Colts Practice Squad Signings

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Chromeburn

Well since he has been here Ballard has drafted 8 wide receivers. 4 high in the draft, 4 low in the draft.

All 8 were still in the league until this season, Dezmon Patmon is still a free agent.

4 of those 8 are still on the team. 3 of the high draft picks and 1 of the low picks.

The other high draft pick was signed by the Giants as a free agent.

Pittman has been better than all the WR's drafted below him and better than a few above.

Pierce had a better rookie season than all the WRs drafted below him and a few above.


All with sub-standard QB play. I would say that's not bad.

Ballard created a void at the position by not really investing in it early on. He inherited a team w/ 1 very good WR in TY and a bunch of JAGs and the only real investment he made in his first 3 years was the 2nd rounder on Campbell (all others were either late round draft picks or bargain FAs). And since Campbell didn't work out that only created a larger void.

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Ballard created a void at the position by not really investing in it early on. He inherited a team w/ 1 very good WR in TY and a bunch of JAGs and the only real investment he made in his first 3 years was the 2nd rounder on Campbell (all others were either late round draft picks or bargain FAs). And since Campbell didn't work out that only created a larger void.

And then when Campbell finally showed up, he let him walk. Dude just doesn't give a F about the position... and our record reflects it.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by ChoppedWood

And then when Campbell finally showed up, he let him walk. Dude just doesn't give a F about the position... and our record reflects it.

Cambell was offered one year "prove it" deals by everyone. He went with the offer with the best QB situation. Why would you sign a 1 year contract with a rookie QB who needs to grow?

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Ballard created a void at the position by not really investing in it early on. He inherited a team w/ 1 very good WR in TY and a bunch of JAGs and the only real investment he made in his first 3 years was the 2nd rounder on Campbell (all others were either late round draft picks or bargain FAs). And since Campbell didn't work out that only created a larger void.

When he got here the major issues were offensive line and defense. What has improved since then? offensive line and defense.

Then the QB retired. Our top pick in two of the last four drafts has been receiver. We have drafted a receiver high in three of the last four drafts. We will probably take a receiver high next draft as well. We have invested a lot in skill positions. I don't really give a fuck about receivers till we have a QB in place. That's what that hater Kevin Bowen bitched about all last offseason and that wasn't the problem at all. Of course he will never admit that, he just moves on to the next hindsight thing to bitch about. Gransen and Campbell were in the top ten of separation for most of the year, we just couldn't get them the ball. The problem was what I correctly identified before the season started, trying to use Pryor at LT. Although no one could have predicted he would fall apart that badly. Reich should have just started the rookie.

Reich likes big tall receivers so he filled the roster with big tall receivers. Steichen probably wants more variety in his receivers hence the Downs pick. We will see a roster makeover at the position. We have had a scheme change, that comes with personnel change.

[IndyNorm]

Cambell was offered one year "prove it" deals by everyone. He went with the offer with the best QB situation. Why would you sign a 1 year contract with a rookie QB who needs to grow?

Agree you can't really blame Ballard for Campbell moving on. Wouldn't have made any sense to give Campbell more than a 1 year prove it deal, and as you noted it was better for him to move on considering our QB situation.

When he got here the major issues were offensive line and defense. What has improved since then? offensive line and defense.

The OL was better from '18-'21, but after last year I'm not so sure we're any better off than we were in '17. And while parts of the D have gotten better we still have no consistent pass rush, and our secondary is probably going to be a shit show.

Then the QB retired. Our top pick in two of the last four drafts has been receiver. We have drafted a receiver high in three of the last four drafts. We will probably take a receiver high next draft as well. We have invested a lot in skill positions. I don't really give a fuck about receivers till we have a QB in place. That's what that hater Kevin Bowen bitched about all last offseason and that wasn't the problem at all. Of course he will never admit that, he just moves on to the next hindsight thing to bitch about. Gransen and Campbell were in the top ten of separation for most of the year, we just couldn't get them the ball. The problem was what I correctly identified before the season started, trying to use Pryor at LT. Although no one could have predicted he would fall apart that badly. Reich should have just started the rookie.

I have no idea who Kevin Bowen is. I was just pointing out that when Ballard got here our WR talent was pretty damn dry as well, and he didn't add anything even when we had a QB. I mean Dontrelle Inman was our 2nd best WR in 2018.

And again, who's fault was it that all we had at LT last year was Pryor and a 3rd round rookie not ready to play?

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

The OL was better from '18-'21, but after last year I'm not so sure we're any better off than we were in '17. And while parts of the D have gotten better we still have no consistent pass rush, and our secondary is probably going to be a shit show.

We'll see after the season... but if the O-line returns to form, this is a non-issue. O-line was our #1 issue under Grigson and Ballard will have provided a solid unit for 5 of 6 seasons. The blemish season will be one he owned but that nobody had any reason to think would be that bad.

Pass rush is his weak point on D, we'll find out a lot from Kwity and Dayo if they can stay healthy this year. But beyond that, our D has been pretty good this tenure. Even last year, the eyeball test paints a far different picture than the final rankings which don't show how bad the offense fucked the defense.

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

I have no idea who Kevin Bowen is. I was just pointing out that when Ballard got here our WR talent was pretty damn dry as well, and he didn't add anything even when we had a QB. I mean Dontrelle Inman was our 2nd best WR in 2018.

Bowen is a golfer/frat guy that they make cover football. He wants Ballard to build his Madden team. As dry as WR may have been, we had far more pressing needs, especially with the luxury at QB. Consider that Luck had his best season with that receiving corps.

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

And again, who's fault was it that all we had at LT last year was Pryor and a 3rd round rookie not ready to play?

Everyone acknowledged that fuck up, Ballard included. Again, way worse than anybody could've reasonably expected, but still a fuck up. That doesn't just erase the prior success and become his identity because it's current.

[IndyNorm]

We'll see after the season... but if the O-line returns to form, this is a non-issue. O-line was our #1 issue under Grigson and Ballard will have provided a solid unit for 5 of 6 seasons. The blemish season will be one he owned but that nobody had any reason to think would be that bad.

If the OL bounces back then fair enough. I think they'll be better than last year (really can't be any worse), but I think there will be some struggles too. Especially on the right side where Fries is an obvious weak link, and if someone(s) gets hurt then we're fucked again since we have very little depth.

Yeah, Ballard owned that disaster in words, but what's concerning is he hasn't owned it in action. He did absolutely nothing to bring in competition and/or depth at our weakest spot on the OL (RG), and didn't do much else at other positions (1 mid round OT).

Pass rush is his weak point on D, we'll find out a lot from Kwity and Dayo if they can stay healthy this year. But beyond that, our D has been pretty good this tenure. Even last year, the eyeball test paints a far different picture than the final rankings which don't show how bad the offense fucked the defense.

The problem is that in today's NFL as the pass rush goes so does the D. Agree that the D was pretty good last year, but our lack of pass rush still hurt us. And in the years prior to that the lack of pass rush absolutely killed us late in games.

Bowen is a golfer/frat guy that they make cover football. He wants Ballard to build his Madden team. As dry as WR may have been, we had far more pressing needs, especially with the luxury at QB. Consider that Luck had his best season with that receiving corps.

Imagine how good of a year Luck would have had if he had more than 1 good WR to throw to.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Imagine how good of a year Luck would have had if he had more than 1 good WR to throw to.

Maybe... Like in 2018, we didn't reach on guys like Courtland Sutton or Christian Kirk and instead drafted Darius Leonard and Braden Smith. I think that was the more optimal route.

Next, Campbell-Luck was super exciting for everyone... can't do anything about Luck bailing and Campbell being one of the most unlucky injury guys we've seen.

After that is butterfly effect... No Pittman, no JT, etc. because we're picking in the high-20s or 30s if Luck stays. Not spending resources looking for a QB, either.

[Chromeburn]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

The OL was better from '18-'21, but after last year I'm not so sure we're any better off than we were in '17. And while parts of the D have gotten better we still have no consistent pass rush, and our secondary is probably going to be a shit show.

We've had a top ten oline for most of the time he has been here. We'll see at the end of the year, but the line was already trending up with Raimann improving and Pryor out of the lineup.

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

I have no idea who Kevin Bowen is. I was just pointing out that when Ballard got here our WR talent was pretty damn dry as well, and he didn't add anything even when we had a QB. I mean Dontrelle Inman was our 2nd best WR in 2018.

I see a lot of these arguments start with Bowen, or JMV with Venturi being fed leading questions. Bowen is the local morning sports show radio host. The arguments are usually regurgitated through social media. He used to work for the Colts. Putting together his Madden team is a good way to put it. Every team has weak position groups every single year. He usually complains incessantly about whatever it is, all last summer he complained about WR. I listened to most every show.

Eric Ebron was our second leading receiver who was a FA signing receiving TE. Best year of his career. Then Hines who was a draft pick. He also signed Jack Doyle who was always a reliable third-down receiver. That team had a ton of issues, and WR was not at the front of the list. Everyone was screaming about oline and defense.

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

And again, who's fault was it that all we had at LT last year was Pryor and a 3rd round rookie not ready to play?

Finding franchise LT's is not a gimmie. You just don't stash one on your squad till the opportunity to play them comes around. I would say 90% of the time you have to draft one. The fact that he might have found one in the 3rd is pretty impressive. Yeah, Pryor is on him and Reich for starting him. It was an analytics move that backfired pretty impressively. Guy isn't perfect, no GM is.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

Maybe... Like in 2018, we didn't reach on guys like Courtland Sutton or Christian Kirk and instead drafted Darius Leonard and Braden Smith. I think that was the more optimal route.

Next, Campbell-Luck was super exciting for everyone... can't do anything about Luck bailing and Campbell being one of the most unlucky injury guys we've seen.

After that is butterfly effect... No Pittman, no JT, etc. because we're picking in the high-20s or 30s if Luck stays. Not spending resources looking for a QB, either.

For 2018 we could have brought in someone better than Ryan Grant via FA to be WR2 is what I was mostly getting at, but we had enough draft capital that year we probably could have moved up and taken Kirk instead of Turray.

Where Ballard really fucked up w/ WR was in 2019 where he passed on all 3 of Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown, and DK Metcalf in the 2nd round for Rock, Banogu (gah), and Campbell.