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Major disappointment in Ballard


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I posted this in another thread but thought i would post it here as well

 

 

Ballard has said the goal has been to build for sustained success. Who are the 2 teams with probably the most sustained success in the NFL? The Pats and the Steelers. How many "flashy" and "big name" free agents do these teams sign? They very rarely do it and when they do it is usually them resigning their own guys. New England even did the unthinkable and let a "big name" LT go. Both of these teams are good at finding gems in the draft and then finding the right pieces at the right price in free agency. I'm sure we could have signed a handful of high profile guys and done very well next year maybe even the next 2 years, but how often do we see the "winners" in free agency a year or two down the road releasing the exact same players that had made them the "winners" of free agency. I really don't understand the lack of patience with our GM. Remember the goal is sustained success not to be a flash in the pan!

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I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The Colts have the third most $ to spend. They have needs everywhere. Especially the O line. The rebuild has to come mainly from the draft but some talent also had to come in via FA. This team lacks difference makers. You have to pay for them. No pay no get. Ballard won’t pay what it takes. So you get mid level talent that doesn’t improve the O line or the LB position or the WR position  or the CB spot. And now your #1 CB is gone for a small one year prove it deal. This is not progress folks. What happened to protect Luck at all costs? Apparently not. 

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29 minutes ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

I posted this in another thread but thought i would post it here as well

 

 

Ballard has said the goal has been to build for sustained success. Who are the 2 teams with probably the most sustained success in the NFL? The Pats and the Steelers. How many "flashy" and "big name" free agents do these teams sign? They very rarely do it and when they do it is usually them resigning their own guys. New England even did the unthinkable and let a "big name" LT go. Both of these teams are good at finding gems in the draft and then finding the right pieces at the right price in free agency. I'm sure we could have signed a handful of high profile guys and done very well next year maybe even the next 2 years, but how often do we see the "winners" in free agency a year or two down the road releasing the exact same players that had made them the "winners" of free agency. I really don't understand the lack of patience with our GM. Remember the goal is sustained success not to be a flash in the pan!

Totally agree! The only disappointment  I have had was Hitchens and maybe Jensen. They both were way overpaid. Hitchens more so, because he seemed to be a lock. The teams with the most success has always been teams that are built within! Ballard was very highly regarded through the league, so I put my trust in that people who know football, more so than us fans! I still think he will add some quality players before free agency is over. The man has been here one season and already made upgrades. I think we all know if Luck had been playing, we would not be drafting 3rd! 

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Ballard Grigson,What does it matter,they both seem to have same intellect. You spend 140 million on a franchise quarterback and You keep Vujuvich (who was responsible for 6 or 8 sacks and don't spend money on protecting him!! (Luck)Gonna get another injury prone bargain basement deal to get him killed?? What a *!!!#!

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First, a little advice for Mr Balllard, engage brain before speaking.  You do not tell the agents of your potential players that you will not over pay in FA.

 

Second, let me dispell some myths.  Ballard is not going to over pay in FA.  Ballard has already did that.  See Sheard and Autry.

Ballard only brings in players that fit the scheme.  See Hankins and Simon.

 

Now let's talk about this off season. Because Mr Ballard has not brought in any good players, he has painted himself into a corner for the draft.  He has to trade down and he has to hit on 75% of his picks.  if that weren't bad enough, he has to get at least 2 OG and 1 OT.  He has to get a Good DE.  Needs a MLB and a Will OLB.  Still needs at least 2 CBs and a RB.  He needs to draft a 2 WRs, 1 that can play opposite of T.Y.  Then he needs to add quality depth to the team.

 

I am now ready for any questions or commets

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14 minutes ago, James said:

 

Couldn't close = paying more? 

 

Not a closer = overpaying?

 

Well, yeah you're right. 

Over paying is the nature of the beast called Free Agency.  Besides, contrary to what is being said,  Mr Ballard has over paid for his Free Agents.

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Going to touch on a few points made in thread.

 

1. Guys are talking about "HAD" salary cap space. It doesn't go away, it rolls over. We will most likely have the most space next year. As we were set to have around $65m w/o knowing what cap# will be in 2019. If we roll over $40m we will have over $100m to spend. I dont know if that is by design by Ballard, but I believe so. 

 

2. Everyone knew coming into this offseason, this FA class wasn't great. Second best guy on market before Suh was released was Allen Robinson, and he is coming off an ACL injury. Bottom line I am glad CB didn't break the bank for these guys. Did/do we need some guys, yes. But that doesn't mean we should over pay them.

 

3. If Luck is healthy we will not be a bottom feeder, we will probably at least be an 8-8 team. If he isn't well, what would be the point in bringing in FA's in the first place. We won't be competing.

 

Long way to go, till Sept. We will add guys that will help the team next year.

 

Patience.

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I will say this thread is hilarious.  People saying things they think are unique and clever but it's the same o' things we've read for years on this and other Colts forums.

 

I remember reading every off season how the teams in the division got better and the Colts got worse and how Polian needed to sign more FAs and the only ones he ever signed were 2nd and 3rd tier guys.  It's almost like some people have their complaints saved as a word doc so they can change a name or two and cut and paste.

 

Now, I don't know if Ballard's strategy is the right one or wrong one.  Personally I don't have a problem with it.  Under Grigs and Pagano the culture in Indy changed drastically, we saw over the last couple of years players quitting on the field, not giving that extra effort at the end of the games... things that never happened in the Polian/Manning/Dungy era.  You don't change that culture by signing a lot of free agents and you definitely do change that culture by signing several high profile free agents.  You change that culture by:  defining the culture you want and then bring in players that buy into that culture.  If they don't buy into the culture then, no matter how good of a player they are, they will do more damage than good.  Luck is 28 years old, he has another 7-11 years in the NFL.  Ballard has to make decisions for the next 7-11 years not this year and definitely not to appease some fans who want the Colts to "go all in" on multiple players when their original team did not think they were worth the money.

 

I will end with this.  Like many on this forum, I have been a football fan for a long long time, I've been a Colts fan since they moved to Indy.  I met with and talked to several coaches during their time in Indy (thanks in large part to a cousin who knew the TEs coach back in the day) and the one thing I have learned for certain..... we fans know absolutely nothing about running an NFL franchise.

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4 minutes ago, w87r said:

Going to touch on a few points made in thread.

 

1. Guys are talking about "HAD" salary cap space. It doesn't go away, it rolls over. We will most likely have the most space next year. As we were set to have around $65m w/o knowing what cap# will be in 2019. If we roll over $40m we will have over $100m to spend. I dont know if that is by design by Ballard, but I believe so. 

 

2. Everyone knew coming into this offseason, this FA class was great. Second best guy on market before Suh was released was Allen Robinson, and he is coming off an ACL injury. Bottom line I am glad CB didn't break the bank for these guys. Did/do we need some guys, yes. But that doeant mean we should over pay them.

 

3. If Luck is healthy we will not be a bottom feeder, we will probably at least be an 8-8 team. If he isn't well, what would be the point in bringing in FA's in the first place. We won't be competing.

 

Long way to go, till Sept. We will add guys that will help the team next year.

 

Patience.

There's no way, this team is 8-8.

This is an O-line that allowed 56 sacks last year, and haven't been improved.

30th in yards allowed

30h in points allowed

30th in points scored

31st in yards gained

 

Lost our best RB

Lost our best player in secondary

Lost Mingo

Lost Moncrief

 

We only have 2nd year players for CB

Have one WR, that's NFL starter level

 

Suggesting that this should somehow transform into a team that wins 4 more games than last season.. Mindblowing levels of optimism

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3 minutes ago, CopenhagenColt said:

Mindblowing levels of optimism

Mindblowing levels of pessimism.

 

The teams Luck took to 10+ wins were just as bad. 

 

Point remains the same. If Luck is healthy we will be a better team next year. Fact. If he isn't, then what's the point in over paying FA's?

 

By all means though, keep it up if it makes you feel better. It at least gives me something to laugh at. It's football, and I love at much as the next guy, but its just that. It shouldn't control your life, unless of course you are in the league.

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3 minutes ago, CopenhagenColt said:

There's no way, this team is 8-8.

This is an O-line that allowed 56 sacks last year, and haven't been improved.

30th in yards allowed

30h in points allowed

30th in points scored

31st in yards gained

 

Lost our best RB

Lost our best player in secondary

Lost Mingo

Lost Moncrief

 

We only have 2nd year players for CB

Have one WR, that's NFL starter level

 

Suggesting that this should somehow transform into a team that wins 4 more games than last season.. Mindblowing levels of optimism

 

We will have a new offense and much better play caller than Chud. No matter who is at QB we will be better because it will either be Andrew Luck or Jacoby Brissett with a complete offseason to learn the system. Do you really not think that some of the problems with the offense and OL weren't caused by the simple fact that our QB had absolutely no time to learn the offense? He had to learn a new team, new receivers, new line all on the fly. Any QB would have struggled being placed into a situation like that. The offense even as it is right now will be improved from last year, and I still have confidence that Ballard will bring in guys to fit what we are wanting to accomplish.

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To claim that everything is down to playcalling and coaching is nonsense. To suggest that you only need a good QB, and you can rack up 8 wins, despite 90% of the squad being below average NFL-level is ridiculous.

Unfortunately, that is the case.

Luck might be better than Brissett, but he isn't going to magically turn things around for a team that ranked at the bottom of both offensive and defensive stats last season, and lost more than they've gained in FA.

We're not the only team that get's a chance to improve through the draft and in order to improve by 4 wins, every pick has to be a homerun with the bases loaded.

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1 hour ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

I posted this in another thread but thought i would post it here as well

 

 

Ballard has said the goal has been to build for sustained success. Who are the 2 teams with probably the most sustained success in the NFL? The Pats and the Steelers. How many "flashy" and "big name" free agents do these teams sign? They very rarely do it and when they do it is usually them resigning their own guys. New England even did the unthinkable and let a "big name" LT go. Both of these teams are good at finding gems in the draft and then finding the right pieces at the right price in free agency. I'm sure we could have signed a handful of high profile guys and done very well next year maybe even the next 2 years, but how often do we see the "winners" in free agency a year or two down the road releasing the exact same players that had made them the "winners" of free agency. I really don't understand the lack of patience with our GM. Remember the goal is sustained success not to be a flash in the pan!

the patriots do sign big names though, and usually dont leave much empty cap space 

 

they brought in revis and moss to name two.  moss was a trade but they paid him a lot, basically a sign and trade 

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27 minutes ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

 

We will have a new offense and much better play caller than Chud. No matter who is at QB we will be better because it will either be Andrew Luck or Jacoby Brissett with a complete offseason to learn the system. Do you really not think that some of the problems with the offense and OL weren't caused by the simple fact that our QB had absolutely no time to learn the offense? He had to learn a new team, new receivers, new line all on the fly. Any QB would have struggled being placed into a situation like that. The offense even as it is right now will be improved from last year, and I still have confidence that Ballard will bring in guys to fit what we are wanting to accomplish.

we need oline.  just being better isnt good enough when we were among the worst in the league

 

 

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2 minutes ago, CopenhagenColt said:

To claim that everything is down to playcalling and coaching is nonsense. To suggest that you only need a good QB, and you can rack up 8 wins, despite 90% of the squad being below average NFL-level is ridiculous.

Unfortunately, that is the case.

Luck might be better than Brissett, but he isn't going to magically turn things around for a team that ranked at the bottom of both offensive and defensive stats last season, and lost more than they've gained in FA.

We're not the only team that get's a chance to improve through the draft and in order to improve by 4 wins, every pick has to be a homerun with the bases loaded.

 

And to claim that those issues that I previously mentioned weren't factors is nonsense. A Colts team with Andrew Luck playing has never finished below .500.  I think you have forgotten just who Andrew Luck is!

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2 minutes ago, aaron11 said:

the patriots do sign big names though, and usually dont leave much empty cap space 

 

they brought in revis and moss to name two.  moss was a trade but they paid him a lot, basically a sign and trade 

 

 

You've named 2 over 2 decades of dominance. Who have they signed this year? Who did they sign last year? 2 over 2 decades is an aberration not the norm. They consistently find mid tier guys who fit the "Patriot Way". 

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32 minutes ago, w87r said:

Mindblowing levels of pessimism.

 

The teams Luck took to 10+ wins were just as bad. 

 

Point remains the same. If Luck is healthy we will be a better team next year. Fact. If he isn't, then what's the point in over paying FA's?

 

By all means though, keep it up if it makes you feel better. It at least gives me something to laugh at. It's football, and I love at much as the next guy, but its just that. It shouldn't control your life, unless of course you are in the league.

This whole let's let luck piggy back a trash team to the playoffs nonsense needs to end give the guy some damn help 

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1 minute ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

They consistently find mid tier guys who fit the "Patriot Way". 

we are not even doing that

 

we have one of the worst teams in the league and have gotten worse by letting melvin go, and added no one of consequence 

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2 hours ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

I posted this in another thread but thought i would post it here as well

 

 

Ballard has said the goal has been to build for sustained success. Who are the 2 teams with probably the most sustained success in the NFL? The Pats and the Steelers. How many "flashy" and "big name" free agents do these teams sign? They very rarely do it and when they do it is usually them resigning their own guys. New England even did the unthinkable and let a "big name" LT go. Both of these teams are good at finding gems in the draft and then finding the right pieces at the right price in free agency. I'm sure we could have signed a handful of high profile guys and done very well next year maybe even the next 2 years, but how often do we see the "winners" in free agency a year or two down the road releasing the exact same players that had made them the "winners" of free agency. I really don't understand the lack of patience with our GM. Remember the goal is sustanined success not to be a flash in the pan!

Maybe but when they find decent players in the draft they also manage to keep them around and they also supplement this with free agents.

 

Unfortunately I see more similarities between us and the Browns of recent years than I do with the Pats. Can't keep our good players, can't attract the best free agents. Let's just hope that Ballard can do better than them in the draft but if that's the strategy it might take 4 years to turn this ship around. It will be much longer if we actually have a poor draft or two.

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2 hours ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

I posted this in another thread but thought i would post it here as well

 

 

Ballard has said the goal has been to build for sustained success. Who are the 2 teams with probably the most sustained success in the NFL? The Pats and the Steelers. How many "flashy" and "big name" free agents do these teams sign? They very rarely do it and when they do it is usually them resigning their own guys. New England even did the unthinkable and let a "big name" LT go. Both of these teams are good at finding gems in the draft and then finding the right pieces at the right price in free agency. I'm sure we could have signed a handful of high profile guys and done very well next year maybe even the next 2 years, but how often do we see the "winners" in free agency a year or two down the road releasing the exact same players that had made them the "winners" of free agency. I really don't understand the lack of patience with our GM. Remember the goal is sustained success not to be a flash in the pan!

 

The Steelers success is from 3 stars, playmakers. Big Ben, Bell, and A.Brown.

 

The Pats are from Brady, Belichek, Gronk and cheating. Pats overall talent level is average at best. 

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Just now, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

The Steelers success is from 3 stars, playmakers. Big Ben, Bell, and A.Brown.

 

The Pats are from Brady, Belichek, Gronk and cheating. Pats overall talent level is average at best. 

 

 

I don't know from what you just said if you are agreeing or disagreeing with me. 

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28 minutes ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

 

And to claim that those issues that I previously mentioned weren't factors is nonsense. A Colts team with Andrew Luck playing has never finished below .500.  I think you have forgotten just who Andrew Luck is!

Did you forget that the players that surrounded him on offense, and defense was significantly better than what we have on our current roster?

Luck will get slaughtered next season, unless something extraordinary happens. And our defense is still mediocre at best and won't help win any games.

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27 minutes ago, Mel Kiper's Hair said:

 

And to claim that those issues that I previously mentioned weren't factors is nonsense. A Colts team with Andrew Luck playing has never finished below .500.  I think you have forgotten just who Andrew Luck is!

The AFC South is a lot different now...the Jags are worlds better defensively.  Texans and Titans have surpassed the Colts in overall talent.  Luck has never faced this caliber of division competition.

 

Also in 2015, in the limited number of games that Luck played...he had a sub-.500 record.  We went .500 that season thanks in large part to the contributions of Matt Hasselbeck.

 

Luck coming off shoulder injury probably makes us a 7-9 team at best in my opinion.  He still has no protection and will continue to take hits and run for his life unless something changes on the O-line front.

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1 minute ago, CopenhagenColt said:

Did you forget that the players that surrounded him on offense, and defense was significantly better than what we have on our current roster?

Luck will get slaughtered next season, unless something extraordinary happens. And our defense is still mediocre at best and won't help win any games.

 

Did you forget that we had a totally different coaching staff with a different offensive scheme? You have no idea how the new scheme will help or hurt the offense. 

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1 minute ago, Coltsman1788 said:

The AFC South is a lot different now...the Jags are worlds better defensively.  Texans and Titans have surpassed the Colts in overall talent.  Luck has never faced this caliber of division competition.

 

Also in 2015, in the limited number of games that Luck played...he had a sub-.500 record.  We went .500 that season thanks in large part to the contributions of Matt Hasselbeck.

 

Luck coming off shoulder injury probably makes us a 7-9 team at best in my opinion.  He still has no protection and will continue to take hits and run for his life unless something changes on the O-line front.

 

The South is a different division for sure. I won't deny that. However, Houston has as many or more concerns with injuries than we do. 

 

7-9 is improvement! I'm optimistic about what is ahead. Especially since we just traded out of 3 and still might be able to make more moves.

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Well, looking at the trade he just pulled off, I think he has a pretty dang good opportunity to get some serious talent in the draft. I wouldn't have paid any of those FA (outside of maybe Norwell) what they got either. Good for him to sit tight and wait for things to calm down. We will get some players and now we have 4 picks in the top 65 and he may not even be done wheeling and dealing. 

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