Ballard and Steichen are coming back

[ChaosTheory]

Funny thread back then. Hilarious thread now.

[Dam8610]

You know, I've noticed ChoppedWood doesn't post anymore. You would think he'd be all over posting about how good things are now that the Colts are winning.

[albany ed]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

You know, I've noticed ChoppedWood doesn't post anymore. You would think he'd be all over posting about how good things are now that the Colts are winning.

He still posts, he just doesn't bitch any longer. CW is like the rest of us in his love of the Colts, he just has a tough time controlling his emotions. He's less patient for the good times to come about and will blame management, coaches and players instantly. My guess is, if he were a Jets fan, he would have slit his wrists by now.

[Oldcolt]

I was one of those who felt it was time for Ballard to go. I am not 100% behind the guy quite yet. My issue was 8 years of believing he could do everything thru the draft, not finding a QB (Honestly we have finally found what appears to be a quality QB but I feel like a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually. We got lucky in my mind and I am thrilled we did. If this guy could really evaluate QBs it wouldn't have taken 8 years) and refusing to go all in. We have a few weeks before the trade deadline. This team is close, very close. There are no super teams this year. Will Ballard pull the trigger for a pass rusher or cb and go all in this year or will he just love them draft picks to much? He showed he was able to change ways and signed us some nice dbs this past off season. I would love to see us finally go all in. I hope new ownership pushes him in that direction.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I was one of those who felt it was time for Ballard to go. I am not 100% behind the guy quite yet. My issue was 8 years of believing he could do everything thru the draft, not finding a QB (Honestly we have finally found what appears to be a quality QB but I feel like a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually. We got lucky in my mind and I am thrilled we did. If this guy could really evaluate QBs it wouldn't have taken 8 years) and refusing to go all in. We have a few weeks before the trade deadline. This team is close, very close. There are no super teams this year. Will Ballard pull the trigger for a pass rusher or CB and go all in this year or will he just love them draft picks to much? He showed he was able to change ways and signed us some nice dbs this past off season. l I would love to see us finally go all in. I hope new ownership pushes him in that direction.

o


Jim was a lot different than his father ...... I hope that Carlie IS NOT a lot different than Jim.

As for your blind squirrel analogy, that is far from the truth. Prior to 2025 and after the retirement of Andrew Luck in 2019, Ballard's Colts had one good season (the 2020 Philip Rivers season), 1 bad season (the 2022 4-12-1 season), and 4 mediocre/middling seasons. Those mediocre/middling teams would have been bad teams if Ballard had not done what he said that he intended to ...... build a complete team that WAS NOT overly-dependent on an all-world quarterback, such as Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck.

The Colts have essentially done the opposite of what the New York Giants did ...... the Giants got a solid quarterback in Daniel Jones and expected him to carry an otherwise incomplete team. The Colts, on the other hand, built complete teams that were a solid quarterback away from being bona-fide contenders (as is evidenced by the 2020 Philip Rivers season and this 2025 Daniel Jones season.)


Jim was a good owner, right up until the end. Ballard was a good GM all long, just like I have been saying for years in dozens of my posts here on ColtFreaks.

o

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

My issue was 8 years of believing he could do everything thru the draft, not finding a QB (Honestly we have finally found what appears to be a quality QB but I feel like a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually. We got lucky in my mind and I am thrilled we did. If this guy could really evaluate QBs it wouldn't have taken 8 years) and refusing to go all in...

...or will he just love them draft picks to much?

This offense, which is hitting efficiency marks the league has never seen, outpacing Manning offenses and even outpacing the 2007 Patriots' record for points per drive...

is almost exclusively them picks. Jones is the only non-homegrown starter, and Abdullah may be the only other non-homegrown contributor on offense (off the top of my head). I say keep loving them picks too much.

Anarumo emphasizes the DBs in his scheme, so Ballard went after Ward and Bynum, drafted an Anarumo-style Walley.

Eberflus, on the other hand, calls the 3-tech the engine to his defense... so Ballard traded his 1st-rounder to get Buckner.

[Hoopsdoc]

The way they’re playing now, and if they continue to play that way, have completely absolved Ballard in my opinion. He really has built a complete team, at least on offense.

The only thing he hasn’t had, outside of 1 year of Luck and 1 year of Rivers, is a competent quarterback. Thats the only thing that’s held us back. I think even Reich would have been successful with a good quarterback.

That really makes it a bitter pill to swallow that Luck retired when he did. He endured guys like Samson Satele and Winston Justice thanks to that moron Grigson but Ballard was well on the way to fixing that. Look at the line we have now.

I don’t blame Luck for retiring, the timing just really sucked. I firmly believe we’d have been perrenial contenders had he stuck around.

As for finding a quarterback, I find it hard to really fault Ballard for that. It’s REALLY REALLY hard to find a franchise quarterback. Teams spend DECADES looking for one.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


Jim was a lot different than his father ...... I hope that Carlie IS NOT a lot different than Jim.

As for your blind squirrel analogy, that is far from the truth. Prior to 2025 and after the retirement of Andrew Luck in 2019, Ballard's Colts had one good season (the 2020 Philip Rivers season), 1 bad season (the 2022 4-12-1 season), and 4 mediocre/middling seasons. Those mediocre/middling teams would have been bad teams if Ballard had not done what he said that he intended to ...... build a complete team that WAS NOT overly-dependent on an all-world quarterback, such as Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck.

The Colts have essentially done the opposite of what the New York Giants did ...... the Giants got a solid quarterback in Daniel Jones and expected him to carry an otherwise incomplete team. The Colts, on the other hand, built complete teams that were a solid quarterback away from being bona-fide contenders (as is evidenced by the 2020 Philip Rivers season and this 2025 Daniel Jones season.)


Jim was a good owner, right up until the end. Ballard was a good GM all long, just like I have been saying for years in dozens of my posts here on ColtFreaks.

o

o


ESPN's Bill Barnwell rates Chris Ballard and the Colts as the #1 team out of 32 in the NFL for the 2025 off-season.



Best, Worst 2025 NFL Offseasons: Tiers for All 32 Teams

(By Bill Barnwell)

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...draft-barnwell



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



The NFL’s Best Offseason

Indianapolis Colts


Highlights: l Signing QB Daniel Jones (1-Year, $14 Million) and Safety Cam Bynum (4 Years, $60 Million), hiring DC Lou Anarumo, drafting 1st-round TE Tyler Warren

Disappointments: l The draft picks after Tyler Warren.

I'm not sure how any other team could receive more glowing reviews. The Colts signed Jones away from the Vikings with an opportunity to beat out Anthony Richardson Sr. for the starting job, and what he has done with that chance has exceeded any possible expectation. Jones leads the NFL in QBR (80.2) while also posting the league's highest success rate and its lowest sack rate. He has been a legitimate MVP candidate while making less than just about every other veteran starting QB in the league. If he keeps this up, Jones will be one of the best one-year acquisitions in league history.

Meanwhile, Anarumo has helped turn around a defense that couldn't tackle or cover last season with his exotic pressures and variety of defensive looks, creating turnover opportunities for the Colts on a weekly basis. Bynum has played a huge role in locking down the back end for Indianapolis, while fellow veteran defensive back Charvarius Ward was off to a solid start before suffering a concussion during pre-game warm-ups, and hitting injured reserve.

Warren was my pick for Offensive Rookie of the Year after four weeks, and he continues to impress in one of the league's most entertaining and unique roles. He's 14th among all receivers in yards-per-route run. The rest of the draft class hasn't made much of an impact. 2nd-rounder J.T. Tuimoloau was a healthy scratch to start the season, and has played just 62 defensive snaps. 3rd-round cornerback Justin Walley is out for the year after tearing an ACL in training camp.

o

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

I was one of those who felt it was time for Ballard to go. I am not 100% behind the guy quite yet. My issue was 8 years of believing he could do everything thru the draft, not finding a QB (Honestly we have finally found what appears to be a quality QB but I feel like a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually. We got lucky in my mind and I am thrilled we did. If this guy could really evaluate QBs it wouldn't have taken 8 years) and refusing to go all in. We have a few weeks before the trade deadline. This team is close, very close. There are no super teams this year. Will Ballard pull the trigger for a pass rusher or cb and go all in this year or will he just love them draft picks to much? He showed he was able to change ways and signed us some nice dbs this past off season. I would love to see us finally go all in. I hope new ownership pushes him in that direction.

Finding a QB is largely luck. There is an 8% chance a QB drafted in the first round will become a Pro-Bowler. As much as guys like to talk about talent evaluation. Finding a QB is, to a large extent, luck, environment, and surrounding talent. That is why I continued to support Ballard; I liked his build strategy for teams, I knew this would be a well-built team with luck, they should have gone to the playoffs with Minshew. I think he is overall a good drafting GM, all have misses, and that is one of the most important traits a GM needs. You don't almost make the playoffs with bad to mediocre QB play and not have a good supporting cast. Yeah eventually you have to move on when a GM can't find a QB, but I have definitely seen bad GM's who stayed on simply because they got lucky finding a QB.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Finding a QB is largely luck. There is an 8% chance a QB drafted in the first round will become a Pro-Bowler. As much as guys like to talk about talent evaluation. Finding a QB is, to a large extent, luck, environment, and surrounding talent. That is why I continued to support Ballard; I liked his build strategy for teams, I knew this would be a well-built team with luck, they should have gone to the playoffs with Minshew. I think he is overall a good drafting GM, all have misses, and that is one of the most important traits a GM needs. You don't almost make the playoffs with bad to mediocre QB play and not have a good supporting cast. Yeah eventually you have to move on when a GM can't find a QB, l but I have definitely seen bad GM's who stayed on simply because they got lucky finding a QB.

o


One of the things that ColtFreaks posters were very critical of Chris Ballard for was the fact his Colts teams had only made the playoffs one time after the retirement of Andrew Luck. Ryan Grigson's Colts teams, on the other hand, made the playoffs 3 times in 5 seasons between 2012 and 2016 with Andrew Luck at quarterback.

So, who do most Colts fans believe was the better Colts GM ??? Ryan Grigson, whose Colts teams made the playoffs 3 times in 5 seasons with Andrew Luck at QB, or Chris Ballard, whose Colts teams only made the playoffs 1 time in 6 seasons after the retirement of Andrew Luck ??? My answer is that Chris Ballard was (and still is) a considerably better GM for the Colts than was Ryan Grigson.

o