Colts have no player over 30 years old

[Racehorse]

https://horseshoeheroes.com/posts/co...n-01h96pew0hqe

What are your thoughts on this? Is it a positive or negative thing?

[Oldcolt]

My thoughts are we have done a shit job of developing players. Seven years into Ballards regime not one player was decent enough to keep over 30. For me this is an indictment of Ballard, every year he drafts high end athletes that are not football players betting that his coaching staff can develop them. They can't so 7 years into his regime there are no gristled veterans, only year after year of having lots of potential with young pups. He cannot draft corner backs to save his life, the best one on the team he didn't want because he was to small and had to be talked into it, he has developed zero pass rushers, tight ends or receivers of any note. I am feeling negative this Sunday morning.

[AlwaysSunnyinIndy]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

My thoughts are we have done a shit job of developing players. Seven years into Ballards regime not one player was decent enough to keep over 30. For me this is an indictment of Ballard, every year he drafts high end athletes that are not football players betting that his coaching staff can develop them. They can't so 7 years into his regime there are no gristled veterans, only year after year of having lots of potential with young pups. He cannot draft corner backs to save his life, the best one on the team he didn't want because he was to small and had to be talked into it, he has developed zero pass rushers, tight ends or receivers of any note. I am feeling negative this Sunday morning.

I'd say it is more an indictment of Grigson than Ballard because Grigson was in charge of the drafts of these older players.

One of the oldest players is Ryan Kelly - he was part of the last Grigson draft class.

Who should have the Colts kept from that class besides Kelly? I guess Ridgeway?


1 18 Ryan Kelly
2 57 T. J. Green - currently playing in USFL
3 82 Le'Raven Clark - currently on Eagles practice squad
4 116 Hassan Ridgeway - rotational DT for a few teams - currently with Texans
4 125 Antonio Morrison - no longer playing football
5 155 Joe Haeg - cap casualty from this off season, has not signed with another team
7 239 Trevor Bates - no longer playing football
7 248 Austin Blythe - retired


And the prior year's draft:

1 29 Phillip Dorsett - currently on Bronco's practice squad
3 65 D'Joun Smith - no longer playing football
3 93 Henry Anderson - currently on the Panther's IR list - will not play this year
4 109 Clayton Geathers - currently a college assistant football coach
5 151 David Parry - no longer playing football
6 205 Josh Robinson - currently playing in IFL (indoor football league)
6 207 Amarlo Herrera - no longer playing football
7* 255 Denzelle Good - retired

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

https://horseshoeheroes.com/posts/co...n-01h96pew0hqe

What are your thoughts on this? Is it a positive or negative thing?

Interesting, and TOUGH question.

In this specific case, given the brand new 1st year coach, I would say it is a negative because there isn't yet a culture and young players can easily fall away in tough times with no senior guys to keep them on track. That said I could also see Steichen wanting to press the restart button and start completely new and not have anything stand in his way of building his team based on his protocols. Which could be a mistake, we're 7 days from beginning to find out.

In terms of blame, hell yeah there's blame here on Ballard. As OldColt noted, he is a notorious traits chaser and when those dudes don't pan out, well they are OUT of the league in a hurry because this league is built on the back of football players and real GMs and coaching staffs reward football players for doing what they were hired to do, which is not run against stop watches or jump against a measuring stick!

Beyond the drafting though, you also have to look at FA and again, this dude just fucking hates FA. Whatever fucking calculator he uses, it's different than the brand the rest of the entire fucking league uses. Again, he is obsessed with athletes, generally speaking the older FA vets aren't the super freak athletes, they are the dawgs, the guys who fill the holes and glue teams together. These are men that carry pride in what they do and fill their locker rooms with that professionalism. This fucker clearly doesn't believe that is a thing.

Still, no idea WHAT he does that anyone thinks he is good at?

[HoosierinFL]

Alright so then that raises the question of what's become of Ballard's first draft:

Malik Hooker - Currently starter for Dallas
Quincy Wilson - bounced around after 3 years in Indy, out of football
Tarell Basham - also bounced around, was just cut by Bengals last week
Zach Banner - again bounced around, was a fan fave in Pittsburgh. not on a team
Marlon Mack - he might still be in Indy if we hadn't drafted JT. He was potentially going to be a contributor in AZ this year but ended up on IR with achilles. Sucks for him, was a good pick.
Grover Stewart - starting DT still for Colts
Nate Hairston - bounced around a lot, was just cut last week by AZ
Anthony Walker - starter in Cleveland, we could've re-signed him but we've had an embarrassment of riches at the LB position

Every single one of those guys had multi-year careers in the NFL. That's an impressive draft in and of itself. That 3 of them are current starters, and 1 could've been (Mack) if not for injury, is even more impressive.

Just for fun let's check Ballard's 2nd draft:
Quenton Nelson - all pro and still current Colts starter
Darius Leonard - recent injuries notwithstanding, has been essentially best LB in the game
Braden Smith - still current Colts starter
Kemoko Turay - Atlanta practice squad
Tyquan Lewis - still in the Colts DE rotation
Nyheim Hines - solid contributor, traded to Buffalo, injured
Daurice Fountain - camp cut by Bears, signed to Lions PS
Jordan Wilkins - bounced around, camp cut by Browns (we should probably sign him if JT isn't playing)
Deon Cain - injuries derailed time in indy, recently cut in Philly
Matthew Adams - on Browns roster
Zaire Franklin - Colts starter

They're all still on rosters except Wilkins, who might still get picked up somewhere. 4 are still starting for Colts, with a 5th still getting significant snaps.

These are pretty good drafts that really have one major flaw, no skill position players still on the team.

edit: Ballard's 3rd draft was pretty bad. Speed is the only left on the team. and I think Rock Ya-Sin is the only other one still playing.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Racehorse

The Colts Have No Player Over 30 Years-Old

o


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbwkZnNWUPo

o

[Oldcolt]

If you look at positions that you actually need to win in football, skill positions, like Hoosierinfl said, Ballard has hit on zero. You cannot win in the NFL if you cannot catch passes, rush the passer or defend passes. Maybe that is all about to change, I certainly hope so. Receivers often take a few year, pass rushers almost always take time and we have all brand new starting cb's (almost). I have no idea what to expect in 7 days.

[ChoppedWood]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

If you look at positions that you actually need to win in football, skill positions, like Hoosierinfl said, Ballard has hit on zero. You cannot win in the NFL if you cannot catch passes, rush the passer or defend passes. Maybe that is all about to change, I certainly hope so. Receivers often take a few year, pass rushers almost always take time and we have all brand new starting cb's (almost). I have no idea what to expect in 7 days.

All about his build from the inside out approach.

Was listening to Venturi earlier this week and he was talking about the current roster. He sarcastically said "they kept thousands of DL but have no WR's and CB's, it's maddening"- and then went on to blast the fact that we are headed toward having two UDFA starting at the corner spots. He isn't wrong. Ballard has not changed a damn bit despite saying he had to adapt.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

My thoughts are we have done a shit job of developing players. Seven years into Ballards regime not one player was decent enough to keep over 30. For me this is an indictment of Ballard, every year he drafts high end athletes that are not football players betting that his coaching staff can develop them. They can't so 7 years into his regime there are no gristled veterans, only year after year of having lots of potential with young pups. He cannot draft corner backs to save his life, the best one on the team he didn't want because he was to small and had to be talked into it, he has developed zero pass rushers, tight ends or receivers of any note. I am feeling negative this Sunday morning.

If we draft 22 year olds, and Ballard has been here seven years, his oldest drafted players would not be 30 yet. Looks like Grigson is the one to point the fingers at.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

If you look at positions that you actually need to win in football, skill positions, like Hoosierinfl said, Ballard has hit on zero. You cannot win in the NFL if you cannot catch passes, rush the passer or defend passes. Maybe that is all about to change, I certainly hope so. Receivers often take a few year, pass rushers almost always take time and we have all brand new starting cb's (almost). I have no idea what to expect in 7 days.

I think we have some decent pass catchers, albeit some are not called WRs. Pass rushers like Paye and Dayo look to have a breakout year.

Yeah, I know, my glasses are Colts blue, until they prove incapable.