ColtStrong2013

February 6

7 hours ago, Shadow_Creek said:

we definitely need a new Special teams coordinator

I don’t think so. I think there was definitely mistakes and inconsistency, but they had some real shining moments too. In Ballard’s press conference, he blamed himself for not having the players that the special teams needed. But he also said he liked our punter and kicker, so he definitely meant the supporting cast on special teams, which he thinks will be much better next year.

February 5

1 hour ago, NFLfan said:

Yet this analytic shows the great job Steichen did. Imagining how well he will do with Richardson healthy!

im not disputing that- I think he did an incredible job. I think we’ve only seen a baseline of what he’s capable of. His playbook will be fine tuned and open up more and more as Richardson progresses/stays healthy. If they can be successful in putting the talent he wants around AR, then that baseline just keeps rising.

throughout the season, I would watch highlights from the all-22 shots, and it was remarkable to envision AR and JT in the backfield, instead of minshew and Moss. The strain that was being put on defenses with those guys was already obvious at times- I couldn’t even picture adding the 5/28 dynamic back there. An absolute nightmare for defenses.

I was essentially stating that he wasn’t even entirely focused on the season at hand, because of the injury. He was coaching his future qb on the sideline. That’s not 100% locked in on what is on the field. Not by any stretch. The best is yet to come.

February 2

3 hours ago, NewColtsFan said:

I think we should all remind ourselves…. That Shane Steichen wasn’t hired until AFTER last year’s Super Bowl. And he was able to put together a good coaching staff by the time the Senior Bowl happens at the end of Feb. So he had maybe 10-12 days.

Also two other things to note…. One, our front office and scouts are in Mobile at the Senior Bowl and we might be doing some interviews down there. Also, with the return of Covid, we might be doing some interviews by Zoom.

I don’t think there’s reason to worry. Yet.

Senior Bowl is Sunday...

I just read that new head coach Brian Callahan and GM Ran Carthon are staying back from the Senior Bowl to conduct interviews, so I'd say this is a hot time for that process.

January 30

41 minutes ago, Superman said:

But I do think Ballard needs to find another gear moving forward, and this offseason seems like the right time to get going.

I can't imagine anyone on this forum does not feel this way and would not be happy with a big offseason.

January 30

6 minutes ago, Superman said:

@Smonroe

Sharing this as an example of what I was talking about with Chase Young, the substandard effort and lack of impact.

I saw in real-time, and then have seen numerous posts online about it. I cannot fathom this kind of effort (lack of) in a championship game...

January 29

48 minutes ago, Superman said:

If you could guarantee a team a SB trophy in exchange for 3-4 years of mediocrity, I think everyone would take the guaranteed SB. Of course, there is no guarantee.

The Lions would trade just a try at a superbowl for more years of mediocrity. I couldn't believe the collapse last night and felt for the fans.

January 29

23 minutes ago, Superman said:

the idea that the Colts way of handling player salaries saves the team money compared to other teams is not supported by the facts

while I did say Irsay may have to be more cautious with cash spent than other owners, I never compared Ballard’s way of saving money to another team. I just stated that he saved Irsay money. And going back to the beginning of his tenure, there is little to argue that he hasn’t. A great deal of the cash spent was to players he drafted, which was the plan from the beginning and one that Irsay was obviously fond of since he hired him with that plan.

23 minutes ago, Superman said:

But yeah, there's a significant difference between Ballard's Colts and the Rams. Even when both teams bottomed out in 2022, they weren't as low as the Colts, mostly because they have an established QB.

they were 1 game away from being as low as the colts on the only metric people pay attention to, and you mostly supported my point even when disagreeing. It is about having an established qb. They had the Goff/Mcvay connection and the Stafford/Mcvay connection throughout all of Ballard’s tenure with the colts. The difference between the wins and losses of the two teams has been exactly that + Aaron Donald. We will never have a player like Aaron Donald. I’m not sure there will be one again. He’s that good. My biggest argument to the Ballard hate on this forum (not accusing you, I know where you stand) is that what we have done versus the expectation is literally the quarterback position. Yes it’s his knock, it didn’t get solved, we can argue it all day long. But in my opinion, there has not been a significant difference in the colts and the rams- it’s two players. And it makes up the difference in a few games give or take each year.

January 29

He's going to have to step up his commercial game for that to happen in my eyes...

January 29

1 hour ago, Superman said:

This is the common belief. I don't think it holds up to scrutiny.

The Colts cash spending from 2019-2023, in millions: $192.8, 221.1, 222.6, 218, 236.7. In those five years, total cash spent on player contracts: $1,091.2.

The Rams cash spending from 2019-2023, in millions: $188.7, 215.3, 192.4, 283.8, 183.5. Total cash spend on player contracts: $1,063.7. The bolded is the year they went "all in" for a SB. You'll see they spent less in cash than the Colts that season, but paid for it the following year.

The Colts spent $28.5m more, in cash, than the Rams, over these five years. So the bolded isn't actually true. Irsay isn't saving money. Maybe the schedule of cash flow is where Irsay has to be more conservative -- funding signing bonuses and guarantees -- but without seeing balance sheets and doing a cash flow analysis, we can't know that.

Also, I think NFL owners have access to major lines of credit that pretty much allow them to do whatever they need to do from a cash flow standpoint. Whether or not it's financially prudent in the long run is a different story, especially in a new environment of high interest, but without gross mismanagement and outright corruption, it's hard to imagine any NFL team having trouble maintaining cash flow. The Colts are well established, have a sweetheart arena deal, etc. I think if they wanted, the Colts have the financial standing to be less conservative with contract structure.

However, because the Colts manage their contracts and cap the way they do, they have a steady outlay from year to year, and never have to take drastic actions to get under the cap, like the Rams did in 2023. Think about that: in a raising salary cap environment, the Rams spent less cash on player contracts in 2023 than they did five years ago. And that's a result of their more aggressive cap management strategy.

Some might argue that they got more bang for their buck, and winning a SB makes that hard to argue against.

I guess it's convenient to leave out his first two years, which were most frugal, to illustrate your point.

Where do you find the cash spending? What does 2017 and '18 look like. I'm not really interested in what other teams are doing, quite honestly. I'm more curious as where the Colts sit year to year compared to where Ballard's predecessor had them. How far back can you look at cash spent? Obviously with an ever increasing cap and reveue stream, it's not exactly comparing apples to apples, but I'd like that to be the gauge of if he's saving the Irsay's money instead of versus what another team is doing.

And as far as the Rams are concerned, they have had the best/most disprutive defensive player in the league for the past decade and they have had a top tier qb (or at least in my eyes). That's it. That's the difference. It took them being on the right side of a coin toss to beat this Colts team with a rookie under center. The superbowl year aside, are we really that far off from where the Rams have been and currently are? They have been a few wins give or take better than us every year since 2018. Again- difference is at qb and a premier defensive disrupter.

January 29

1 hour ago, Moosejawcolt said:

U cannot use the argument any longer regarding the idea that he inherited a lousy roster. He has had 8 years and here we are. I always tell people to dismiss the offence and lets give his supporters the excuse that he lost Luck and sent his franchise into a tail spin. Other teams have recovered and have built up some good teams. I would like an answer to this question and have not gotten one yet. Lets just simply grade Ballard on the construction of this defense and the scheme that he apparently loves. 8 years in please show me the elite D players that he as drafted? Provide evidence to show that his defense has been anything more than average after 8 years. He has put a ton of assets into the D line and the only player of any significance that he accumulated was Buckner who was drafted by another team. No elite D lineman, no elite safety's, no elite corners and the only elite D player he has drafted was Leornard , who was a linebacker. Probably the least valuable position on any D. Plus, I have always said that his system is LB friendly. I maybe hard on Ballard, but for people to put give him a pass after 8 years, is kind of mind boggling.

ok

January 29

8 hours ago, ArmchairQB said:

If someone would have swooped in to 3 for Richardson like the Vikings were trying to Ballard would have drafted Levis. I doubt he would have traded back and risked not getting at least Levis had it come to that.

There weren’t many teams left that was pressing for qb. I think he could have traded back several spots at the very minimum and got a pretty good haul as well as Levis in that situation. But the video that showed his face when the trade was announced tells me they were fully expecting Richardson to be there at 4 unless someone jumped them for him. There were too many good players available. Look at the production the non-qb players in the top 10 this year- Anderson and Witherspoon went 3 and 5 and were pro bowlers. Bijan Robinson. Tyree was considered by many to be the better pass rusher in the draft (not by me- that was Anderson imo, but nevertheless) two offensive tackles and a stud in Jalen Carter.

January 29

20 minutes ago, ArmchairQB said:

Bryce Young was a consensus number 1 pick in most people’s eyes at the time. I know we’re all looking at this with hindsight after seeing what happened this past season. Have you ever heard a GM say they didn’t get their guy? Of course not. The optics of that would be awful.

Stroud was the logical pick at 2 for Houston so it’s not as though they had to take a huge leap of faith. I think Ballard was comfortable enough that one of the three consensus top 3 would still be there at 4 so there was no need to trade up. Had Richardson gone at one or two we would have ended up with whomever didn’t. I know he says otherwise but I don’t believe Ballard would’ve taken AR at 1 but that’s just my opinion.

We were all cautioned that AR would be a project and to have patience. Nothing wrong with him acknowledging that maybe he’s not as much of a project as we thought.

Yeah. And the fact that Houston didn't trade up to #1 to ensure Stroud tells me a lot. They likely had similar thoughts on the class/the value of not trading up, as Ballard did. They just happened to get the best guy. The Panthers are the ones having to deal with the debating. I don't necessarily believe we would have taken Richardson either. I think Stroud would have been the pick. However, I think they saw enough from both players, whatever that was throughout their evaluations that said getting one of them would be worth not spending the amount of capital it would have required to get the other. I don't believe we were in the Bryce Young conversation unless he was what was left at #4, which was never going to happen. I think the Colts felt good about the odds of getting Richardson at #4 and that's why they sat.

January 29

16 minutes ago, #12. said:

But that's not how people define a stacked era - just looking at one team. You need multiple champions and multiple teams consistently competing. See the AFC in the 2000s and 70s. Currently, you have none of that. The Bills consistently make the playoffs. That’s about it.

The whole "the AFC is stacked" thing was born out of the AFC West free agent frenzy last year where people were calling it the greatest division ever. That obviously didn't materialize. The AFC West was mediocre at best.

To criticize the afc this year is interesting, considering how many teams played without their starting qb. Even with that, I think the afc was still superior to the nfc. They had a 58% win rate against the nfc this year. 46-34. That is up there with the 2000s afc head-head with nfc.

I think you are looking to criticize an era that is still super young, so it's kind of hard to predict what they will end up being viewed as over time. Lamar Jackson is 27. Josh Allen is as well. Peyton was 30 when he won a superbowl. I think some of the best young qb's in the league are in the AFC and will continue to elevate. If Pat continues to dominate the conference and the league in the postseason for the next decade, do you think people will look at the conference and say "well no one else won a superbowl, so he must have played bad competition." Or will they realize he just dominated the conference enough that they look at other variables.

January 29

1 minute ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Exactly. We need to stop saying the police lied ect. No one knows all the facts. It’s very possible he did have a relapse after back surgery. He isn’t a saint. I heard from one of the media guys he has been in and out of rehab like 15 times. That could also be where he is at. Let’s let this play out before trashing the police.

you are right. All we have is the police report. And the police report appears to show they didn’t have all the facts either.

January 29

12 minutes ago, DavePSL said:

No way did the Texans GM say anything like that about Stroud. Exact opposite. They said they had confidence in him since they picked him from day one. Other people may have questioned Stroud but nobody in their building...Just a little surprised Ballard said that because it didn't need to be said. How about we believed in AR and watching him play, he is exactly what he expected ?

Well considering this conversation seems to have three people right now and you are the only one that feels that way about his comments, I'd disagree with you.

He didn't have to say it, you are correct. But he said it to emphasize the point, which you are ignoring for what he said his concerns were. The point was that he is farther along than they thought he was as a passer, which was their only concern. Everything else are strengths that had no concern. His intellect, his drive, his leadership, humbleness, his arm strength, his clear alien athleticism. All strengths. He had one concern by all accounts, his accuracy and his raw passing ability. It's been addressed, as far as Ballard's concerned.

Also, Stroud wasn't available to us. Could we have traded for the first pick? Possibly. But he wasn't available where we were picking. They clearly didn't value trading up to #1 for him over sitting put and getting Richardson, or they would have undoubtedly done it. Everything regarding that at this point is hindsight bias. And just because they said he was their main pick doesn't mean they didn't have the same ability to trade up a spot to ensure they got him, which they did not. Tells me they felt the same about their options. They might have wanted him, but they were willing to gamble and take whoever was next on the board had the Panthers taken Stroud.

January 29

On 1/15/2024 at 10:13 PM, ColtStrong2013 said:

If they don't make it to the superbowl again this year, they'll have major question marks.

I'll give the San Francisco 49ers their credit. They turned it on, had some luck go their way, but ultimately made big plays when they mattered most (those 4th down stops especially). Purdy used his legs extremely well tonight. Look forward to seeing what they do against the Chiefs. Two teams that have recent superbowl history with one another.

And I still stand by my comment... Had they not turned it around tonight, there would undoubtedly have been question marks. But they got it done, so that discussion is over.

January 29

The football Gods spoke tonight.

January 29

Just now, DavePSL said:

“I’m going to tell you one of the things that really surprised me with Anthony because I was concerned about it, but this guy is a passer. We all kind of — because here’s this big talented athlete.

IMO, doesn't need to be said and I also would NOT spend a number 1 pick on a QB if I'm concerned about him being a passer?

Every player had concerns. The concern for stroud was not his passing, it was his ability to grasp bigger concepts at the nfl level, by all accounts. Little man Young's was just that, his size. Richardson's was his accuracy (not his arm) and it was due to being so raw. Of course he was concerned about his passing. That was his only knock. He's admitting he was concerned and thought it would take time to develop, and he doesn't think that anymore.

January 29

They have a fighting chance. Slim. But not nonexistent.

Just now, IinD said:

What's the success rate? Like 1%??

Basically

January 29

How bad can you manage a game? It's so bad...

January 29

Purdy made big plays, especially with his feet. So I can't discredit that, but man, it feels like Detroit totally gave their ticket to Vegas away... Gift wrapped

January 29

I can't believe what I'm seeing...

January 29

18 minutes ago, DavePSL said:

Ballard still scares me. I can't believe he admitted he was surprised by AR passing ability. This was the guy Ballard would have taken with the number 1 pick and he was surprised by how good of a passer AR was? That could imply Steichen had more to do with who we picked than Ballard.

He said he was concerned about his passing, which he didn't have much film to base it off of. Why is that shocking? They drafted him on his potential and his athleticism. He had as strong of an arm coming out of college as has been for some time. He Stroud and Levis all did. They had one season essentially to base it off and there were known concerns with his accuracy, by every source you can find.

I think Ballard's comments regarding AR's throwing is good to hear. They are pleased with where he is, and they believe Steichen will continue to coach and groom him into a legitimate dual-threat weapon.

January 29

Just now, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

Wow that should of been intercepted.

I liked how he flexed on the guy.

Yes, you took it back from him. But you dropped it to begin with...

And then you just dropped another.

January 29

2 minutes ago, Myles said:

All self inflicted.

Yep.

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