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7-9? They haven't even played 2 pre-season games yet...

Quote:

Originally Posted by rm1369 (Post 75223)

There are way to many holes on the roster to be solved strictly through the draft. They are paper thin and / or lacking talent at LB, WR, and CB even if 3/4 of his draft picks pan out. And they are lacking play makers at plenty of other positions. QB, TE, and the two kickers are the only positions that I’m comfortable with the overall talent level. OL is definitely better but RT at least is still a concern. And they are screwed if Castonzo misses significant time at any point. Leaving major holes in the roster while hoarding cap space so that you can see if your 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th round draft picks pan out is fuckng asinine. I understand building a culture, I just disagree that you can only do that strictly through the draft. It certainly means you do your homework and you don’t bring in the Dez Bryants. But Ballard’s approach is costing years from our franchise QB. To me it screams arrogance and I simply don’t agree with the approach with Luck in place.

And before someone uses Grigson as an example of why Ballard is right to build this way let me say that just because it’s the opposite of Grigsons approach doesn’t make it right. As tempting as that is to believe. Grigson was an ass and a horrible GM, but the general idea of using free agency as a stop gap to increase the talent level until young guys took over wasn’t in itself the problem IMO. Grigsons problem was that he sucked at talent evaluation, wasn’t on the same page as his coach, and the coaching staff generally sucked. The one thing Grigson did right was bring up the talent level through free agency while not hurting their cap situation long term. The problem was the young guys were never developed. Free agency wasn’t the problem, shitty drafting and poor coaching was. Even with those two major downfalls the team got to an AFC title game. Werethey legit contenders? Of course not. They did it on the back of Luck and a shitty division. A franchise QB gives you a chance. Which is exactly why it sucks to look at the major holes on the roster and know how much cap space was available.

I guess I look at it from the perspective that there are way to many holes on this team to fill them, and be successful, with free agents-essentially other teams cast offs. Ballard is trying to lay a foundation for this team. I cannot name a winning team whose foundation is built upon free agents. There is no choice but to build thru the draft. If you have faith that you are bringing in good players the cap space will be utilized keeping them and hopefully helping to round out the roster later. We are probably (cause you never know) not going to be a super bowl contender for several years. I'm going to enjoy watching us grow into one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldcolt (Post 75241)

Ballard would be a major failure if it took several years to build a contender.

You build your foundation on good players. Free agents can very well form that foundation. It is nonsense to think you can only use one resource to build a winning team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldcolt (Post 75241)

For me it’s not a matter of building a foundation through free agency - that’s not the suggestion. I’d say you are absolutely correct that the draft is where your foundation has to come from. No matter how you build the draft should always be your primary source of talent. The issue is ignoring other avenues of improvement. Plenty of good teams supplement their rosters with free agents. The key is being smart about it - both in terms of who you add and in maintaining long term flexibility. I’m not at all suggesting that Ballard should have blew all the available cap space on whoever would take it. But do you really believe that he couldn’t have improved the WR or LB groups more than he has? They are paper thin and we are hoping that late round draft picks and undrafted free agents step up and make meaningful contributions. When the preaseason injury to a 6th round WR is looked at as a big blow to your WR depth, your WR depth was shit before the injury. It’s one thing if you allocated all your resources elsewhere- every roster has holes. But when you can barely point to any strong position groups on the roster (QB, TE, kickers) and you have tens of millions in cap space available to me in simply shows you are wasting opportunities to improve. Grigson already wasted way to many of Lucks years. I don’t want to watch Ballard throw away more as he fixes everything through the draft. There are to many holes for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by omahacolt (Post 75247)

It is nonsense to think you can only use one resource to build a winning team.

Ballard hasn't used only one resource. He used the draft and he brought in free agents. That's clearly not one resource.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JesusChrist (Post 75249)

Ballard hasn't used only one resource. He used the draft and he brought in free agents. That's clearly not one resource.

He clearly spent a buck fifty on free agents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by omahacolt (Post 75250)

He clearly spent a buck fifty on free agents.

With most of them on one year contracts without even a team option for next year.

2017 draft isn't looking too great at this moment. Of course, that could change. That being said, the 2018 draft will be a much better way of assessing Ballard. You can't fully judge a GM until he has his scouts in place.

I guess I think that this is such a young team, with new coaches and systems that it makes sense to find out what you have before you start to supplement it. And I continue to like that Ballard has a plan and is sticking to it. That is half the battle.There is more than one way to build a team but you need to pick one and stick to it. Ballard does bring in free agents, he just doesn't emphasize it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by omahacolt (Post 75250)

He clearly spent a buck fifty on free agents.

He did bring some in, and didn't rely only on the draft.