What could Ballard do …

[ChoppedWood]

To me, what we have witnessed is two guys that have been promoted based on their past success at lower levels only to find out it was their specialization that made them successful. If you've been around long enough you've either been the person, or you've made the promotion, where it became obvious the success which garnered the promotion, was the peak for that person. Not everyone is going to succeed at the next level up just because there was great success at the preceding level. Both Ballard and Steichen to me, represent that. Neither one of them seems to be good at these bigger roles they have been promoted to.

In terms of the current team. Fuck it, ew are almost forced to take a massive boom or bust gamble. Put the entire short term future on the shoulders of Leonard. CIG should just tell both of them there is very simply one chance they can continue to be employed here after 2026, and that is making the AFC Championship game with Leonard at QB and that absolutely anything less will be termination.

If SS is this incredible QB whisperer- and he admittedly showed a lot with DJ this year, then invest every ounce of that talent into Leonard for the next 7 months and make it known he has to be the starter. If he shines, Steichen turns from turd to hero and Ballard, shit for Ballard that completely changes his legacy. For the org, it would be a massive escape of what presently looks like a hangman's noose. A promising young QB on a comical rookie salary, no need to bottom out looking for a 2028 QB hero would allow us to add a lot of pieces that could change the fortune of the team over the next 2-3 years. Absent that, man this team is headed to the shitter and if you can't see that you are fucking stupid.

If Leonard blows, well then sadly we have to accept the fate, 2026 and 2027 need to just be horrible years for us, particularly 2027 - it would have to be full on tank to give this team any hope of putting together a team that could contend by the end of the 2020's. They would need to aim for someone like Mason Heintschel at #1 and try to Drake Maye this shit out of obscurity.

We are at this junction point, because of Chris Ballard, period. This isn't because Andrew Luck retired, it isn't because Philip Rivers went away after a year, it isn't because AR was not capable of becoming an NFL QB, it is because Chris Ballard has made these moves that find us in this very precarious position.