L'Jarius Sneed

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Doss was actually let go b/c of injuries and was more productive during his time w/ the Colts than either Willis or Blackmon. Bashir was a little less productive than Willis and Blackmon (at least per game) but still pretty comparable. He was let go b/c we had Doss and Sanders. Here's their stats w/ the Colts (apologies for the format).

GS Tackles Solo Sacks TFL INT FF
Bashir 51 234 165 0 3 5 3
Doss 42 268 205 1 11 7 6
Willis 33 219 161 3.5 7 4 1
Blackmon 46 214 163 1 12 7 2

And it's more than just Peyton vs. AR. Other than Peyton through 6 drafts Polian had drafted a HOF RB, HOF DE, a should be HOF WR, an all-pro DE (and maybe HOFer), and an all-pro TE.

Through 6 drafts Ballard has selected all-pros at OG, OLB, and RB. Q could maybe make the HOF but Leonard won't, and JT probably won't either.

Again, not knocking Ballard. The guy drafts well. But IMO he has a ways to go to be as good as Polian was (Bill, not Chris). It certainly isn't a known fact that Ballard's a better drafter like you claim it is.

Edit: you also need to admit that you forgot Jake Scott.

The statistics don't tell the whole story, I will always remember Mike Doss for the butt fumble level stupid play he made against the Bucs, who were defending world champions at the time, when he intercepted the ball, then inexplicably fumbled it, which Keenan McCardell picked up for a TD. The 2 things I remember Blackmon for are the game winning turnover he created in OT vs. Aaron Rodgers's Packers and how his absence in the last game of this past season likely cost the Colts the division. Bashir vs. Willis might be a wash statistically, but I recall Bashir being a bad starter on bad defenses and Willis being an average starter on average-good defenses. As for Isaiah Rodgers, I'd consider him comparable to a David Macklin type.

As far as all-pros, I think it's at least worth mentioning that Ballard used significant draft capital to acquire an all-pro DT, who had his all-pro season with the Colts. That would make the count 6 to 4, in about half the draft classes for Ballard. Incidentally, Wayne didn't make a Pro Bowl until his 6th season and didn't make all-pro until his 10th season, so look out for Pittman on that front.

I don't think you're knocking Ballard, I think it's a good debate, and good for us as fans that it's one that can be had.

Argh, how could anyone forget the great Jake Scott? I mean, other than both of us a couple of times.

[Racehorse]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Catching up on this one. Here's my .02 on several of the things being discussed:

Ballard - No question that Ballard is a MUCH better GM that Grigson, but damn near anybody would be b/c Grigson was completely incompetent.

I think we need to pump the breaks pretty hard on this Ballard is a better GM than Polian talk. When Ballard's teams start reaching Super Bowls (or have any playoff success at all) then I think we can maybe start having that conversation. As far as just drafting goes - I mostly agree w/ Chaos that you can have the conversation, but I do not agree that it's an absolute fact that Ballard is a better drafter. On top of just the amount of all-pros and HOFers that Polian drafted, you have to consider that most of his HRs were at premium positions. Whereas Ballard's haven't been. Something else that you have to consider is that during Polian's tenure the salary cap was more restrictive w/ no rookie salary limits in place, which made it much harder to keep your own and likely led to really good players like Mike Peterson, David Thornton, Steve McKinney being allowed to walk. Something else about Polian is that he tended to be more proactive is drafting replacements 1-2 years ahead of time (Diem and DeMulling in '01 are really good examples of this) while Ballard tends to wait until the vet leaves and tries to replace them w/ a rookie.

Overall though I do think Ballard is a good GM. He definitely drafts well. I do think his reluctance in FA and the fact that he gets scared shitless anytime another team is involved in pursuing a player is concerning. Let's say in a couple of years we're 1-2 players away and could fill that need(s) via FA. Based on his history I doubt Ballard will actually go for it and end up trying to fill the need(s) via the draft as always, which could lead to us missing our window.

Sneed - I'm pretty disappointed that he ended up at Tenn and not here, especially considering that they got him for peanuts w/ draft compensation. He did get signed to a big contract, but it wasn't outrageous. $19M AAV is tied for 7th most at CB and $55M guaranteed is 5th most at CB, which IMO isn't unreasonable considering his production and how much the cap went up this year.

Offseason so far - I would give us a C/C+ so far. It's great that we re-signed most of our own and added some depth at NT. But as of now arguably our weakest area (secondary) is actually weaker w/ the likelihood of losing Blackmon. We really need to replace him w/ a vet and IMO sign a vet at CB as well. Relying on mostly projects, 2nd year guys, and rookies in our secondary is a recipe for disaster IMO. We also need to add weapons in the passing game on O, but I suspect those will come in the draft.

Regarding Sneed, I heard two Nashville media personalities express concern about the fact the trade has not been officially completed, as Sneed has not yet inked the contract. Their concern is that the knees are a bigger issue than what was known, and that the Titans want a waiver as an out of the guaranteed money, and Sneed is not willing to sign it. if so, I am glad we passed on him.

[IndyNorm]

The statistics don't tell the whole story, I will always remember Mike Doss for the butt fumble level stupid play he made against the Bucs, who were defending world champions at the time, when he intercepted the ball, then inexplicably fumbled it, which Keenan McCardell picked up for a TD.

I remember that play as well, but one bad play doesn't a season or career make. Doss made plenty of good plays too w/ the Colts that made up for that and more. One that sticks out to me was against the Jagoffs early in the '06 season when Doss made a game ending int on what was a potential game tying drive from them. At any rate he had a really good rookie season (sans the Tamp pick/fumble) and was productive with the Colts until his ACL tear in '06, and the stats back that up.

The 2 things I remember Blackmon for are the game winning turnover he created in OT vs. Aaron Rodgers's Packers and how his absence in the last game of this past season likely cost the Colts the division.

Blackmon's a good player. No argument from me there. I saw that we've re-opened talks with him. Hopefully that leads to us re-signing him.

Bashir vs. Willis might be a wash statistically, but I recall Bashir being a bad starter on bad defenses and Willis being an average starter on average-good defenses. As for Isaiah Rodgers, I'd consider him comparable to a David Macklin type.

Bashir had his struggles his rookie year on a terrible D '01. Our D did get better in '02-'04, and Bashir was relatively productive. He was obviously nothing great, but IMO if you count Willis then you have to count Bashir.

As far as all-pros, I think it's at least worth mentioning that Ballard used significant draft capital to acquire an all-pro DT, who had his all-pro season with the Colts. That would make the count 6 to 4, in about half the draft classes for Ballard. Incidentally, Wayne didn't make a Pro Bowl until his 6th season and didn't make all-pro until his 10th season, so look out for Pittman on that front.

I don't think you're knocking Ballard, I think it's a good debate, and good for us as fans that it's one that can be had.

Fair point on Buckner and we'll see on MPJ. He's certainly capable. Like Chaos said it's pretty tough to compare a complete vs. incomplete resume. FWIW I don't think we'll see the drop off in draft quality w/ Ballard since he's younger than Polian was, and I don't see him trying to pass the reaigns anytime soon.

Argh, how could anyone forget the great Jake Scott? I mean, other than both of us a couple of times.

To be fair I only forgot to give you shit about missing him . Scott was a damn good draft pick. He was a 5th rounder started 9 games for us his rookie year then went on to be a 16 game starter for each of the next 7 seasons for us and the Tits. Guessing the injury bug finally caught up to him the next season b/c he only played in 7 games (all starts) and that was it. Still don't know why we chose to keep Lilja over him.

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Blackmon's a good player. No argument from me there. I saw that we've re-opened talks with him. Hopefully that leads to us re-signing him.

Where's that from? Really like to see him back.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

Where's that from? Really like to see him back.

https://coltswire.usatoday.com/2024/...ngaging-talks/

[YDFL Commish]

Wasn't Stokely a FA before joining the Colts?

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by YDFL Commish

Wasn't Stokely a FA before joining the Colts?

He was. Not much production in BAL. Of course, aside from exploding in '04, he kind of had 4th-option type numbers every other year.