Hear me, Diamond Jim

[Brylok]

You are the biggest, most loyal Colts fan on the planet. That is great, and you do many great things for the fans and for the Indianapolis community. You are a great owner, and you act to protect the shield always. However, sir, you desperately need to find another President of Football Operations or whatever, and hire that man/woman. Let football people run the football operations. You've done what you think is right, but you need help. We've been torpedoed and have still kept on going even while taking on more and more water and sinking. That has reached its end now. We're sunk. Fix it! Start anew. Build a new ship. You have the power, and you still have the fans. There aren't many Colts message boards around on the internet, and this is an old one...I know official Colts people read it. Find another Bill Polian type and get things fixed. It can be done if you want it to be done.
Best regards,
A desperate plea from a now middle-aged Colts fan.

[YDFL Commish]

I endorse this post.

[Dam8610]

Polian was basically a GM. Ballard can do that role, all Jim has to do is get out of the way. If Jim doesn't like Ballard, he can hire someone else, but Ballard has consistently delivered strong draft classes. I'd be hesitant to let someone with his track record go. At least give him a single crack at a draft and develop QB before doing so.

[Brylok]

Polian was basically a GM. Ballard can do that role, all Jim has to do is get out of the way. If Jim doesn't like Ballard, he can hire someone else, but Ballard has consistently delivered strong draft classes. I'd be hesitant to let someone with his track record go. At least give him a single crack at a draft and develop QB before doing so.

As more time goes by, I'm more and more convinced that Bill Polian ran that entire show on West 56th Street. Jim Irsay just paid the bills and signed the paychecks. How much success have we had since Bill (not Chris) Polian was fired? Not very much... at all. And whatever success we did have after that was almost entirely due to Andrew Luck. Then he smartened up and saw the writing on the wall and quit/retired. Looking at the dumpster fire of a mess this organization is nowadays, from top to bottom, I have very, very little faith left in any of it. We're years away from competing for a Super Bowl. We can't even win the worst division in the NFL anymore. It's been almost a decade since we last did.

So, no, Bill Polian was not "basically a GM". He was wayyy more than that. Look at us today for comparison.

[ChoppedWood]

Polian was basically a GM. Ballard can do that role, all Jim has to do is get out of the way. If Jim doesn't like Ballard, he can hire someone else, but Ballard has consistently delivered strong draft classes. I'd be hesitant to let someone with his track record go. At least give him a single crack at a draft and develop QB before doing so.

No, Ballard can't do that role, Ballard should be relegated to the level of a Sr. Scout, and nothing more. His concept of building a team is circa 1996. His arrogance is that of a multi-SB winning head cheese who has trophy cases and banners to point to- he has nothing of the sort. His concept of storing cash under the mattress for safe keeping, is abominable. His belief / dedication to numerous players, notably at the QB position is sickening, the refusal of addressing the WR position unless absolutely FORCED TO, was nauseating and putting Matt Pryor at LT, is comical at best and as I have stated, is a termination level offense all to itself. He should have been shit canned along with Frank. Both of them think way too highly of their own belief system to be flexible enough to succeed in today's NFL. I will be delighted when he is no longer part of this organization.

[albany ed]

I don't know, but I'm not Anti Ballard. I think he found some gems in the draft and started to build a solid team. He got put behind the eight ball early when his extremely elite QB suddenly retired and left a huge hole in team and he actually had no time to fix it. Sure, he's made some mistakes, but are there any GMs that haven't?

[apballin]

I’m not ready to fire Ballard they let Reich hand pick the QB the last 3 years. We all know he wanted Jordan Love, but Irsay tried to overcompensate the whole GM-coach -owner in harmony after the Grigson-pagano situation so here we are. He should’ve fired Reich for vouching for Wentz or gave them 1 more year because after Irsay called for his bible buddies head he was never the same

[Colts And Orioles]

I don't know, but I'm not Anti Ballard. I think he found some gems in the draft and started to build a solid team. He got put behind the 8-ball early when his extremely=elite QB suddenly abruptly retired, and left a huge hole in team, a hole in which he had no time to fix. Sure, he's made some mistakes, but are there any GMs that haven't ???





o


When Peyton Manning went down in 2011, the Colts went 2-14 without him.

When Andrew Luck suddenly and unexpectedly retired in 2019, the Colts went 7-9 with an average-at-best Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, and 6 out of those 9 losses were by 7 points or less.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2019-ind


The very next year the Colts went out and got the least mobile quarterback in the NFL (a 39 year-old Philip Rivers), went 11-6 in the regular season, and took the Buffalo Bills right down to the wire in a playoff game on their homefield.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2020-ind


And in that playoff game the statuesque, 39 year-old Rivers was literally untouched by the Bills' defense, let alone sacked.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes/index.nsf/Games/2020-post-wc-ind-buf




Subsequently, in my rat's ass of an opinion, Ballard wasn't just us giving lip-service when he proclaimed that he was determined to build a complete team that was not extremely-reliant on an elite quarterback when he was first brought here in January of 2017.

o

[Racehorse]

o


When Peyton Manning went down in 2011, the Colts went 2-14 without him.

When Andrew Luck suddenly and unexpectedly retired in 2019, the Colts went 7-9 with an average-at-best Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, and 6 out of those 9 losses were by 7 points or less.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2019-ind


The very next year the Colts went out and got the least mobile quarterback in the NFL (a 39 year-old Philip Rivers), went 11-6 in the regular season, and took the Buffalo Bills right down to the wire in a playoff game on their homefield. And in that playoff game the statuesque, 39 year-old Rivers was literally untouched by the Bills' defense, let alone sacked.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2020-ind



Subsequently, in my rat's ass of an opinion, Ballard wasn't just us giving lip-service when he proclaimed that he was determined to build a complete team that was not extremely-reliant on an elite quarterback when he was first brough here in January of 2017.

o

I agree. If the line was playing like it did just two years ago, we win the division, and maybe make playoff noise.

[apballin]

I agree. If the line was playing like it did just two years ago, we win the division, and maybe make playoff noise.

Or if we had a QB get rid of the ball in 3 seconds or less and doesn’t have the most turnovers of n the league….

Ballard definitely dropped the ball at LT

[albany ed]

Or if we had a QB get rid of the ball in 3 seconds or less and doesn’t have the most turnovers of n the league….

Ballard definitely dropped the ball at LT

All GMs drop the ball some times. The almighty Polian that some folks here have knighted, dropped the ball when he traded Faulk for a song and then had to draft his equal in Edge. He could have kept Faulk a HOFer and traded the Edge pick to the Saints for every fucking draft pick they had that year. Adding that to their own, they would have been stacked for years.

[apballin]

All GMs drop the ball some times. The almighty Polian that some folks here have knighted, dropped the ball when he traded Faulk for a song and then had to draft his equal in Edge. He could have kept Faulk a HOFer and traded the Edge pick to the Saints for every fucking draft pick they had that year. Adding that to their own, they would have been stacked for years.

Fuckin Scioli and Peterson for Marshall Faulk

[Dam8610]

All GMs drop the ball some times. The almighty Polian that some folks here have knighted, dropped the ball when he traded Faulk for a song and then had to draft his equal in Edge. He could have kept Faulk a HOFer and traded the Edge pick to the Saints for every fucking draft pick they had that year. Adding that to their own, they would have been stacked for years.

Yes, and the Colts could've traded away the Luck pick for 5 1s, kept Peyton, and drafted Russell Wilson, but nobody but me saw that possibility.

Faulk was unhappy, and Edgerrin was just as good if not better at the time. Faulk would've walked in free agency, instead we got 7 years of James.

[albany ed]

Yes, and the Colts could've traded away the Luck pick for 5 1s, kept Peyton, and drafted Russell Wilson, but nobody but me saw that possibility.

Faulk was unhappy, and Edgerrin was just as good if not better at the time. Faulk would've walked in free agency, instead we got 7 years of James.

Peyton was due 18 million dollar roster bonus before it was certain his neck would ever allow him to be Peyton again. So, it was risky.

Faulk wasn't unhappy, he just wanted his contract renegotiated. Polian said nobody renegotiates on my watch.

[Dam8610]

Peyton was due 18 million dollar roster bonus before it was certain his neck would ever allow him to be Peyton again. So, it was risky.

Faulk wasn't unhappy, he just wanted his contract renegotiated. Polian said nobody renegotiates on my watch.

Yes, the risk was Peyton falters and you have a rookie superstar on a rookie deal with 5 more first round picks.

[omahacolt]

Fuckin Scioli and Peterson for Marshall Faulk

holy shit i forgot about scioli

[omahacolt]

Yes, and the Colts could've traded away the Luck pick for 5 1s, kept Peyton, and drafted Russell Wilson, but nobody but me saw that possibility.

Faulk was unhappy, and Edgerrin was just as good if not better at the time. Faulk would've walked in free agency, instead we got 7 years of James.

just look at this clown

[Brylok]

just look at this clown

It's just going to get worse the farther we stink. Hell, even I'm not immune to it.

[Racehorse]

Yes, the risk was Peyton falters and you have a rookie superstar on a rookie deal with 5 more first round picks.

???

[Chromeburn]

o


When Peyton Manning went down in 2011, the Colts went 2-14 without him.

When Andrew Luck suddenly and unexpectedly retired in 2019, the Colts went 7-9 with an average-at-best Jacoby Brissett at quarterback, and 6 out of those 9 losses were by 7 points or less.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2019-ind


The very next year the Colts went out and got the least mobile quarterback in the NFL (a 39 year-old Philip Rivers), went 11-6 in the regular season, and took the Buffalo Bills right down to the wire in a playoff game on their homefield.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/2020-ind


And in that playoff game the statuesque, 39 year-old Rivers was literally untouched by the Bills' defense, let alone sacked.


https://www.jt-sw.com/football/boxes/index.nsf/Games/2020-post-wc-ind-buf




Subsequently, in my rat's ass of an opinion, Ballard wasn't just us giving lip-service when he proclaimed that he was determined to build a complete team that was not extremely-reliant on an elite quarterback when he was first brought here in January of 2017.

o

I keep hearing that the build strategy is old, mostly from young fans who grew up with the 2000 Colts. The problem with the “modern build” strategy is that it’s dependent on finding a generational QB which is the hardest thing to do in sports. You either have to have the number one pick in the draft with one available that year (Burrow, Lawrence) or get extremely lucky in a deep QB draft class (Allen, Mahomes). And there are more misses at QB than hits for sure. Also young people tend to leave out we didn’t win the SB till we finally solidified the defensive line with a DT, Booger. And the running game came alive to take pressure off the passing game. Those Colts teams consistently got beat by Pat and Steeler teams who were more complete with investment in their lines.

People think Ballard just wants to make a running team with strong guards and a defense with strong DTs. That’s not true. He just happened to hit on an all-pro guard and an all-pro LB wary in his tenure bc he is good at drafting. He wants a complete team bc he thinks you win championships that way, but you still need a QB and he’s trying to find one.

A lot of this anti Ballard stuff I hear out of the radio guys on 1075. They don’t like him and think he is “smug.” So they go on these rants about him, but it’s really because they just don’t get along with him. I personally didn’t think he was bad in the interviews I listened to, I felt like they were pushing their opinion as if they had some say in the matter. When you’re a sports reporter and think you know more than the people on the team. But news flash, Polian was a huge dick, Grigson was a huge dick, it doesn’t matter, as long as they do their job. Plus McAfree seems to think he’s ok so I tend to think it’s the radio guys being sensitive. Also Dakich is an dick.