ColtStrong2013

…because we are spoiled. 😂 Same reason Houston is trying to win with their rookie I suppose. I never said he left a mess. Mike Bluem’s pretty dang good his job and has been here for a while. The lessons I speak of are more of a mindset than anything. Irsay watched Grigson spend some big dollars on free agents that didn’t pan out. That doesn’t mean they left us in a mess (unless of course you view it as the amount put towards the o-line that assisted our franchise qb to early retirement). I think Irsay bought into Ballard’s concept on building internally instead of trying to buy a roster, especially in the trenches. Grigson spent a lot of money up front on both sides of the ball.

I think Franklin’s attitude online is just influencer talk to grow his presence online.

preferably in a game wrecker at the edge?

I don’t disagree with what you posted. It sounds like a leadership issue from the coach though. “Had to be Steichen.” Yeah… that’s the coach’s job to keep a locker room together. Frank lost them a long time ago. it all worked out to get where we are though…

In 2017 when Ballard came to Indianapolis the Colts value was about $2.3 billion. It’s roughly $4.3 billion now. In a league of 32 franchises, winning is important, but let’s not confuse it with the most important aspect… That’s not me crediting Ballard with anything on the financial end (although I do think he’s been a good salesman for the Irsay’s.) But rather me saying when things are working from a financial standpoint, you just don’t care as much about winning like you did it when it was worth billions less…

obviously he had pressure from Irsay… given he failed in 4 years. He spent big in free agency. I think the lessons from Grigson is largely why Ballard is still here driving a great deal of this forum crazy with his process…

And what continues to be the big elephant in the room? The one you downplayed in the prior post? who was under center… Grigson had pressure to build a Super Bowl caliber team around Andrew luck and he failed miserably. I don’t think it’s far off to say the 2019-2021 roster with Andrew Luck under center could have been Super Bowl caliber. They were a hell of a lot better than what he had under Grigson.

San Francisco has lost how many conference championships/superbowls now in the modern era due to inferior qb play against the winner? How many non-elite qb’s can we actually point to as Super Bowl winners? Without checking myself, I know it’s not very many. It’s not an overrated position. There is no position like it in sports. Especially this era of football. Manning and Brady changed the game and the rules to elevate the current QB importance to where it is. It is what it is. Had a rookie Pittman not dropped a touchdown in the 2nd half of the Bills game that playoff, we would have gone further. He’s never had a chance to redeem himself since because of mediocre to sub par qb play.

I don’t give him a free pass. I’m just not sure about knocking it all down and starting new like a lot of folks on here think is not only going to be better, but is necessary. I don’t think it’s either. It’s not necessary, last season showed that. And it absolutely would not guarantee better. Could be a lot worse. Hence, why I think we are spoiled. Our expectations are to be the best, and for a lot of organizations it’s really unreasonable. But it isn’t for us, because it’s come to be expected…

you mean Chris Ballard does actually care to try to improve the team? 😂

that’s fine… but everyone else in the league knows how spoiled colts fans have been… It’s all I ever saw online. We went from one generational qb to the next with one year in between. And now we complain about being a play away from a division (ZERO DIVISION TITLES!! 😩 😭) an entire generation of new colts fans that didn’t experience much losing their entire childhoods/early adulthoods. Contrast that with the franchises that have sucked for decades… generations… I was pretty happy for the old guy at the Lions game they kept showing. That’s a true fan. Man- I can imagine how many folks on this forum would disappear if we lost the way that man stuck it out through. To touch on all that a bit more, and I’m going to love it as much as the next guy, but New England is going through the same thing. It’s ok. I have high expectations too. There isn’t anything wrong with that. Trust me, the last several Falls/winter’s have been brutal in my house- my wife would attest.

I’m fine with the backlash. I’ll argue it all day. We have been spoiled like none other. The only ones that don’t see it (throughout the entire league by the way) are the ones complaining about being average on the Colts.com forum.

“big on saying words, not big on delivering.” Yeah, you are spoiled to the point of complaining about players on a forum board. Complaining about results, a year removed from a rookie head coach being one or two plays away from a division title with a backup qb… knowing that our top 5 freakish qb is going to start this season (the first time a qb has started consecutive seasons in our GM’s 8 year career.) We are spoiled that most here don’t even recognize it. Look around the league. All you see is what you think we should be, and all I’m saying is it could (and probably should be) a lot worse. We haven’t had consecutive “bad” years in an entire generation of fans. Think about that, and then google what other fanbases have gone through. Seriously…

Lol. Colts fans have been spoiled rotten man... It's unreal.

I don't think everyone on this forum, nor in the organization feel that way. It's not this year or never. I can't imagine having that mentality with a guy that is basically a rookie under center. "if he doesn't play a full season, or struggles, hit the rebuild button." That's interesting...

i don’t disagree. We should have drafted a qb in 2020… the 49ers and Eagles are the anomalies of that group. And you know what they both were focused on roster wise? dominating the trenches… the others had either a #1 draft pick (with similar rated qbs as Luck in Burrow and Lawrence) or draft (or lucked into- whichever way you want to look at it) CJ Stroud. We have a new qb too, he just tore his shoulder his rookie year. So we’ll see regarding qb…

I know when he was picked. What I stated was not incorrect. Ballard has 3 receivers on roster that were drafter higher than TY was. And they don’t have Luck throwing them the ball… I remember how TY looked wide open when Wentz was overthrowing him the ball with the playoffs on the line,all too well. im not sure you can defend him man. the argument you are trying to make is not one I’m going to ever agree with. He did nothing that Ballard hasn’t done. He paired an explosive receiver with a generational qb. 👏. He already had Reggie Wayne on roster… If it weren’t for Robert Mathis on roster, he would have had worse edge rushers than Ballard has. If it weren’t for Castonzo already on roster, his offensive line (somehow) would have been even worse. The only good pick he made past 2012 in my opinion was Ryan Kelly, and it was far too late for that. I understand the hitting on positions of lesser importance. What is Ballard supposed to do? Not draft those positions? I understand the Nelson pick being highlighted. But he got three 2nd round picks (and put a few to good use) to work with in addition to Nelson… At the end of the day, he didn’t luck (no pun intended) to the Andrew Luck sweepstakes and a roster with premium positions filled… He inherited a broken Luck and trash roster. What he’s done in 8 years should be more impressive than what Grigson did with Andrew Luck carrying the team. But for some reason, people cry over the difference in record… as if it’s that far apart and those wins actually resulted in anything.

You say that he pursued the right positions with top picks, but TY was not a top pick. Parris Campbell, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Michael Pittman were all drafted higher than TY. Three of those are still on roster, and while they are no TY Hilton, I think we all know what TY had that those three have not... He picked an edge rusher that did absolutely nothing. Guess what? Ballard picked a 1st round edge that at least has produced and still has opportunity to grow on this team. Again, Grigson didn't have to target the "right positions" because he already had them filled when he stepped into this role. In fact, I would argue that had anyone but Grigson been GM, we would have experienced much greater success. He was that bad... His first day on the job, he walked up to the best punter in the league and a fan favorite and told him right to his face he would cut him, but Irsay wouldn't allow it. Those are facts. He was bad and he was a *. It's a large reason why I cringe at the thought of firing Ballard and potentially hiring Ryan Grigson. He was awful. The only year that Ballard had Luck, he won a playoff game. That told me everything to know about Grigson's success... Free-rider on the coattails of #12. Sure, he tried. Man, did he try. He just sucked at it...

If AR shows to be the guy, I’m not sure they’ll change their approach at all. I really don’t know that it will happen. Maybe one splash at a key position, especially if it’s lacking. I just don’t see us engaging in “flurries” like you refer to. Regardless of who is general manager here. Irsay lived through being pushy on that once and it backfired.

Considering our last gm couldn’t hit in either, I’m ok with our current route… I think people forget how bad some of the deals Grigson pulled were. He inherited Robert Mathis, Reggie Wayne, Castonzo, and the #1 no brainer Andrew Luck pick. That’s 4 positions that Ballard has struggled to replace. All inherited by the last gm. The free agency contracts he dished out to try and piece an o-line together (when he had the left tackle already set) and failed miserably. His drafts past 2012 were brutal. We think our secondary is bad now, go watch the home opener against Detroit 2016. I was there and it was embarrassing. Andrew Luck had nearly 400 yards and 4 touchdowns and we still lost.

Would you have considered Hunter to be a splash? because he certainly tried. I don’t know if it’s so much as not being close as not being able to bring them in…

yeah. I’m not sure you have a valid point… carry on

Nelson isn’t rated as elite in the national front? LOL. He’s been all-pro far more than not (that’s the definition of elite brother). Braden Smith has drawn a top 15 (of all tackles) rating by pff. We actually scored a top 10 duo tackle rating last year prior to Smith’s lingering injury issues. Grover’s run stop win rate was ranked 3rd in the league. So I believe you are the own showing bias to keep pounding your narrative that doesn’t mean anything…

it didn’t go over my head at all.. I just said it was weird, because it is.

You lost me entirely when you omitted Quenton Nelson as an impact player from your rambling. By all accounts, Quenton, Braden Smith, JT, Grover all are towards the top of their positions and considered impact players. They have all been dramatically missed when not on the field. Pittman as well. What has been missing is consistent qb play. Ballard had 2 years of it with Andrew and Phil Rivers. Yes, I can honestly say, without bias, when factoring in the quarterback shuffling, they have been relatively successful from a winning standpoint... Andrew Luck carried far worse rosters to a couple winning seasons... When teams led by Carson Wentz and Gardner Minshew are a play or two away from a division title/playoffs, it's a far better roster than you will ever give credit to. Your tortoise and hare talk is just weird.