Will Ballard become the next Bill Polian?

[horseshoecrabs]

We need to find some stability in our front office down to our coaching staff

They need to be on the same page, so we don't have constant turn over &

instability. As a fan, this is what I would like and i'm sure everyone else 

would too. To be successful year after year it's a must. So that being said,

Will Ballard have time to be the next stable GM for years to come?

[dodsworth]

I am looking for Ballard to be more successful than Polian because he

understands the importance of solid lines and defense. Irsay looks to

have hit a home run with this hire.

[csmopar]

Far too early to tell but I'm liking his approach this far

[Superman]

I hope not. Bill Polian left a lot to be desired, IMO. 

[crazycolt1]

Does he have a son?

[chad72]

With Ballard, I anticipate going several years without a first round RB or pass catcher taken in the draft. From Tyreek Hill to Spencer Ware, he believes in OL and defense more than a premium skill position outside the trenches early on, just my gut feeling.

 

Just based on those alone, it aligns with Patriots and Seahawks like draft philosophies, building a team inside out instead of outside in, and thus differentiates him from Polian and Grigson draft philosophies. 

[deedub75]

We don't know what he will be or if he will even be successful. 

[BlueShoe]

2 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Does he have a son?

 

Hilarious. 

 

I don't think many people got that. 

[bananabucket]

hopefully not

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Better than Polian? First he needs to show if he's better than Griggs lol.

[jvan1973]

4 hours ago, dodsworth said:

I am looking for Ballard to be more successful than Polian because he

understands the importance of solid lines and defense. Irsay looks to

have hit a home run with this hire.

Based on what?  If Ballard can someday be mentioned with Polian,  it will have been a successful hire.   The polian greatness denial sound here is laughable

[crazycolt1]

10 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Based on what?  If Ballard can someday be mentioned with Polian,  it will have been a successful hire.   The polian greatness denial sound here is laughable

IMO Polian was great at building teams to win but not in the big games. His team lacked defenses and special teams to get wins when it was all on the line. He was 1-4 super bowls and 18-15 in playoffs games. He had 7 one and done in the playoffs.

[dodsworth]

14 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Based on what?  If Ballard can someday be mentioned with Polian,  it will have been a successful hire.   The polian greatness denial sound here is laughable

Only one Lombardi with many seasons as Manning as the QB at Indy.

While the Broncos won a title with Manning in half of the time with

defense and line play. Polian wasn't that great.

[bananabucket]

19 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Based on what?  If Ballard can someday be mentioned with Polian,  it will have been a successful hire.   The polian greatness denial sound here is laughable

 

He had some fantastic first round selections that kept the team, and his reputation, afloat.  But his drafts really fell off after that.  He was not doing us any good for quite a few years.

[jvan1973]

3 minutes ago, bananabucket said:

 

He had some fantastic first round selections that kept the team, and his reputation, afloat.  But his drafts really fell off after that.  He was not doing us any good for quite a few years.

Look at his entire career as a gm.  If Chris Ballard gets to that level,  He will be considered great as well

[jvan1973]

9 minutes ago, dodsworth said:

Only one Lombardi with many seasons as Manning as the QB at Indy.

While the Broncos won a title with Manning in half of the time with

defense and line play. Polian wasn't that great.

He wasn't the coach.   Also,  elway went all out knowing Peyton was at the end if his career.  Not nearly the same

[jvan1973]

12 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

IMO Polian was great at building teams to win but not in the big games. His team lacked defenses and special teams to get wins when it was all on the line. He was 1-4 super bowls and 18-15 in playoffs games. He had 7 one and done in the playoffs.

Polian wasn't the coach.  He brought in the talent

[rock8591]

Polian was so unbelievably overrated and with flaws, it's not even funny.

 

He assembled a history of deeply flawed rosters...all of which came crashing down in the 2011 season like a pile of dominoes during a Japanese dominoes contest.

[dodsworth]

2 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

He wasn't the coach.   Also,  elway went all out knowing Peyton was at the end if his career.  Not nearly the same

He wasn't the coach but he built teams to sell tickets instead of winning titles.

His team's were soft and got bullied in the playoffs. Manning also masked

His deficiencies much like he did mediocre receivers and offensive players

around him.

[crazycolt1]

33 minutes ago, jvan1973 said:

Polian wasn't the coach.  He brought in the talent

So Marv Levy, Dom Capers, and Tony Dungy were not good coaches?

[LockeDown]

Polian won without Manning, and so did Dungy.  Our problem was Bellichik was coming into his own.  He knew to rough up Marvin...how to fluster Manning in the beginning.  How to spy, etc...plus his defense was simply great.  I think that Colts team would easily beat today's Patriot teams.  

[Smoke317]

Polian catered too much to the offensive side of the ball. Then that S.O.B. Threw perfection away in a home game that fans (myself included) had to drive through a snow storm to go see...  I have never and will never forgive him for that. That's the most cowardly act I've seen in professional sports. Still hurts my heart that stain is on our franchise. Who gives away a chance at PERFECTION???  

[ColtsBlitz]

51 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

So Marv Levy, Dom Capers, and Tony Dungy were not good coaches?

Marvin Lewis was bad for us. He got better with the Lions. 

[Superman]

2 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

Based on what?  If Ballard can someday be mentioned with Polian,  it will have been a successful hire.   The polian greatness denial sound here is laughable

 

I'll revise my earlier statement. Polian is a HOFer for a reason. He's in the upper echelon of team builders in NFL history. If Ballard has half the success that Polian had as a GM, he'll have been a good hire.

 

But I don't want another GM with the same flaws Polian came to have, especially down the stretch. He was always a gruff personality (not necessarily a flaw, but it probably caused him more trouble than he needed), he had blind spots in his evaluation (mostly OL), he ran scared from free agency, and he was generally overly conservative and guided his coaching staff in that direction, with a backwards facing approach rather than embracing innovation and technology.

 

I want my GM to utilize every avenue that exists to add talent, not being afraid to take a big swing when he believes it's the right time to do so (not reckless, but not scared stiff either). I want him to be able to figure out his blind spots, or find an assistant to help him do so. I want him to figure out analytics and advanced metrics, and use them to make his team and his staff better. 

 

So I don't want Ballard to be the next Polian because I want someone who I think would succeed in today's NFL, and I don't think that's Polian. But that's not meant to be a rejection of Polian, or a denial of how great he was for the better part of two decades.

[ReMeDy]

7 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Does he have a son?

 

Let's especially hope it's not a grandson.

[ReMeDy]

8 hours ago, horseshoecrabs said:

We need to find some stability in our front office down to our coaching staff

 

Yea, at least I can remember our o-line coach (Howard Mudd). Half our current position coaches don't jump out to me.

[DaveA1102]

Very early days, but I don't think there are too many decisions he has made that you can argue with.

 

IMO he has done what we needed from a new GM.  Came in, cleared out the defence and added young players with upwards arrows.  Shown no loyalty to players he does not know and, to be fair, appears to be willing to give Chuck a shot at keeping his job. 

 

People continually mention not addressing the O line but with the poor 2017 draft class and overpriced FA market, he obviously feels it makes more sense to go with what we have and add a few guys for cover.

 

As I say, early days, but signs are good.

[shakedownstreet]

No, no, no. I am the next Bill Polian

[jvan1973]

9 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

So Marv Levy, Dom Capers, and Tony Dungy were not good coaches?

6 superbowl appearances.  

[WERC82]

He's already showing he can be better than Polian buy not spending so much on so few players. You're always going to have a guy or three that make top dollar but you can't be afraid to cut bait with older fan fav vets that cost a lot. Keep bringing in you that hasn't maxed their salary. Right now it's all about his hits and misses with who he brings in, and his coaching staff needs to be on an extremely short timetable to win. 

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, jvan1973 said:

6 superbowl appearances.  

And 5 losses. The 7 one and outs in the playoffs also seemed to be overlooked.

[jvan1973]

2 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

And 5 losses. The 7 one and outs in the playoffs also seemed to be overlooked.

The teams clearly had a lot of talent to go to the playoffs that often and to to go 6 superbowls

[IinD]

I wish and hope.