I was just kinda bored and wandering around the site and came across Sherck’s “State of The Colts” series written during the 2017 offseason. The series was well-timed, as it was just before Ballard’s first offseason with the Colts was to begin and chronicles, in great detail, the state of the roster he inherited:
http://www.coltfreaks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=17
In cycling through these posts, it serves as a reminder of just how much Ballard has changed the Colts roster in the three subsequent offseasons (not counting 2020 since we’re still in it). Looking back, that defense was really putrid in 2017. Shocking opinion, I know, but until I reviewed these posts again I had forgotten just how sucky it was. Sherek never got around to an analysis of the secondary (which did have a few notable players at the time like Vontae and Geathers), but exactly none of these players are with the Colts any longer, and very few are even in the league at this point (I count only one current starter, Henry Anderson). No players even remotely star quality (Vontae was on the verge of his breakdown and release later that year, and Kenny Moore was busy dreaming of all the ways he was going to spend the $2,000 signing bonus he had just received from the Patriots).
The offense was a bit different, as we still have a few of the quality guys (Hilton, Castonzo, Kelly, Doyle), but without Luck this was still a pretty thin unit overall. Lots of names that have fallen off the radar in just three short years (Josh Ferguson, anyone?).
Anyway, it’s a fun read during what may turn out to be the longest offseason in NFL history.
Lastly, Sherck deserves a great deal of credit for the work he expended in putting together this series. It’s well-written and very thorough, and obviously a labor of love. Sure, you can take after-the-fact potshots at some of the opinions in the article (Donte Moncrief is the next Reggie Wayne?), but the opinions weren’t that crazy at the time they were written and most of us know we couldn’t have done any better (and probably would have done far worse). Sherck just had the guts to put his opinions out there. So, wherever you are Sherck, thank you.