stitches

How can anyone say that when almost every year we get teams trading up for QBs? Just 2 years ago the 49ers gave up like 3 1sts + to move up for the 3d QB. QBs break the market ALL THE TIME. If a team loves a prospect, they will give up tons to secure him.

I'm not opposed to strengthening the OL in the off-season. Not with the 1st pick though...

Wow! Kincaid in top 10!!!! I really like Kincaid... I was hoping we might be able to get him in R2... maybe not... Keion White!!! Top 10!!! HOLY MOLY! Darnell Washington in top 20... again - hoped he'd be there in the second... maybe not? Jalin Hyatt - no. 23... another one I really like and was hoping will be there in the second... Derick Hall - no. 24... pretty high Joe Tippman - top 30!!! Highest I've seen him. BY A LOT! I thought he's like... a 3d rounder.

For the record, my post was a joke...

That's for the people who say Stetson Bennett is as athletic as Bryce Young. No way! I'd be really worried about trusting my franchise into the hands(and legs) of a QB who cannot even outrun a group poorly trained police officers. Imagine what he'd do with NFL defenders running after him.

My football and Colts fandom started very late. I've always been interested in sports of all sorts, but in my country American football was not really a sport anyone had any interest in so I was oblivious to it for most of my life. The first time I watched a game of football was when I went to uni in Canada... I went to a few games of the football team of my university with friends and it looked like a good way to spend a few hours with friends, but my love for the game didn't start until a friend of mine hooked me to the NFL. Now that was a competition and a show that truly enthralled me. It was just about the perfect mix of athleticism, savagery, skill and fanaticism to grab my attention. At the time I didn't have any team I was rooting for so I was just enjoying the game. But at the end of the 2011 season I decided it's time for me to pick a side and complete my destiny as a fan not just of the sport but of a specific team. I decided I wanted to pick a team with an exciting rookie QB, first so I wouldn't be a glory-hunter/fair-weather fan and second so I can have my fandom grow along with the team and the QB of my team. My options were limited to the Colts(Luck) and the Redskins (RG3). At the time I decided to let my feelings and attraction grow naturally and not force myself into any direction so I started watching both teams and both QBs every week and both had great rookie years to follow, but slowly bit by bit I just started drifting towards the Colts. No idea why... I just thought Luck was a fascinating player and the team seemed so likeable at the time. An underdog story - team going from 2 wins to 11 in just one season. TY was showing great potential. By the end of that season I was a Colts fan and haven't looked back since. Luck was the gateway and my Cupid when it comes to the Colts. That's why his slow breakdown and his early retirement hurt so bad for me. That's why I will never forgive Grigson and Pagano for what they did to that amazing football talent. And now we find ourselves in another fork in the road with the potential to get another star QB for the team. I guess my enjoyment of the process will depend on how good the new QB is... but one thing is for sure... whoever it is, and however good he is, I cannot wait to follow the journey.

ORLY? Well good thing we need a WR3...

My friend is a KC fan and I remember him freaking out about reports coming out of KC camp about Mahomes in his rookie year - he was throwing tons and tons of picks in practice. Having a plan for the QB you draft is instrumental in their success. Once you get that QB, priority no. 1 for that coaching staff should be to get him ready to play. Having plan for development and the guy buying into it and following through with his work can be the difference between a bust and a long successful NFL career. And that doesn't mean plans can't change if he shows great improvements... or if he's struggling more than expected.

Yep... and even the later round QBs Ballard has taken - Eason was huge(6'6" 231)... I was thinking Sam Ehlinger might have been borderline but now I'm checking his combine numbers - 6'1 1/2" 222lbs... he covers both the height and weight requirement.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prospects-to-pros-dane-bruglers-2023-nfl-mock-draft-2-0/id1528622068?i=1000595538689 Here's a golden nugget in a podcast. Lance Zierlein talks about how he visited the Colts HQ in 2017 and he says Ballard had a board with average NFL sizes/athletic numbers for every position and on the side he had the numbers the Colts wanted for their players at those positions. He says the numbers for the QBs was 6'1" 215lbs. He goes on to say, this might have changed since and that size is not everything... but still I think it's very important insight about how Ballard sees QBs and kind of fits what we know about him having specific physical measurements for other positions.

Yep, that's one of the worst draft narratives that still persist nowadays. X school doesn't produce good players at Y position, so don't draft that guy. I have no idea why people still fall for this logical fallacy. Scout the player, not the helmet. If there is a specific reason related to the skills or attributes of the player you think will hinder the player from panning out in the NFL, let's hear it. There are legitimate reason for us to think that Bryce Young or CJ Stroud might not succeed. Alabama/Ohio state don't produce QBs is not one of them.

"Not too proud to tank for Stroud"

Zay FLowers is NUTS! Not sure he will succeed in the league because he's very small, but he's ineed a human joystick. Some changes of direction he does seem like you are watching video game. I've heard people say this WR class is not great but there are a ton of WRs and TEs I love for day 2. If Pittman lets us keep our next year's 1st round pick in a move up to 1, I think I would be good with that. We can draft MHJ next year with our 1st round pick... We can also try to hit on a WR on day 2 this year - Hyatt, Jaxon Smith Njigba, Tyler Scott, Josh Downs, Zay Flowers... there probably are more that I will like by the time I'm done watching the top prospects. Washington is a pretty good TE prospect too. I like him. I think he's like ... a more polished version of Woods. Musgrave, Kincaid, Stover... some other TEs that might be worth a look...

It does. Most of those rumors are nonsense right now. They probably haven't even started ranking any of the players. BTW that's not to say that we(or others) haven't called the Bears to test the waters for potential trade. It would be fireable offense if we haven't made any exploratory talks. If for nothing else to at least let them know we might be interested so in case they get an offer they are ready to accept, they would have the incentive to call us up and give us a chance to match/beat the offer.

Fo whatever it's worth... Lance Zierlein is friends with Ballard. By his words "What's crazy is, the guy who is my mentor in scouting(Ballard), who hates small players would move up for the guy who would be the smallest QB in the league in 3 decades"

I like him but I don't love him. There is a distinct lack of talent around him. I don't know what happened with Stanford, they used to have stout OL, a some weapons here and there, one or two NFL-type TEs on a roster... Now there is nothing that's working for McKee. He has NFL frame and size(probably the best in this class). He has one of the strongest arms in this class too. He has good accuracy on short to intermediate routes, but there are some inconsistencies. And he does have arm talent, not just arm strength - he can throw with velocity or touch and he can vary he arm angle when needed. My main problem with him is... he will need to win from the pocket. Very limited mobility. Pretty much non-existant off-schedule playmaking... which means... if he has this bad of OL play and this poor of a supporting cast, things will always look like they did this year - he will strugle and succumb to pressure and sacks simply because he has no counter. He needs either WRs who get open quick or OL that can protect him... I don't think this is a recipe for success in the current NFL. Sure, he may succeed in a perfect situation(example - lets say somehow he ends up on the 49ers and he's given the chance to play...he might have some success), but IMO in today's NFL you cannot rely on having that type of situation - protection, weapons, expert play designer and caller like Shannahan. This is why, even though I like him, in the general scheme of things I might actually be closer to your draft range for him than PFF's(about late 2nd-3d round?).

If Ballard values similar traits with his QBs as he does with pretty much every other position... I expect Will Levis AND Anthony RIchardson both to be much higher on our board than most other teams.

The ONLY way I can see us getting Carr is if we draft a QB who's not ready(lets say Anthony Richardson) AND Carr gets cut(rather than us trading for him) and for some reason he wants to be our bridge QB while we don't show much commitment to him(money or years-wise). But overall I agree... the Colts are not and should not be high on that list.

Stettson Bennett did NOT outplay Stroud and Young. Both Stroud and Young have now had 2 elite seasons in college football and they did it at age 20 and 21(Stroud was actually 19 and 20 for most of those 2 seasons). Age matters. Those are young players that have not yet fully developed their bodies and mind and their games. When Bennett was Young and Stroud's age he was in Jones County community college and then was a back up to Jake Fromm, D'Wan Mathis and JT Daniels, throwing 55% completion season for 8TDs and 6 INT. He has made himself a very good college QB, who has killed it the last 2 season with a great Georgia team, but Stettson Bennett does NOT have the same skillset and ability as Young.

They probably can. This is what happens when everybody knows you are desperate and when your GM straight up says "yes, I would trade up to no. 1 whatever it takes if we like a QB"(not exact quote but... was amounting to something along those lines). And they have even more leverage knowing that we are bidding against a division rival. Getting the no. 1 QB is not just getting him for ourselves - it's taking him away from the Texans.

I've been thinking for a while about the Colts trading for no.1. I think unless the Bears absolutely love one of our vets, it will be extremely hard to trade up to no. 1 without giving up an additional 1st... maybe more. If we are not giving them a 1st then the Texans very likely would give them the equivalent of a second to move up just one spot. And then the Bears will be able to again trade back with us or someone else who wants the second QB in the draft. Or if we don't give them a 1st to drop to 4... then I can absolutely see the Panthers giving them 2 1sts + to get to no. 1. Last time no. 1 was for sale it wasn't the teams right behind the top teams that traded up... it was teams further back in the draft order - in 2016 the Rams gave up #15, #43, #45, #76, future 1st and future 3d to move up to no. 1. This is like ... 6 picks in the top 80 of the draft. Same year the Eagles traded up from 8 to 2 and gave up #8, #77, #100, future 1st and future 2nd. I was dreaming of a possibility that we would be able to trade up without losing our 1st round pick next year, but it just seems extremely unlikely to me. The Bears will get a better offer than 2nd +2 3ds or something of the sort.

That's why I'm intrigued by him. The potential. The high end. The ceiling. There are so many NFL-type things all over his tape... things you see from Allen, Herbert, Hurts, Mahomes, Lamar in there... but at this point those are mostly flashes of brilliance and he needs a ton of work to get to the level of those players on a snap-to-snap basis. That's why I said he's not at the level of Lamar or Cam Newton coming into the league. They were much better and much more consistent passers than him.

I disagree. Nothing in Anthony RIchardson's passing game is polished. He's super raw and inconsistent. You don't throw 53% completion in college if you are good passing QB.