Quote:
Originally Posted by Dam8610
Mostly what he's done with the resources he's been given. Andrew Luck's retirement was unprecedented in NFL history. Before Luck's retirement, the Colts were considered Super Bowl contenders in 2019. That doesn't happen with a bad GM, see Ryan Grigson's tenure for proof of that. Ballard has since continued to find talent throughout the draft and turn bad situations into better ones for the most part. He's also added value to the team through free agency, just not generally by making splashy signings. Denico Autry, Eric Ebron, Kenny Moore, Justin Houston, Stephon Gilmore, and Samuel Womack are some examples from the top of my head of players that were brought in and significantly outperformed the contract they were signed to. All of it goes to show the massive importance of the QB position in the NFL. If you have one, you can be a perennial playoff contender without even having a great roster around that guy. If you don't have one, you can put together great rosters around them and still miss the playoffs. That being said, with how important that makes getting the QB position right, if you can't find the right guy as a GM, eventually the team has to move on to try to find someone who can.
I feel the evaluation of AR is incomplete at this point. It's not looking like it's going in a great direction, but given his youth and talent, it's not unreasonable to think he could turn a corner and become the franchise guy, which would bring the division titles and postseason success, the lack of which the anti-Ballard crowd is complaining about. That said, the margin of error for that outcome has gone down. To me, next year is it. It's postseason or bust, and I think that has to happen with AR being the factor that puts the Colts in the postseason. If he doesn't, I think it would be time to clean house at that point.
To me, that unequivocally demonstrates the importance of having a franchise QB on your roster. Player for player, this roster stacks up with just about any roster in the NFL at every position except for QB and TE. The lack at QB is why the team has struggled.
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So again, your argument seems to be Ballard would look like a good GM if he had a great QB to cover the rosters flaws. To which I guess I say…..No, shit? There are few GMs that wouldn’t be the case for. Hell, let’s not forget that Grigson had more playoff success than Ballard has ever had. Yes absolutely based on having Luck. So the argument that they were seen as a SB contender with Luck on the roster says shit about Ballard and the roster he’d built. It speaks only about the value of an elite QB.
Has Ballard found value with some FA signings? Sure. By definition anyone he signs will be a value because that’s all he signs, bargain basement value players. And then he willingly leaves massive holes that he throws a bunch of cheap guys at. The team suffers from it every year, but then when a Womack plays a little better than expected Ballard’s fan base sees it as evidence of his genius. Never mind the constant collapse of the D against shit teams, Ballard has a guy playing better than his contract - that’s a win. No the fuck it’s not. This D is 1000% Ballard. The coach, the scheme, and every single fucking player is of Ballard’s doing. And it’s shit.
This team didn’t miss the playoffs because of the QB play. It missed the playoff because of the rest of the roster. Specifically the play of the D in several games. Don’t get me wrong, yes this is a playoff team with elite or above average QB play. But most teams would be. Especially in this shit division. That to me does not say Ballard has done anything worth while with the rest of the roster. I can’t look at the performance of this D and say Ballard has built anything significant in his 8 years. Mediocre. I guess to you that’s ok. And you see mediocre as at least better than bad. I see it as proof that Ballard is always going to be mediocre. Give him an above average or elite QB and his teams are going to underperform expectations, just as they do now every year.
And that doesn’t even touch on the culture of this team known for its melt downs. And the melts downs are not caused by the QB situation, IMO it’s caused by Ballard’s philosophy of no accountability, gifting positions to shit players, lack of respect for veterans, and his lack of ability to ever assemble a complete team. Which is ironic because when he was slow rolling the build with Luck on the roster he said it was because he wanted to build a team not dependent on just the QB. I think it’s safe to say he failed even in HIS stated goal. 8 years in and he continues to give us significantly flawed teams. Teams that are at best OK in areas, but excel at none. Teams with huge big gaping holes that are routinely exploited. He just needs that elite QB to cover for him I guess.
Which brings us to the fact that if it all comes down to the QB, Ballard has shown absolutely no fucking clue as to what to do there. None. Comically bad. Grigson level bad. Rivers was a good move but then he did jack shit with the rest of the roster. He kept going retreads and kept being middle of the pact so he and his supporters could say he was drafting too low to get his guy. Of course he’d never roll the dice and go get his fucking guy. No he couldn’t risk it and pay the price, we’d rather fail with retread after retread. Stay on the treadmill at mediocre. Until Irsay stepped in. And let’s be clear about that - AR is not Ballard’s plan. He only had a shot at AR because Irsay stepped in. And I’d argue they’ve fucked the AR situation about as well as they could. It’s been a shit show. So you say it’s all about the QB now, WTF exactly gives you any confidence in Ballard’s ability to select and support a QB? He’s failed at every single one he’s had. And he’s currently failing with AR.
01-05-2025, 07:05 PM
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