a run first team that can’t run. It’s hard to coach around that.

Those 7 Pro-Bowlers just beat KC. Last year they trounced the Bills, beat them silly. They went into SF and handled them easily. Should have beaten the Bucs and were able to beat NE and ARIZ back to back.

There is enough talent to win at a consistently high level against good football teams. Is the roster loaded with all-pro's, no, but there are clearly players that can win against high end competition.

Conversely there is a fucking zombie coaching them that as far as I can tell starts Monday mornings by holding up the schedule for the guys and says something like "Jags this week, take a few days in the islands with the fam, come back and we'll do some light jogging Friday and be at my house at 7 Sunday for the kegger after the win, 1-2-3 Team".

This guy SUCKS at getting his team ready week to week- absolutely SUCKS! I just don't understand how anyone can say "I'm not ready to fire Frank yet, but I am getting close".... WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE TO SEE IT FOR WHAT IT IS? HE ADVERTISES HIS LEVEL OF SUCK EVERY DAMN SUNDAY!!!

[Brylok]

Those 7 Pro-Bowlers just beat KC...

KC beat themselves literally from the opening kickoff. They bumbled around all day and the blind squirrel Colts managed to capitalize on the mistakes a few times. That's it. That's all that happened. Take away that Jones flag at the end and give them 30-60 more seconds and KC would have won.

[ChaosTheory]

Frank Reich is a dickhead and I hate him.

Yes, the buck stops with the HC... or the GM... or the owner. Whichever is your perspective. But the team with 7 Pro Bowlers has to play.

There's no coaching a 37-year-old borderline HOF QB to not to turn the ball over at your own 30 twice. It's on the QB.

It's not on coaching when your All-World LG gets spanked by Autry on a 1-on-1 which leads to one of those sack-fumbles. He just got beat.

Bill Walsh couldn't have kept our All-Pro RB from getting his ankle crushed on 3rd-and-1 and instead of 1st down at the TEN 24 and you're rolling, it's another turnover.

[Racehorse]

KC beat themselves literally from the opening kickoff. They bumbled around all day and the blind squirrel Colts managed to capitalize on the mistakes a few times. That's it. That's all that happened. Take away that Jones flag at the end and give them 30-60 more seconds and KC would have won.

We beat ourselves against Houston and Tennessee.

[Chromeburn]

Not drafting Hurts was huge error by Ballard. Eagles wisely picked him up in the second round while Colts signed another old timer at QB.

I like Hurts. His personality is great and he is on par with Jacoby. But he was not a sure thing at all. He could barely hit the broadside of a barn. That was no guarantee at all.

Every six months some genius on Twitter says he would have drafted Allen instead of Nelson in the draft. Ignoring the fact Mayfield and Darnold were drafted before him. So many QBs fail.

[Chromeburn]

I agree a LOT about Ballard not doing a very good job. What I cannot shake however is a team with SEVEN, SEVEN fucking pro-bowlers- not making the playoffs.

SEVEN and this turd we have at HC can't figure out how to beat the local boys JV squad with all his fucking whacked out scheming?

Nah, fuck that, the problem is with the dude wearing the headset and being the one talking to these guys about being competitors- his voice is raspy and old and they don't listen to shit that dude is saying.

Need a new voice!

Still need good QB play

[Brylok]

We beat ourselves against Houston and Tennessee.

Yep, it works both ways. Overall though, I'm very uninspired watching this version of the Colts. It feels more like a chore than a pleasure.

[IndyNorm]

I personally don’t blame Ballard for not solving the QB situation. What I blame him for is an overall building philosophy that keeps the team from competing. You can debate the merits of swinging for a QB vs hoping to catch a couple good years from an old guy. What you can’t do is chose the old guy and continue to build the roster as if you are 4 years from being competitive. That’s what Ballard has done and that’s what keeps killing the team. He throws a bunch of young athletes at a problem and hopes one steps up. The beginning of the season is basically fucking tryouts. Again, look at the actual experience the colts started the season with at LT, WR, and TE this year. DE last year. That’s not how you build a team to win.

Agreed. Basically the only QBs who are good that we could have drafted are Hurts and possibly Herbert if we had given up a shit ton of draft capitol to move up in '20 to get him. And who knows, maybe Ballard tried to but didn't have any takers before he traded our 1st rounder for Defo.

What you can blame Ballard for is the shit OL, lack of pass rush, and lack of WR depth. Take LT for example. Ballard's had 3 off seasons to find a replacement for AC since he contemplated retiring after the '19 season. If he was half as good of a GM as a lot of people on this board think he is then he would have had that position fixed by now.

[ChoppedWood]

Just read an article with these two paragraphs:

Four games into the 2022 season, Indianapolis has scored just 10 points in the first quarter, tied for 22nd in the NFL, and averaged just 3.3 yards per play (26th), all while giving up 27 points. The numbers get worse in the second quarter; the Colts have been outscored 38-13, or 65-23 before the half.

None of Reich’s prior teams in Indianapolis have been outscored in the first half over the course of the season. A year ago, the Colts couldn’t finish.

This season, that’s the only thing Indianapolis can do. The Colts have scored 24 points in the fourth quarter and still haven’t given up a point.

THIS TEAM CAN PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL- DOMINATING FOOTBALL CLEARLY (I did not realize we haven't given up a 4th Qtr point).

This TEAM is GOOD ENOUGH.... THE COACHING IS NOT!!!

[MeSayDayo]

Agreed. Basically the only QBs who are good that we could have drafted are Hurts and possibly Herbert if we had given up a shit ton of draft capitol to move up in '20 to get him. And who knows, maybe Ballard tried to but didn't have any takers before he traded our 1st rounder for Defo.

What you can blame Ballard for is the shit OL, lack of pass rush, and lack of WR depth. Take LT for example. Ballard's had 3 off seasons to find a replacement for AC since he contemplated retiring after the '19 season. If he was half as good of a GM as a lot of people on this board think he is then he would have had that position fixed by now.

Ballard traded for Buckner before that draft, not during

[Oldcolt]

We released Patmon. Maybe he makes it to the practice squad (where he belonged the whole time) but this guy and Banagu have effectively made us a 51 man team the past few years. Both have not given us shit on game day yet somehow having their asses on the bench seems to have value to Ballard. I am not upset with not hitting on a qb, like most of you it is not hitting on almost any important modern day positions.That and he put such a huge huge amount of his draft acumen into drafting men with the correct mental make up. That was going to be a mainstay of how he built teams. The shinny object that was going to separate him from the rest of the gms. When the chips are down kind of guys. Couldn't bring in certain free agents until Ballard got his kind culture in this this locker room. He has obviously failed miserably at the one biggest thing he kept harping about on and on, getting the 'right' kind of players in the locker room. For adding this bullshit 'mental evaluation' and having it be a complete failure I leaning toward getting rid of him.

[HoosierinFL]

While its true the team has probowlers at weird positions that have less of an impact than say, DE and QB, or even LT, I still don't think talent is the problem on this team. It doesn't explain why the o-line has regressed so bad. Losing Castonzo didn't make Nelson go from all pro to mediocre. It didn't make Ryan Kelly bad, or Braden Smith bad.
There is a lack of toughness on this team. I keep beating the dead horse of going back to when the fired DeGuglielmo as the oline coach. He was the guy who focused more on toughness and meanness over technique, and Reich wanted technique. He was the guy who kicked Good off the team because he wasn't emotionally able to play after his brother got killed.

For right or wrong, it was that approach that made this line mean. When was the last time we saw Nelson pancake and teabag a guy? I sure can't remember it.

That this team seems flat and unprepared sometimes, and emotional other times, reflects coaching. I think it explains the history of Reich's record, each year has been the same story.

2018: Team starts 1-5, beating only a crappy Redskins, then went on a 5-0 streak, had a weird 6-0 loss to Jax, then went 4-0 to finish out, then 1-1 in the playoffs.

Everyone just assumed here that the bad start was just an adjustment period for the team and Reich as the new coach.

But then 2019: Colts start 2-2, make a little noise, but never get it going to finish 7-9.

No big deal, that was the Luck retirement debacle and the up and down play of Jacoby Brissett in his tea.

Then we get Phillip Rivers, rookie JT, and a line playing at a high level in 2020: Colts start better, 3-1 (but still lose the home opener to Jax), but have 2 blow out losses mid season to the Ravens (24-10) and Titans (45-26). 11-5 was Reich's best record

2021: reminiscent of 2018, starting 0-3, then win 10 out of next 13 games, and then we get the famous 0-2 finish to the Raiders and Jags.

What I see is a pattern of a team that has periods of really poor play, especially early in the season, followed by periods of improved play, but occasional unexplainable/weird losses or blow outs, esp at critical junctures in the season.

And I'm sure we all remember how many times we've been left scratching our heads at Reich's red zone play calling, decisions to go for it on 4th down, etc that took points off the board, and have cost wins.

To me it falls on Reich. The weird in-game decisions coupled with a team that seems unprepared too often is a coaching problem, not a roster problem.

I wouldn't at all be surprised to see this team go on another winning streak like 2018 and 2021 after the 4th slow start in the past 5 seasons, but even if they do, I expect a similar finish, either out of the playoffs or 1 and done.

[nate505]

By far the worst thing about Ballard is he's ridiculously conservative in Free Agency. I get not being an early 2000s Washington Red, er, Commanders level of spending, but damn, a few signings here or there would be nice.

[smitty46953]

While its true the team has probowlers at weird positions that have less of an impact than say, DE and QB, or even LT, I still don't think talent is the problem on this team. It doesn't explain why the o-line has regressed so bad. Losing Castonzo didn't make Nelson go from all pro to mediocre. It didn't make Ryan Kelly bad, or Braden Smith bad.
There is a lack of toughness on this team. I keep beating the dead horse of going back to when the fired DeGuglielmo as the oline coach. He was the guy who focused more on toughness and meanness over technique, and Reich wanted technique. He was the guy who kicked Good off the team because he wasn't emotionally able to play after his brother got killed.



DeGuglielmo is currently the OL coach for Boston College, wish they would give him a call. :cool:

[IndyNorm]

Ballard traded for Buckner before that draft, not during

I know. I was just saying that it's possible Ballard at least put out some feelers to see if we could move into the top 5 to draft Herbert (or Tua) and found he'd had no takers. I kind of doubt he did, but it's possible.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

DeGuglielmo is currently the OL coach for Boston College, wish they would give him a call. :cool:


Sure - if you want to shake things up and fire the line up, OK.

But he would not be a long term answer.

He has had 7 different jobs in the last 7 years.

He is a job hopper / drifter.

I guess you could use him as a bridge to a longer term hire.

[Oldcolt]

There are lots of ways to build a team. You don't need to use free agency or you can use it big time. Either way you can build a competitive team. It isn't how Ballard builds this team it is what he builds. I am sick of arguing about what he should or should not have done. Doesn't matter to me one bit. The only thing that matters is he puts together a shit team with absolutely no pride or heart or ability. I keep hearing on the board about how all we need is a new coaching staff, bullshit. This team needs new players, coaches and administration. We are stuck with Irsay. Nicer guy than his dad but a crap owner if what you want in an owner is a winner. Two franchise QBs fall into his lap in a row and he eaks out one Super Bowl win while putting together a team of men that destroyed the others career. These current guys have accomplished nothing whatsoever except get a few pro bowl trophies and fleece Irsay out of millions. I will keep watching because I have done it for over 50 years through thick and thin, but this group is impossible for me to give a shit about anymore. I am hoping for a total house cleaning, with a miracle of Irsay letting his daughter take over at the end of the year. I am a little pissed about where this has gone over the last 2 years.

[IndyNorm]

There are lots of ways to build a team. You don't need to use free agency or you can use it big time. Either way you can build a competitive team. It isn't how Ballard builds this team it is what he builds. I am sick of arguing about what he should or should not have done. Doesn't matter to me one bit. The only thing that matters is he puts together a shit team with absolutely no pride or heart or ability. I keep hearing on the board about how all we need is a new coaching staff, bullshit. This team needs new players, coaches and administration. We are stuck with Irsay. Nicer guy than his dad but a crap owner if what you want in an owner is a winner. Two franchise QBs fall into his lap in a row and he eaks out one Super Bowl win while putting together a team of men that destroyed the others career. These current guys have accomplished nothing whatsoever except get a few pro bowl trophies and fleece Irsay out of millions. I will keep watching because I have done it for over 50 years through thick and thin, but this group is impossible for me to give a shit about anymore. I am hoping for a total house cleaning, with a miracle of Irsay letting his daughter take over at the end of the year. I am a little pissed about where this has gone over the last 2 years.

Great post! I love the Ballard apologists on here who always respond with "what moves would you have made" anytime someone on here criticizes the FO. No one on this site, or any fan message board for that matter, is getting paid to make the Colts better. Ballard and his staff are, and they failed to make the Colts better from '20 to '21 and appear to have failed miserably at this from '21 to '22.