Free agency 2023

[IndyNorm]

All joking and arguing aside: Getting the QB decision right is 1A, but fixing the OL has to be 1B. You're not going to be able to develop a young QB if he's getting the shit beat out of him week in and week out.

At a bare minimum we need a starting RG, an OC who can compete with and probably replace Kelly, and some quality OT depth. Ballard likely won't be able to find all of that in the draft, especially if we trade up, so he's going to need to find some of that in FA.

[Kray007]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I’m not sure what this means. I’ll state again - I haven’t really criticized Ballard for his decisions at QB. The team could have been competitive with Ryan and a top tier OL. I felt they should have drafted one earlier, but I understand going the vet route. What I don’t understand is going the vet route (especially with Rivers and Ryan) without pushing in on the rest of the roster. To me that’s fucking stupid and a waste.

Perhaps I should have been more explicit. No one can complain about Ballard failing Frank because he didn’t provide him with a competent Quarterback. Frank Reich hand picked Matt Ryan, and Ballard went out and got him. Similarly, a year earlier, Reich convinced Ballard that Carson Wentz, the same Carson Wentz who was cut loose today, could play the game at a high level. Did the shortcomings on the Offensive Line contribute to Ryan’s utter incompetence? No doubt; but, when a Ferrari runs out of gas on the side of the road, giving it a better set of tires is of little help.

A bad line can explain a lot of things, but the 15 fumbles and 13 interceptions in a dozen games…

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

As rm pointed out it's impossible to answer this, but I'd be willing to bet that Reich would have much rather have had Fisher back at LT than that complete turd Pryor. The OL would have been better from the start and barring injury Raimann would have been given time to develop rather than be thrown to the wolves way too early.

It’s possible. Usually when you have these marriages end lots of little tidbits come out in the media. Grigson and Pagano was releasing stuff through different guys. Grigson through Dakich, and Pagano through Holder and the newspaper.

But Reich started Pryor forever. That’s not Ballard. It sucks Kelly was hurt early on, but Pryor didn’t really get benched till Saturday came on. But as Kray said, LTs are hard to find. You pretty much have to draft them. They don’t hit FA in their prime usually. Every guy was a stopgap. And Fisher wasn’t signed till December and I believe has been cut again after doing nothing. So maybe. Reich is an analytics guy and the analytics is why they asked Pryor to play tackle in the first place.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

As he should. He's the one who put together that dumpster fire shit storm of a team we had to watch this year.

Yup the oline failed and that’s his baby. They put Pryor out there and it sabotaged the line. Guy fell on his sword at the end of the season. I’m good with it. He turned it into a top unit in the first place, more than I can say Grigson ever did.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Bc the Eagles got lucky and found a QB that no one, not even them, thought would be anything better than a Taysom Hill type. They also build through the lines and spend a lot of capital on them. They have a stacked team. They actually have a very similar build theory to the Colts. Probably why they liked Steichen bc he comes from that theory. I think Reich liked it. Lots of teams have been crap during this period and have stayed crap. Broncos gave their left nut for a short QB who bombed spectacularly.

The past 2 out of 3 drafts the top pick has been a WR. The last 3 out of 4 they have used high picks on receivers. The team hasn’t been a disaster. They’ve been competitive and have battled for the division several times with no QB. Usually when you have no QB you’re the Texans. Even this year they could have easily had better record with some luck, likely would have if they hadn’t fired Reich. But Irsay wanted to break the cycle and now they are finally in position for a young QB.

I completely 100% disagree that Philly has a build theory similar to the Colts. If you mean the idea of building up the lines (in theory) then yes, but that’s where the similarities end. Philly went out and actively improved their roster for this year. They made a conscious push to win this year. Never once has Ballard done that. Not once. And that is my single biggest complaint. You claim they are finally in a position to draft a QB, they could have been earlier if not for going the vet QB route. But the maddening thing is they half assed it. If you sign Rivers you should be in win now mode, Ballard wasn’t. If you trade for Wentz you should be in win now mode. Ballard wasn’t. If you trade for Ryan you should be in win now mode, Ballard wasn’t.

Yes there are teams that have been worse. Does that somehow make Ballard’s team building a success? I’ve never claimed he’s the worst GM in the league. I’m not positive I even want him fired. I’d like to see him wise up and change his antiquated philosophy. It’s just infuriating listen to guys pretend he’s a fucking genius. He’s a good talent evaluator and a mediocre GM. The record proves it no matter how many excuses you guys give. Rebuilds shouldn’t take 8 seasons in the NFL.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Yup the oline failed and that’s his baby. They put Pryor out there and it sabotaged the line. Guy fell on his sword at the end of the season. I’m good with it. He turned it into a top unit in the first place, more than I can say Grigson ever did.

Dude will you get off Grigson? I think everyone except Dan Dakich knows Grigson sucked. That doesn’t make Ballard good. He needs to be better than “not Grigson”.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Kray007

Perhaps I should have been more explicit. No one can complain about Ballard failing Frank because he didn’t provide him with a competent Quarterback. Frank Reich hand picked Matt Ryan, and Ballard went out and got him. Similarly, a year earlier, Reich convinced Ballard that Carson Wentz, the same Carson Wentz who was cut loose today, could play the game at a high level. Did the shortcomings on the Offensive Line contribute to Ryan’s utter incompetence? No doubt; but, when a Ferrari runs out of gas on the side of the road, giving it a better set of tires is of little help.

A bad line can explain a lot of things, but the 15 fumbles and 13 interceptions in a dozen games…

Agree, you can't blame Ballard for the QB situation. The only QB who we could have realistically drafted since Luck fucked us was Hurts, and there were a lot of questions on him coming out of college.

You can, however, blame Ballard for the disaster of an OL, absolutely no pass rush for years, a bottom of the league WR group for several years, etc.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by rm1369

I completely 100% disagree that Philly has a build theory similar to the Colts. If you mean the idea of building up the lines (in theory) then yes, but that’s where the similarities end. Philly went out and actively improved their roster for this year. They made a conscious push to win this year. Never once has Ballard done that. Not once. And that is my single biggest complaint. You claim they are finally in a position to draft a QB, they could have been earlier if not for going the vet QB route. But the maddening thing is they half assed it. If you sign Rivers you should be in win now mode, Ballard wasn’t. If you trade for Wentz you should be in win now mode. Ballard wasn’t. If you trade for Ryan you should be in win now mode, Ballard wasn’t.

Yes there are teams that have been worse. Does that somehow make Ballard’s team building a success? I’ve never claimed he’s the worst GM in the league. I’m not positive I even want him fired. I’d like to see him wise up and change his antiquated philosophy. It’s just infuriating listen to guys pretend he’s a fucking genius. He’s a good talent evaluator and a mediocre GM. The record proves it no matter how many excuses you guys give. Rebuilds shouldn’t take 8 seasons in the NFL.

Because they know they have the pieces in place. Good rookie QB on a rookie contract. We don’t have that. Why sell the farm when we don’t have the QB position settled?

Irsay wanted them to compete. Reich didn’t want to go a young QB, otherwise they might have gone after Fields. He built the oline up, then Luck retired. He’s built the defense into a good unit. But until we get QB settled, he’s not going to go all out for a SB and not should he. Cart before the horse notion.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Dude will you get off Grigson? I think everyone except Dan Dakich knows Grigson sucked. That doesn’t make Ballard good. He needs to be better than “not Grigson”.

Grigson is what most GMs are. People tend to forget shitty GMing. And I’ll fucking bring up whatever the fuck I want.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by rm1369

Dude will you get off Grigson? I think everyone except Dan Dakich knows Grigson sucked. That doesn’t make Ballard good. He needs to be better than “not Grigson”.

Well said. Everyone on this board would probably be a better GM than Grigson, but it doesn't mean any of us would actually be any good at it.