ColtStrong2013

January 16

3 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

I get it you will die on a hill defending Ballard. And your perfectly ok with mediocre. However some of us want actual results. No need for personal shots. Being an internet warrior calling people clowns isnt the best look.

Angry Season 2 GIF by American Gods

January 16

16 minutes ago, Nesjan3 said:

I have had so many back and forths about Ballard with his supporters that im just not really into it anymore. There is no winning haha.

I will just say reading all the comments in the various topics I find it quite comical how his supporters seem to latch on to every little thing he has done right and prop those things up on a pedestal. While completely ignoring the results, the things he has done wrong, and just how long it has been since this team has had genuine success.

Like 7 years in, no division titles, minimal playoff success, below .500 record and perpetually mediocre means nothing.

I have often seen them pointing to it being a "process" that takes "time". While teams like the Rams, Lions, Texans, Jags, Bengals have all made huge turnarounds in a much shorter period of time. Rebuilds, re-tools, becoming a playoff contender whatever you want to call it doesn't take 8 years in the modern NFL folks.

yada yada. It’s the same thing with you too… works both ways.

“There’s no winning… but while I’m here, I might as well say something”

lol. What a 🤡

January 16

47 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

I would promote Ed Dodds to GM, and Morocco Brown to Assistant GM and fire Ballard. Let Ed hire a new director of college scouting. Maybe get that Kelly Kleine girl from the Broncos. She does a good job.

Why? Those are Ballard's guys... They were involved in the decision-making and scouting process.

Firing Ballard and hiring from within is saying "We like what you've done, especially the personnel you have brought in the front office and coaching staff which we are retaining, as well as a good deal of the roster you have drafted/assembled, as well as the overall philosophy you have implemented here... But it's just not working out"

That doesn't make much sense to me.

Again, I have yet to hear a reasonable take on what happens after he's fired. A new outside GM comes in and works wonders with Shane Steichen, who came here to work with Chris Ballard? I'm not sure. Do they feel they need to blow up a great deal of the roster? That's not moving in the right direction after nearly winning the division with the starting qb on the sideline.

January 16

13 minutes ago, Dingus McGirt said:

Whom.Would.You.Replace.Ballard.With?

No one can answer that question. The ones calling for his removal can’t even entertain the concept that the replacement could be really bad… I’m thankful those individuals aren’t making the decisions for the company I work for and those that I’m invested in, that’s for sure.

January 16

2 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

Thanks for telling me this. I was under the assumption it was Reichs fault because he wanted Wentz in 2021 and Ryan in 2022 (I think Ballard wanted Rivers). Then I'm annoyed at Irsay for this then. Reich was a bad HC, but I guess Irsay is at fault for the veteran QBs.

I can’t say regarding Ryan. But it’s well known and documented on Reich’s apology for Wentz. I think Ballard obviously was hopeful, but if he had his hands tied when he preferred to look at the draft for a qb that offseason, then it’s 100% on Irsay. Even looking back at those years, they were really weak qb classes. 2022 especially. There wasn’t many options, that’s for sure.

January 16

3 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

He caved in to Reich and that was a terrible idea. You can say it's hindsight, but it's basic info that the best way to get a franchise QB is through the draft. All GMs know this, and the stats show that this happens more often than not

We don’t know this. By all accounts, he didn’t cave, Irsay did. And the postseason apology by Reich to Irsay pleading for his job and the abrupt midseason firing of him/continued support of Ballard at GM tells me everything I need to know regarding that.

i don’t think it’s ironic that after Frank was fired, Ballard drafted a quarterback…

January 16

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

I think it defies the English language to describe something as both lucky and a steal in the same sentence. Lucky is correct.

Not my fault others get so upset about it, then lash out. But that's the forum.

so essentially, you just don’t believe in the concept of a steal in the draft…

I’m not lashing out, so I hope you aren’t referring to me in that statement. I would agree there is seemingly a lot of aggressive behavior on this forum lately.

January 16

9 minutes ago, Yoshinator said:

I mean, by that logic, no GM or Coach should get fired because it's the players that choke and they are the only ones who should get punished. The players we have wouldn't be there unless Ballard signed them. He determines the team we have on the field for the most part. In return, those players determine the outcome of games along with the coaching they get. If Ballard would have brought in different players, we probably would have different outcomes (for better or worse). Based on the players Ballard brought in, these are our results from 2017-2023. Based on that, Ballard is a bad GM IMO.

there’s an entire discussion going on in “Kudos to Raimann” thread regarding being “lucky” with picking players. You should check it out and offer thoughts. As it relates to this, I can’t help but respond that Ballard hasn’t been a “bad gm.” He hasn’t, or else we wouldn’t have made a few playoffs, had all pro players, and have been a play or two away from even more playoff births/even a division title or two… Based on that fact and the fact that he’s not had “luck” at getting the qb position figured out (which, let’s be honest, it’s usually luck, unless you have the #1 pick, which is still not an exact science)- he’s not been bad, he’s just had bad luck leading to mediocrity, as some say on here…

January 16

1 minute ago, DougDew said:

None of that suggests that Ballard knew Raimann would be top 10 in his second year. That turned out to be lucky...not GM shrewedness.

Nor did Bill Bellichick when he picked Tom Brady at pick 199… It was lucky, and it was also the steal in all of NFL history.

January 16

5 minutes ago, harrisoncolts88 said:

Changing head coaches and GMs willy nilly, just cause less consistency and accountability in my mind. Getting rid of him when things don't "go our way" could mean the next owner wants a different defense scheme, therefore pushing out further and further rebuild. I think this long leash that Ballard has been given is kind of a breath of fresh air in the world of turning around a team.

This is how I feel. I have been called a "ballard fangirl" a few times on this forum. But I can at least understand the frustration from colts fans regarding him and the lack of playoff competitiveness. I think Ballard is probably his own biggest critic. That's what you want in a GM, someone who can learn from their mistakes. I think growing is a huge part of football. He's shown me over the past season alone that he's trying to focus hard on the premium positions, but he's sticking to his process which is largely drafting and retaining those players. That process is what got him hired by Irsay, which some on this forum seem to forget. Irsay bought into the idea of it going to take time and requiring patience.

My education and career has been in management. It's not for the faint of heart. I think for me, I just appreciate being willing to be patient and develop a core of players that will ideally lead the Indianapolis Colts to a run of 5-10 years of highly competitive football. After Luck retired, it wasn't there... Finding and developing a QB, receiver, left tackle, edge rusher, and strong cornerbacks aren't easy. None of those things were handed to Ballard and it's been a hell of a time getting any single one of them. Some of those pieces seem to be coming together. We might be a few of many that think that statement you made that is in bold, but I would rather wait and see what this young core develops into over the next few years, than to start all over and find out that they are legit, but our new GM is dog crap...

January 16

9 minutes ago, DougDew said:

But I don't have an issue with a list calling him top 5 on it. Doesn't make his rational but lucky picks steals.

BTW, I said the Leonard pick was great....at the time he made it. When the folks who persistently criticize the "junior GMs" here didn't even know who Leonard was...and that's why it was great...he saw something others probably didn't. But none of my favorable opinion of the pick back then was based on "love"...its based on rational thought.

When he traded up for JT, was it lucky that he made that decision? Would it have been irrational and unlucky for him to sit on his hands and someone else "luck" into JT as a player?

I'm not arguing, just for what it's worth. I'm just looking for clarification to that thought process.

January 16

1 minute ago, smittywerb said:

Sirianni is starting to give me Reich vibes. He can be a great coach when surrounded by good coordinators, but when it’s on him it’s not the same.

I quickly realized we had a good coach when I saw the eagles was not the same without him. People dont realize how impressive Steichen is, as a ROOKIE HC.

To quote Ballard on praising players, "Let's not crown him yet."

I feel good about Steichen. I think he had a pretty dang good year considering the qb circumstances. I think he is a clear upgrade to Frank Reich. I like how intense he is and his accountability philosophy. I think he has a very high ceiling as a head coach in Indianapolis. I hope that he learns from the mistakes he made this year and continues to grow as a coach. Just like I hope Ballard has learned from his mistakes managing. If we can have three things happen: A GM that grows with roster management, a head coach that grows in preparation, play-calling and game management, and a QB that grows as a passer/playmaker, I think we will see this team get back to being a damn good team, year-after-year.

January 16

11 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Nah. Thinking he drafts just like other GMs who have random hits and misses is not hate. It might seem like hate from the perspective of a reader who lives in an inescapable black hole of positivity and doesn't realize it, but who knows.

If he drafts like other gms, and it's all about luck, then we can agree that his philosophy on the draft is sound. Which is: The more darts on the dart board, the better chance of scoring and even hitting a bullseye...

I don't disagree with you. But I don't agree if you are implying he isn't better with drafting than others. A good deal of GM's never draft an all-pro player in an entire career. He got two in the same draft his second go round.

You can admit he has a sound draft philosophy and is better than a great deal of GM's at the process, and also admit he's had shortcomings regarding overall roster building.

January 16

13 minutes ago, Patrick Miller said:

Yeah but smith can’t stay healthy. Neither can Kelly.

Kelly’s missed a few games here and there and Smith a little more so, but they both average 13-15 games a season for us. It’s not as bad as people make it… O-lineman are going to get hurt. It’s part of the game

January 16

11 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Same here, the way he acted at the end of that game was childish. They had a much better team than we had and won by whopping 1 point . He met his match, when he met Mahomes in the SB though - he wasn't laughing after the SB.

he’s an interest case of big/unique personality having a different effect depending on how things are going…

January 16

16 minutes ago, ShuteAt168 said:

So division titles don’t matter. Ballard has had bad luck for seven years. And you’re such a Ballard a fan boy that you won’t even say two more years of no playoffs deserves a pink slip because — breaking news — you’re not in the Irsay family. Noted. Talk about wishy washy. My opinions may not matter but they sure get you fired up since you always respond with 200 words! I seem to be living rent free in your head. Lol.

in your dreams…

January 16

18 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

It is a losing battle with some in here. Some just get their kicks out of criticizing our franchise no matter what we accomplish. Like you said in another post, it just isn't criticizing the team, it is how some go about it

It won’t stop me posting. Although I am getting my money worth now because I have some projects coming up in the upcoming weeks that won’t allow me to be on here much, if at all.

January 16

11 minutes ago, jemack said:

Since '95, we missed the playoffs 12 times. Not saying these recent yrs have not been rough, but when l was a young Colts fan (walking 12 miles to school in 20 ft of snow ) we went 10 years without a playoff berth and a quarter century without a win!

It does seem that other teams have always had better depth at key positions than us. Perhaps a GM problem but

we wouldn't be having this conversation had Luck not dropped the bomb on us. OR had Rivers not retired.

So, in the past 5 yrs, we made the playoffs once and today are considered playoff contenders. Not bad, by my standards anyway.

you mean the walls aren’t falling in on the colts organization? How dare you be so positive @jemack!!

January 16

5 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

You don't even try to acknowledge the greatness of other teams, but at the slightest of criticism on Colts (which I didn't make but someone else did), you call that as "Ballard Hate" here.

Carry on, then you wonder why your comments attract critics like flies on a wound!

because it’s a colts forum dude… when I don’t acknowledge the greatness of other teams, it’s because I’m not here to…

and it’s not slight Ballard criticism, it’s blatant “fire him and let’s beat the hell out of the next unsuccessful general manager” type criticism on this forum that I often laugh at. As if the next guy will be surely be better or would have done a better job. We could have done a lot worse, and it’s likely we would have given the qb circumstances with someone else. It doesn’t take much to look around the league and see how poorly managed other teams are, never in competition to go anywhere. We were two plays away (some think just one) from a division title this season, and the way people talk on here, we are a bottom dweller. Apparently there is lions fans posting videos of colts football as a down and out franchise. Lol

I don’t mind criticism and I’ve never wondered why some are attracted to my comments. It’s the same people that leave laughing/confused reactions and post condescending comments intended to discredit/diminish the thought of many posters on this forum. I’m guilty of that at times too. It’s a discussion forum…

January 16

5 hours ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

Kyle Shanahan has been linked to an academy where they pick raw QBs from college and train in their fundamentals for NFL before the draft and identify QB prospects that they could draft.

Among the few Shanahan has targeted that way, Purdy was his find from that academy and their Scouting. And, Shanahan could make many QBs look great

That was not luck. That was scouting at its best and coaching at its best. Rightly, they've reaped their reward. It was 0% Luck. It's Luck only for the ignorants who haven't learned about what has gone on in the background behind the Drafts.

they also spent draft capital to move up for Trey lance…

They also signed Jimmy G to a large contract after using draft capital.

I agree with Ballard when he says it’s not an exact science. Because it isn’t. Not one team, including Kyle Shanahan thought Brock Purdy would be good. That’s insanity to imply. He is good. He’s also in a great system that has major talent across the board. And yes, if they miss the Super Bowl this year with a healthy Purdy, there will be questions. There SHOULD be. Because in my opinion, and I would assume I’m not alone in the thought, the only ones that can beat this San Fran team is themselves.

January 16

I’m just going to edit this post to be blank instead of reacting to being called ignorant by a Vikings fan on a colts forum.

January 16

27 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

There will be zero major question mark on 49ers if they fail to win Super Bowl this year.

why do you keep saying win*… I simply said if they can’t make it. And I never said major question marks, I didn’t even say that I would question them, I just said there will be question marks. Because there will be. You put together a star studded roster and lose 3 straight conference championships, there will be questions. And probably more internally than anything.

You wrote a novel… fingers hurt?

January 16

28 minutes ago, ShuteAt168 said:

The three division titles are pretty massive separators.

Sure- if losing enough to get frequent top 5-10 picks is what it takes… They also drafted an mvp candidate with the final pick of the draft. That’s not skill. That’s just luck, which Ballard hasn’t had much of at qb.

21 minutes ago, ShuteAt168 said:

How many more years of no division titles and a mediocre winning percentage are you willing to accept? If next year we are 9-8 and miss the playoffs, do you keep CB? Another 8-9 after that? Keep him? You’d let CB go 10 years with no divisions? I’m just curious. For me, the resume of no divisions and a sub .500 record after seven years is patience enough. What about you? Commit to an answer.

They were maybe 2 plays away from one this season with a backup qb… if they take a step backwards next season, I think he may be gone. But I’m not the Irsay family, so how could I possibly say for sure? If they take a step forward and make the playoffs but don’t win the division should he get fired? I mean- if the goal is to compete for a Super Bowl championship, do division titles really matter? Did they matter for the 49ers those 3 years they won the division? No… they didn’t even make the Super Bowl to compete for it.

It can be for you, but my stance regarding the colts has been they have been competitive with sub-par qb play. If getting good qb play was easy, there would be more teams with better qb than there is. there is a lot of luck with it. I happen to think we have a franchise qb. I think we have one of the brightest offensive minds in football at hc. So I’m willing to continue to be patient and build the roster through the draft/retaining our own.

…and at the end of the day @ShuteAt168, our opinions don’t really matter. So you shouldn’t take yourself so seriously. “Commit to an answer.” Lol… 🤡

January 16

43 minutes ago, NewColtsFan said:

Brian Johnson is a fraud? The Lions OC is a fraud? Nick Sirianni is a fraud?

Dear God…. Where does this come from?

Brian Johnson the Eagles OC... Not Ben Johnson the Lions OC

January 16

7 minutes ago, VikingsFanInChennai said:

I think you're stubborn about 49ers...

I get the point that they were super bad in few years in past decade, but the difference with Colts is, SF has bounced back to have a championship contending team for past few years and Colts need to get there yet.

Unlike what you said, if SF doesn't win super Bowl this year, there will not be any question marks, especially any major one. It would mean just that not every great team can win all the time. Just because Peyton Manning won only 2 Super Bowls in 15+ years doesn't mean that's a major questionable flaw in his career.

You were right when you said SF was not all that contending year after year in past decade or the prior decade, although they've been back to contending after a short break in past decade

But, when you say there would be major question mark on 49ers, if they don't win Super Bowl this year, that's just absurd and you're just trying to double down.

When teams go all-in on heavy rosters like the 49ers have, there will be questions if they cannot even make it the superbowl. I didn't say if they didnt win it, i said if they didn't MAKE it... which would 3 straight seasons. You think that the media won't double down on questioning the organization? Is it Kyle Shanahan? Can they win with Brock Purdy? The NFC is as weak as it's going to get, IMO. Cowboys choked again. They get a 7 seed in the divisional, with the potential of playing a team that went 9-8 in the conference championship. Maybe you need to be more honest with yourself on your analysis of my comments and the meaning behind them. I've been pretty direct about my opinion, and it is far from absurd.

You folks are feisty as % tonight. Full attack mode. Go get some sleep.

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