Are you capable of looking at a site such as ESPN and querying won-lost records? Can you look up the Colts record please? Can you google it over the last 8 years and can you report back on how this more talented football player model you speak of, where a guy like JT is viewed as a must have on the roster, has achieved A MOTHERFUCKING THING?

Damn, man, JT is a good runner of the football, he is NOT a good football player! We can't continue to perpetuate this same fucking approach where a guy that isn't good enough, is thought of as some form of "better than "X" type and as such is regarded as a keeper because he is what we are comfortable with. We HAVE to get draft picks and we have to get rid of guys that aren't critical to the team going forward. JT is not a cornerstone part of this team- accept that! Well he is, and that is an indicator that this team is BAD. Other teams would give us draft picks for him- take those and live with a decent bridge running back for a couple years while we transition the whole fucking team.

I prefer to keep JT on the roster while they bring in/draft his replacement...with the new GM and HC next year.

Judging Ballard on his record is almost as stupid as wanting Najee Harris over Jonathan Taylor.

Yeah because there are a LOT of other measures to gauge him by. So, then he should just be GM for life right, I mean if you aren't going to use the W/L record of the team he runs as the measure of his success / failure?

As usual you live an a world that makes zero fucking sense unless it is twisted to support some fucked up weird ass view you have.

Wow

Tired ass argument. Basically stating he’s not been good because he doesn’t have an elite QB. Fuck, most GMs would appear competent if they had an elite QB. WTF about the rest of the team? Fuck QB, you guys always give him that out. WTF about the shit D? WTF about the culture that obviously isn’t about winning?

He’s going to be motivated to support AR?! Why the fuck now? Why not last year? Why not this year? Ballard is exactly this. “Next year” You know how many years we’ve been saying that with him? Every fucking one. And that goes for when he had Luck and thought the smart thing to do was slow roll a rebuild WITH an elite QB. Now you think he’s all of a sudden going to change? I want him gone BECAUSE I want AR to have a chance to succeed. We know what Ballard builds. I’ve watched every game of his shit product.

najee Harris is terrible

even suggesting him makes me question every post you makie

What do you judge him by? The stellar D he’s built? The culture in the locker room? His stellar selection of coaches? Let me guess - cap space saved / rolled over! I can see why as a Ballard supporter performance is a criteria you’d avoid. But I’m very curious what it is you think he does so well. Draft OL? That’s about the best thing I can think of. Sure AF isn’t drafting DE or CB. Sure as fuck isn’t evaluating QBs.

Well, also leads him to claim Grigson was better.

Just drowning in nuance with that kind of analysis.

Yes, Ballard is better than Grigson. Anyone with half a brain knows that. But the fact that we're not any better (and probably worse) than we were in 2019 after Luck bailed on the team goes to show that Ballard is nowhere near as good as his supporters think he is.

So then he'll be gone, likely won't have any suitors, and we'll bring in a better GM (not difficult to upgrade, I mean look how he talks and wears his hat).

Makes you salivate thinking of all the other teams' good players that will sign with us.

Just read an article about John Gruden and landing spots.

I don't think he has much left but neither does SS.

Oh things could get worse, but they could be much better too. Personally I really like Chopped's idea of bringing in John Dorsey at GM and Ben Johnson as HC. Should be super easy to convince them to come here since Ballard has put together such a stacked roster for them to inherit.

Plus Najee is a pussy. If you don't believe know me, ask Zaire. He called Najee a pussy, and he should know, after all it takes one to know one.

Mostly what he's done with the resources he's been given. Andrew Luck's retirement was unprecedented in NFL history. Before Luck's retirement, the Colts were considered Super Bowl contenders in 2019. That doesn't happen with a bad GM, see Ryan Grigson's tenure for proof of that. Ballard has since continued to find talent throughout the draft and turn bad situations into better ones for the most part. He's also added value to the team through free agency, just not generally by making splashy signings. Denico Autry, Eric Ebron, Kenny Moore, Justin Houston, Stephon Gilmore, and Samuel Womack are some examples from the top of my head of players that were brought in and significantly outperformed the contract they were signed to. All of it goes to show the massive importance of the QB position in the NFL. If you have one, you can be a perennial playoff contender without even having a great roster around that guy. If you don't have one, you can put together great rosters around them and still miss the playoffs. That being said, with how important that makes getting the QB position right, if you can't find the right guy as a GM, eventually the team has to move on to try to find someone who can.

I feel the evaluation of AR is incomplete at this point. It's not looking like it's going in a great direction, but given his youth and talent, it's not unreasonable to think he could turn a corner and become the franchise guy, which would bring the division titles and postseason success, the lack of which the anti-Ballard crowd is complaining about. That said, the margin of error for that outcome has gone down. To me, next year is it. It's postseason or bust, and I think that has to happen with AR being the factor that puts the Colts in the postseason. If he doesn't, I think it would be time to clean house at that point.

To me, that unequivocally demonstrates the importance of having a franchise QB on your roster. Player for player, this roster stacks up with just about any roster in the NFL at every position except for QB and TE. The lack at QB is why the team has struggled.

No, it doesn't. Take the defense for example, which has nothing to do w/ the QB. Ours is a complete shit show despite all kinds of draft capital Ballard has put into it. Granted part of that is a Bradley's god awful scheme, but a big part of that is the players as well.

Shut the fuck up! How in the fuck to you convince yourself of this bullshit?

Bean will be back next season per his agent:

https://x.com/TesslerSports/status/1876283524770312461

So again, your argument seems to be Ballard would look like a good GM if he had a great QB to cover the rosters flaws. To which I guess I say…..No, shit? There are few GMs that wouldn’t be the case for. Hell, let’s not forget that Grigson had more playoff success than Ballard has ever had. Yes absolutely based on having Luck. So the argument that they were seen as a SB contender with Luck on the roster says shit about Ballard and the roster he’d built. It speaks only about the value of an elite QB.

Has Ballard found value with some FA signings? Sure. By definition anyone he signs will be a value because that’s all he signs, bargain basement value players. And then he willingly leaves massive holes that he throws a bunch of cheap guys at. The team suffers from it every year, but then when a Womack plays a little better than expected Ballard’s fan base sees it as evidence of his genius. Never mind the constant collapse of the D against shit teams, Ballard has a guy playing better than his contract - that’s a win. No the fuck it’s not. This D is 1000% Ballard. The coach, the scheme, and every single fucking player is of Ballard’s doing. And it’s shit.

This team didn’t miss the playoffs because of the QB play. It missed the playoff because of the rest of the roster. Specifically the play of the D in several games. Don’t get me wrong, yes this is a playoff team with elite or above average QB play. But most teams would be. Especially in this shit division. That to me does not say Ballard has done anything worth while with the rest of the roster. I can’t look at the performance of this D and say Ballard has built anything significant in his 8 years. Mediocre. I guess to you that’s ok. And you see mediocre as at least better than bad. I see it as proof that Ballard is always going to be mediocre. Give him an above average or elite QB and his teams are going to underperform expectations, just as they do now every year.

And that doesn’t even touch on the culture of this team known for its melt downs. And the melts downs are not caused by the QB situation, IMO it’s caused by Ballard’s philosophy of no accountability, gifting positions to shit players, lack of respect for veterans, and his lack of ability to ever assemble a complete team. Which is ironic because when he was slow rolling the build with Luck on the roster he said it was because he wanted to build a team not dependent on just the QB. I think it’s safe to say he failed even in HIS stated goal. 8 years in and he continues to give us significantly flawed teams. Teams that are at best OK in areas, but excel at none. Teams with huge big gaping holes that are routinely exploited. He just needs that elite QB to cover for him I guess.

Which brings us to the fact that if it all comes down to the QB, Ballard has shown absolutely no fucking clue as to what to do there. None. Comically bad. Grigson level bad. Rivers was a good move but then he did jack shit with the rest of the roster. He kept going retreads and kept being middle of the pact so he and his supporters could say he was drafting too low to get his guy. Of course he’d never roll the dice and go get his fucking guy. No he couldn’t risk it and pay the price, we’d rather fail with retread after retread. Stay on the treadmill at mediocre. Until Irsay stepped in. And let’s be clear about that - AR is not Ballard’s plan. He only had a shot at AR because Irsay stepped in. And I’d argue they’ve fucked the AR situation about as well as they could. It’s been a shit show. So you say it’s all about the QB now, WTF exactly gives you any confidence in Ballard’s ability to select and support a QB? He’s failed at every single one he’s had. And he’s currently failing with AR.

Medic, medic, we need a medic in the Off Season Moves Thread ASAP... man down, man down...

You can go ahead & buy Ballard’s snake oil but I am not

QB play was absolutely a big reason we missed the playoffs. AR stunk and Old Man Flacco turned back into a pumpkin.

I think culture is one of the biggest problems this team has. They’ve got like one or two actual dudes on the roster.

The rest is posers like Franklin, JT, and AR.

That’s my biggest problem with Ballard. The lack of culture is completely his fault.

No doubt QB play was an issue this year, but I think the D across the board was a bigger factor in us missing the playoffs. We scored 33 and 34 points respectively in the NYG and Jagoffs losses, which is more than enough to have won comfortably if our D had actually shown up. Shit, we could have given up double NYG's average ppg and still won w/ 33 points.

Fully agree on culture. Way too many turds on this roster that are more worried about things like talking shit on podcasts instead of winning football games. I seriously doubt he does it, but Ballard really needs to send the top d-bags packing and bring in some well respected vets from winning franchises to turn the locker room around (Cory Redding/Cornelius Bennett type signings).

He won't. He likes his guys. The so-called Turds, those aren't Turds, they are Ballards!

The present time is 2:00 PM ET

Gus Bradley is still the DC of the Indianapolis Colts

JIM IRSAY YOU ARE A DISGRACE!

Not to beat a dead horse, but I'm just flabbergasted by this statement. Do you honestly believe that our defense stacks up w/ just about any other NFL roster after having watched them get flat out embarrassed by crap offenses like the Giants, Jagoffs, Cheats, Tits, and Jets all year long? If so then please PM me b/c I have some ocean front property in southwest Ohio that I'd like to sell you.

Exactly. My point is that the playoffs were well within reach for this team with this schedule in this division if they had a good D, even with the current level of QB play. That is all on Ballard. And it’s not the first year that’s been the case. That’s not to even mention the culture. And as I’ve pointed out before - Ballard claimed he didn’t need vets because his coaches would establish the culture. And for several years he employed a specialist just to pick guys with good attitudes. So just like the D, the culture isn’t an accident. It is exactly what Ballard has purposely built over 8 years.

What's funny about this is that he's not. His contract ended this season. They would have to re-sign him to retain him.

Defensively the team's biggest weakness to me is at LB. I suppose they don't really stack up there, either. Franklin and Speed should both be gone, play Carlies and Harrison if you need to. Olubi is an option as well, or draft someone.

That said, yes, for the most part, I feel like the defense is better than what the numbers indicate, in large part because in over half of the games, the offense was putting the defense in terrible spots. How many games did opponents have 2:1 TOP advantage this year? Some of that was on the defense, more of it was on the offense having far too many 3 and outs and far too little success. Also I agree with most here that Bradley's scheme is not the best at maximizing the skillsets of our players. I think with a different DC, the same defenders would perform better.

Dam needs to submit himself to drug testing immediately

dude even Buckner said they were fucking terrible this year.


can't tackle, play the run, rush the passer, or cover anyone. what the fuck are you smoking?

I'm adding Jerrod Mayo and Lou Anarumo to this list anyone have a favorite?

That, and if I ever decide to start a cult or a pyramid scheme he'll be one of the first people I contact w/ such a great opportunity :D

Watching the replay, I think pretty much the entire defense needs to be replaced.

At a minimum, Blackmon, Speed, and Franklin need to go. I’d also look into replacing Paye and both starting corners. Or at least bring in competition at cornerback.

Ballard needs to dip into free agency this offseason.

The defense needs a complete reboot. A new coordinator and a bunch of new players.

I think the offense is ok, at least outside of quarterback. Got pieces to work with on the OLine, got 3 good receivers coming back, and JT at running back.

We just need better quarterback play on offense.

I really don’t think we’re that far off, except at the most important positions.

We like our guys.

Agree that both Bradley and the LBs suck and should be replaced. The secondary is definitely below average and needs multiple upgrades. The DL is really good on paper but really underachieved this year. At the very least we need to bring in better depth at DT, b/c when either Defo and Grover are not in the game it becomes a shit show.

And yes in some games the O didn't do the D any favors, but in our D's worst performances this year that wasn't the case. In fact of the 5 games I listed we won TOP in 4 of them, and the O rarely put the D in a bad position in those games as well. For instance the shortest TD drive the Giants (who scored the most against us in their last 9 seasons BTW) was 56 yards, and 4 of their 5 TDs were all 70 yards.

I think we need a true #1 TE as well. Hopefully Warren is there when we draft, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I came back to edit my post and add that we need a legit tight end. No more mixing a stew of MAC, Gransen, Ogletree, and the other dude who’s always hurt and expecting crab bisque in the pot.

I wonder how different the season would have gone had they managed to get Bowers in the draft last year.

Wouldn’t have mattered with the instability at QB

IMO, our greatest off-season moves needed are:

#1 - A true #1 TE who will help our young, inexperienced QB more than anything else would.

#2 - A stud CB that most likely should come from free agency. We need someone who can play #1 WRs straight up man-to-man and erase them our at least limit them.

#3 - A stud LB the likes of which we have not had since, really, the younger days of Leonard.

Honestly, if our QB can play up to NFL quality (which, IMO, I don't think he can), then the 2024 verison of the Colts with the above additions I think puts us in pretty good shape.

Alas, I don't think AR is the guy. The above additions are really then building blocks for the next re-build of the Colts.

But, that is my two cents.

I think I jinxed us. I mentioned him in like early December when he was projected late 1st-round... Ever since then, he just keeps going up and up the boards.

The stock exchange guys have him like right where we're picking currently... but I've seen him ranked as high as #6 overall. Pump the brakes, pundits.

o


Regarding the off-season (for the Colts), Cletus started a playoff thread in the NFL section ...... it's for all of the playoff games in the Wildcard, Divisional, and Conference Championship playoff rounds.


http://www.coltfreaks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=194050



I'll start a separate thread for the Super Bowl, when that time comes.

o