I come to praise Chris Ballard, not to bury him.

[IndyNorm]

Of the 7/9 times we've not made the playoffs under Ballard I think you can legitimately excuse 3 of those seasons: 2017 b/c of rebuilding and Luck not being available, 2019 b/c of Luck bailing right before the season started, and 2025 b/c of the ridiculous amount of injuries that have happened to key players.

Just for fun here are some tongue is cheek excuses from all of the other years:

2021 - It wasn't Ballard's fault that the QB he traded for couldn't do a 180 deg. turnaround to his career. It also wasn't Ballard's fault that a rookie w/ 11.5 sacks in his entire college career and another rookie coming off an a torn achilles couldn't adequately take over for the loss of pass rushing vets Justin Houston and Denico Autry. And finally, it definitely wasn't Ballard's fault that the Jagoffs actually decided to play to win the final week of the year and not roll over and play dead like they had for pretty much the 2nd half of the season. That was just not fair!!

2022 - It wasn't Ballard's fault that Matt Pryor didn't work out at LT. He had the one game where he started at LT in '21 and played ok, so this was a total shocker. It also wasn't Ballard's fault that Pinter sucked at ROG. He and his staff only had 2 years to evaluate Pinter, which just isn't enough time. It also wasn't Ballard's fault that Matt Ryan's arm was shot. It's not like there was any film showing this in Ryan's last season or 2 in ATL.

2023 - To be fair the Colts exceeded any realistic expectations this year. Although it can probably be said that it wasn't Ballard's fault that starting one of the rawest QB prospects in history who had no idea how to protect himself from hits in the NFL got hurt.

2024 - It wasn't Ballard's fault that a QB who had a completion percentage in college of 55% couldn't improve on this in the NFL. It also wasn't Ballard's fault that he couldn't figure out that said QB wasn't willing to put in the time to be a good NFL QB during the predraft interviewing process. And it definitely wasn't Ballard's fault that the defense he put together didn't show up against the 2 worst offenses in the league that year (@ Jagoffs and @ NYG).

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Kray007

After years of trying and striking out, Ballard found a quarterback in Daniel Jones.

o


I would say that Ballard didn't strike out in 2020 also, when a 39 year-old Philip Rivers led the Colts to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. The largely immobile 39 year-old Rivers was playing behind an excellent offensive line that season ...... Rivers was not sacked once and was literally untouched in the Wildcard playoff game against the Bills, a game which went right down to the wire on the Bills' homefield in northwestern New York State.

I wouldn't count the 2019 season against Ballard because of the fact that Andrew Luck retired abruptly only 2 weeks before the start of the regular season ...... Ballard had no choice but to roll with Jacoby Brissett that season.

So Ballard had 4 consecutive seasons of being unable to find a solid quarterback from 2021 through 2024, although Carson Wentz was close ...... Wentz gets blamed for shitting the bed at the worst time in the final 2 games of the lone season that he played for the Colts, as he should ...... but he also led that Colts to a 9-6 record prior to that late-season collapse, and had 27 TD's, 7 INT's, and a passer rating of 93.1 for that season.


So Ballard's inability to find a solid quarterback for the team spanned 4 seasons, from 2021 through 2024.



*******************************


On the other hand, I would put the disastrous 2022 season entirely on Ballard, as I thought that it was a minor miracle that Matt Ryan had the Colts with a record of 4-5-1 after 9 games with that atrocious line blocking for him. That offensive line was nothing short of awful that year ...... in fact, if Philip Rivers had had that same terrible offensive line "protecting" him, I think that that 2020 solid, playoff season would have resembled the disastrous 2022 season. Philip Rivers had the mobility of a statute at that point in his career, and there is almost no way that he would have survived that season without getting killed, let alone led the team to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Philip Rivers had one of the best offensive lines in all of football blocking for him in 2020, which is the complete opposite of the line that Matt Ryan had "blocking" for him.

o

[Puck]

Noah Compton
@nerlens_
·
3h
Bruce Arians on
@PatMcAfeeShow
yesterday discussing the fate of the Indianapolis Colts:

“I hope the Colts don’t make a change, because I think they’re close…be patient, you’re very, very close. Don’t let one or two injuries run you out of the whole damn thing.”

[YDFL Commish]

I will say this.

When Carlie has her end of season meeting with Ballard and Steichen, if either of them even insinuate that we should keep either Zaire or Kwity, her response should be; Here's a box get your shit out of my building.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

I will say this.

When Carlie has her end of season meeting with Ballard and Steichen, if either of them even insinuate that we should keep either Zaire or Kwity, her response should be; Here's a box get your shit out of my building.

I would keep Kwity only if it were for a back-up role, and not as a starter. Zaire needs to kick rocks.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

I would keep Kwity only if it were for a back-up role, and not as a starter. Zaire needs to kick rocks.

o


We got a lot out of a 7th-round drafter pick from 2018.

Between 2019 and 2021, Franklin was excellent on special teams. He evolved into an excellent linebacker between 2022 and 2024, culminating in his 2024 All-Pro season when he led the league with 173 tackles.

After his sub-par 2025 season, he may be finished as a Colt.

o

[apballin]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


We got a lot out of a 7th-round drafter pick from 2018.

Between 2019 and 2021, Franklin was excellent on special teams. He evolved into an excellent linebacker between 2022 and 2024, culminating in his 2024 All-Pro season when he led the league with 173 tackles.

After his sub-par 2025 season, he may be finished as a Colt.

o

He definitely earned his spot the hard way and he had a hell of a run but honestly he got outplayed by Pratt and he has no business out there covering anyone.

He can run and hit with the best of them but a totally glaring liability in coverage

[Kray007]

The shocking thing is that he went from the pro bowl to looking washed up in the course of less than a year.

In a perfect world, you have a hard time cutting a guy who’s been one of the faces of the team, a team captain, a beloved figure in the locker room, a fan favorite. You hate to be a Bill Belichick, who never saw a player he wouldn’t cut if his performance didn’t exceed his cap numbers.

If it were me, I’d be asking myself if, maybe, we spent the year trying to pound a round peg into a square hole. As far as I’m concerned, finding a Linebacker who can cover ought to be pretty much near the top of Chris Ballard’s honey do list this offseason. The question I then ask myself is whether I think that Franklin still has value lined up next to that guy.

The other question comes down to personnel and roster building. The team has six starters and three key backups whose contracts are expiring. Cutting Franklin adds to the number of positions you have to address. If you cut him, are you shooting yourself in the foot?

[YDFL Commish]

Originally Posted by Kray007

If you cut him, are you shooting yourself in the foot?

Absolutely not shooting yourself in the foot. Ballard has shown that he can draft LB's. Also this sends a a team message that with sub-par performance anyone can lose their job.

[Mr. Session]

I don't think Franklin regressed outside of his injury. I don't think he started the season at 100% and nobody finishes it at 100%. There's been multiple circumstances this year where I saw him take a long time to get up.

Anecdotally I initially felt like honestly this year was not the worst I'd seen out of Franklin but empirically speaking there is clearly a production drop.

I think he has more value with us as backup then just letting him go. Indianapolis has to find a guy that can beat him out on some snaps but if his health improves I think Franklin could have a better year next year as a run defender.