Quote:
Originally Posted by rm1369
I find it strange that Ballard’s ardent defenders would be fine condemning him based off of one bad choice. Hell even I admit this is at best a 50 / 50 shot. I don’t believe Ballard’s tenure should be determined by one draft choice. Especially considering that by Chrome’s reasoning they only even have this shot thanks to Irsay. Ballard wouldn’t have gotten them here to have this choice.
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Unfortunately this is the Not For Long. You can be great at everything else, but you fuck up that QB pick and you're done. That said, he has probably the best collection of scouts in the league to help him make the decision, and he's a crafty bastard of a negotiator. I'd be shocked if Ballard wasn't at least partially responsible for the recent wave of stories tamping down expectations of crazy Bears fans thinking they were going to get the moon and the stars for the #1 overall pick. Clearly the front office in the league most likely to trade for that pick is the Colts. Ballard even tipped his hand far more than he normally would in his end of year presser, saying he'd do whatever it took to land the right QB if said QB is in this class. Given the team's proximity to the #1 pick and the owner's damn near public mandate that the team draft and develop a QB, "the right guy" is whoever the front office thinks is the best QB in this draft. Given my opinion of this QB class and Ballard and Co.'s acumen at talent evaluation and acquisition, I believe they'll arrive at what I believe to be the correct conclusion that C.J. Stroud is the clear #1 QB in this draft and they'll trade a reasonable, not king's ransom package to Chicago to move up and get him.
The only way I can see Ballard getting this wrong and keeping his job is if Irsay comes in and forces his will as an owner to trade up and pick "that Alabama kid" over Ballard’s objections, and Young ends up busting for whatever reason. That said, Irsay has been involved in the NFL long enough to believe that his comment in that press conference may have been a smokescreen to hide the true interests of the Colts' front office regarding this QB class.