Yes, I can. I was a Colts fan before it, but I was 12 years old when Peyton Manning played his first NFL game. If anything, I should be the type of fan of which you speak. I'm not because I watched football and quickly figured out that scoring a lot of points doesn't matter if stopping the other team from scoring isn't a thing that happens.

Yes I noticed that too … :cool:

I don't disagree that OBJ would probably have a bigger impact than whoever was picked at 26 and the 4th round, IF I wasn't worried about his injuries. The guy has played one complete season.

Yes, we can say that about any one player. The big difference for OBJ specifically is that he checks about every negative box.

- Injuries
- Questionable locker room fit (whether or not you think this is important, Ballard does)
- Loss of picks
- Big cap dollars
- We have an elite QB that can elevate his WRs

Mid-tier QBs with middling offensive coaches need superstar WRs. Superstar QBs like Luck do still need weapons, but they don't need the best talent in the NFL in order to play at the highest levels. Especially with a coach like Reich in place, who is a strong offensive planner and is already a HC, so there's no threat of the OC leaving and a new system being implemented.

No denying OBJ is a great player but the risks involved with bringing him in are not worth it IMO.

Hard to argue with that. I might take the gamble because I think we need another weapon somewhere in the offense to open things up. However, it definitely will not happen b/c of points two and three you list.

I guess my point is that, before Peyton, Indiana was a basketball state and still largely is. So most fans are casual and look at the previous model of success and say "Let's do that again." Even though they saw plenty of times the benefits of a stout defense, including the reason they actually won a SB.

Hence where a lot of the "we need a receiver more than anything" stuff comes from ie: we need the second coming of Reggie Wayne in order to be successful.

I forgot to add that both Sirianni and Reich coached Williams with the Chargers I believe.

LOL. Did you listen to my 'Reich press conference" pod?

I do not see #2 as a problem. As in, I don't see him as a locker room problem. Is he a character with personality? yes, absolutely. But we have players like that already, but they are not locker room problems. And neither do I think is OBJ. He is just a very fiery player, with strong emotions on the field. But he never, ever throws his players under the bus, or anything like that. He's stood up for his QB and other players on the team when push came to shove. That IMO shows that high character Ballard is looking for.
Ballard and Reich both have stated that yes, they would indeed get a big personality player, on a big contract, if it was the right fit. I can't think of a better fit, offensively, than OBJ. Defense is something entirely different, and we do have serious needs there. But if we can lock down our entire offense for the foreseeable future, and only have one side of the ball to have to focus on for the future,...why not do it? And our defense isn't bad right now either. It was top ten by the end of the year. They really picked up as the season progressed. We need a couple pass rushers, and some depth, (or stand-out) in the DB area.
Injury is an issue, I agree. But how less often do you think he'll get injured if he's not forced on every snap to fight off double coverage? With T.Y., and Ebron, and Doyle, teams can't focus on doubling him. 1-1 match-ups vrs OBJ?,...I'd take that every day, and 2ce on Sundays. :)

Re: OBJ, you can debate the merits of trading for him, but I just don't think there's a remote possibility Ballard would pay what it would take, so it's a non-starter for me.

Myself, no. I love the team's new identity.