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Flash7

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Everything posted by Flash7

  1. Sounds like people are expecting another season where we are on the cusp of making the playoffs, but on the outside looking in.
  2. Ballard drafted one of the riskiest players in last year’s draft in AR. He had a history of injuries in college and very little experience. Ballard gambled and lost in year one. Let’s hope AR can stay healthy, but no doubt last year was not a get out of jail free card. Ballard finally drafted “his” QB and got only 4 games out of him.
  3. Agreed, a rough rookie year is not proof of the future. But, we do have to evaluate based on the information that we have, and so far, it has not been positive results, unfortunately. Only 4 games played with a concussion and a season ending shoulder injury isn't what you'd hope for. I'm not aware of the OP's posting history, but I can definitely see that if he's gloating now, it would be annoying.
  4. We have to admit that year 1 has resulted in only 4 games played. During those 4 games, he's suffered a concussion and a season ending shoulder injury. That's not off to a good start. Again, I hope he's not a bust. I hope he bounces back and has a great season and a great career. But if I'm keeping score right now, we're taking an L in year 1. You really can't make the claim that the OP has "nothing to prove otherwise."
  5. I'm giving Ballard a pass on the past QB situation. I agree, it's been a hindrance. If you and I are to look forward, we have to agree that Ballard selected AR to be his franchise QB. He's hitched his horse to AR, who was, and still is a risky proposition, due to his injury history and lack of experience. Do you agree that if AR does not pan out, then it would fall squarely on Ballard? I think we would judge every other GM in this manner. The results need to be better moving forward now that Ballard has made his decision on the QB. I think that's a fair way of looking at it.
  6. I'm not sure that's a better argument. "It's not deliberate, it's due to incompetence".
  7. Let's be honest. Ballard's been here a long time now. And this has been a very SLOW rebuild without great results. A lot of that has to do with his strategy on how to build a team, and a lot of it has to do with the QB position. He's hitched his horse to AR, who has only 1 year of college experience, and a history of being injured. Ballard took a chance on a QB with a high ceiling but also a very low floor. Year one is in the books and so far, Ballard's choice in QB1 has not netted positive results. Just 4 games played. If there is an issue with the QB position moving forward, that's now squarely on Ballard.
  8. We ARE talking about a QB who missed a majority of last season due to injury. The same QB who suffered numerous injuries in college, including a right knee injury from dancing. AR has already had numerous concussions, numerous shoulder injuries (including one currently), numerous hamstring strains, ankle injuries, and right knee surgery (all not good for a QB that runs as often as AR does). It is incredible though, that even after these leg injuries, he ran as fast as he did in the combine. After watching him play this season in just a few games, many fans walked away thinking that he needs to improve upon his passing accuracy. This is something that he needs to work on, not only to become a better passer, but to keep himself out of harms way. This will lessen the need for him to run in order to move the ball downfield and keep drives alive. I'm not saying that AR will be a bust and certainly hope he will not be one. But the odds of him being our franchise QB are slim. When you look at the best QBs of all time, Brady, Manning, Montana, etc. -- these guys were not athletic freaks. They had in incredible understanding of the game. They were accurate and had unbelievable timing. But of course, this is looking backwards. The game is changing. Let's see what AR writes in our history books.
  9. The secondary was fine last year and we had the same defensive issues. The problem is that Gus's defense is too vanilla. There is no disguise to the defensive coverages and we are among the teams with the lowest blitz rates. He simply rushes 4 without many stunts, with zone coverage on the back end.
  10. Agreed, to an extent. On the other hand, if your pass rush can't get to the QB it makes it much harder to cover. They both go hand-in-hand.
  11. I don't think it has much to do with the lack of experience. Bradley ran the same defense last year with experienced DBs and Eberflus ran a similar style defense as well for many years before that. This is just what Ballard looks for when hiring defensive coordinators. He believes in this philosophy. The problem is that you need guys like Mathis and Freeney to have an excellent defense. We don't have those guys. No where close to it.
  12. This is the defense that Ballard wants: "It's always about your fronts," Ballard said. "When you have a good quarterback and you can have a good offensive and defensive line, you've got a chance to win. If that defensive line can get after the quarterback, especially with four people -- I mean y'all lived it. Y'all lived it for a long time here in Indy when you had (Dwight) Freeney and (Robert) Mathis coming off the edge when Tony was the head coach. That makes all the difference in the world and covers up for a lot of your mistakes in the back end." Look, Chris, you can rush 4 people when you have Freeney and Mathis. When you don't, you need to mix it up. Gus runs the defense that Ballard wants in Indy. Rush 4 people and cover on the back end. Bland. Vanilla. Opposing QBs love it.
  13. The Steelers will be playing their back up QB. They also have a low ranked pass blocking O-line. The defensive plan should be to use a lot of stunts and blitzes to pressure Trubisky, right? WRONG!!!! We gotta make sure he's as comfortable as possible. No pressure and soft zone coverage. That's how we'll win. Signed - Defensive Coordinator Extraordinaire, Gus Bradley
  14. Possibly. We had Manning and still needed players like Harrison, Wayne, Stokely, Addai, Edge, and D. Clark on offense. On defense we had Freeney, Mathis, B. Sanders, Bethea and a bunch of other really good players and only amassed 1 Super Bowl victory. Some of those guys mentioned above were among the best in their positions. Even if AR turns out to be good, we currently only have Q. Nelson (guard position is important but has limited affect on overall team wins or losses) and Jonathan Taylor who may be considered among the best at their respective positions on offense. Maybe Buckner and Z. Franklin on defense. That's about it. If AR turns out to be good, we would still have a long ways to go.
  15. My view of Ballard has always been that he's a good GM, but not a great GM. I think under Ballard, he will field good teams, but his approach will not lead to fielding a great team. He is too afraid to make big moves. I understand that big moves can backfire. However, they can also be what's needed to push the team over the top. My fear is that he'll continue to be good enough to keep his job for a long time and only field average to good teams, but will never excel beyond that. I think that at best, the Colts will be a team that will continuously flirt with the playoffs year-in and year-out but that's about it.
  16. If we look at Ballard from a broader team building perspective, he may be below average. I actually think he does fairly well in the draft, but drafting players is only one way to acquire talent. Aside from the draft, Ballard hardly ever participates in free agent acquisitions or trades (with the rare exception of Buckner). Ballard's philosophy basically means that he cannot miss on the draft because he will not participate in FA to make up for those misses. He will not trade to build the team, so we are heavily reliant on the draft. Ballard is an average GM. He' may even be a good GM. But I've always said with Ballard, he's good and "good" is the enemy of greatness. Ballard will NEVER take this team to greatness because he's afraid to take the necessary chances at greatness.
  17. The Browns do what the Browns do. That's why they suck. "Hey, you know what would be a good idea after moving on from Money Manziel and Baker Mayfield? Let's pay millions to a guy who has 20+ s3xual assault charges against him. That's the type of leadership and character we've been missing around here. What could go wrong?" - Browns Management (not really, just sarcasm).
  18. Richardson is going to be our guy based on his performances and his progress at the Colts QB. Not because he's a good guy or just because he's someone with high character. By all account, Jacoby Brissett was a great Colts teammate, earning the Colts Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination. But he was not our guy due to lack of performance as our QB. I am happy that AR has great character. It's still yet to be determined if he's our guy or not, simply because he's a rookie and we haven't seen enough to evaluate him. Time will tell if he is our guy or not. Hopefully he is, but we can't make that determination based on his acts of kindness and high character, otherwise, Jacoby would have been our guy.
  19. But to what end? To get a better spot in the draft? Who have we drafted that's a difference maker? Jonathan Taylor? That's about it and it's not going well. Pittman is okay, not a star. Pierce? Anyone? Really though. Who's been a difference maker where we can find comfort in this strategy?
  20. 1. I agree that there were some times where Luck made bad plays and put the team in a bad situation. At the same time, I think: 2. It's MORE likely that the team underperformed and put Luck in a bad situation. When Luck was playing, the Colts did not have a good O-line. They had NO run game and an average to really bad defense. They also had several different offensive coordinators, so there was no continuity. The result of all of this was an overall bad team and that bad team would often find themselves behind in many games. To his detriment, Luck was a team player. He wanted to abide by the system and allow his coaches and teammates to shine in victory. They could not. So, often Luck would have to take it upon himself to fight for first downs, just to keep drives alive. (Broncos TD drive). This would entail Luck diving and reaching for first downs or TDs while getting hit, (Chiefs Playoff Win). This would include running through defenders to keep drives alive, otherwise they would lose. (Green Bay Miracle Game). He put his body on the line in order to win and did what was necessary when the system and the team failed him. That's what I saw as the main reason for the 4th quarter comebacks. You could easily see a parallel universe where Luck played for a team with a great O-line, a great run game, and a stout defense, and he doesn't have to perform those 4th quarter heroics. He would still make some bonehead plays from time-to-time, as all QBs do, but maybe the team could overcome them without Luck having to ball out.
  21. How else is player development supposed to work? You draft a player that has the traits you covet, work with them to improve, and develop them over time. Some times it works out well, like with Raimann, and sometimes it doesn't. What's the expectation? We just draft All-Pros all the time, right out of the gate?
  22. If you're referring to luck warming up during his final preseason game, then yes I agree. That was misleading. If you're referring to the interview you posted, then no. That was weeks prior to his retirement. He had not intended to retire at that time.
  23. Here's the timeline from that article: " Luck told his family and close friends. Wilson advised him to sleep on it. When they spoke two days later, Luck was resolute. Ballard tried to appeal to Luck's competitive fire, but it was gone. Reich implored him to not rush a big decision, but Luck didn't think it had been rushed. When Wilson met with Ballard to finalize the paperwork, both men cried. Luck savored his final days in pro football." - ESPN Andrew Luck finally reveals why he walked away from the NFL The decision to retire was made within a few days of his actual retirement. He admitted to having thoughts about retiring, but kept working to come back until his body forced him to decide. The answers he provided in the interview were genuine, at the time. He did say he regretted the timing of his retirement, but that alludes more to how it affected the team in hindsight. He does not regret retiring, rather he wished the team could have done better without him.
  24. But somehow this isn't evidence that he honestly believed he would play week 1? This isn't evidence that he was going through rehab to get ready to play with and for his teammates? When it was LATER revealed that his lower leg injury was not healing as fast and that he would miss part of the season and go through extensive rehab all over again, something he promised himself he would not do again, THEN he knew it was time to retire. He did not this during this interview.
  25. Along with NCF, I'm one of the biggest A. Luck fans, but I don't think he belongs in the HOF. I also think he would feel unworthy. Barry Sanders played only 9 years in the NLF and made it into the HOF, as well as Calvin Johnson, who played for 9 years and made it into the HOF. Andrew Luck only played for 7 years. And I don't think he had the impact on his position the way Barry and Megatron have had on theirs.
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