shasta519

Well it is his staff now. I think he gave them a year to evaluate and now he is giving his input, starting with some positional coaching changes. Bradley gets one more year. Then next year, full scale changes if it's not where they want to be.

They could still be most of those things. It's true that they had 51 sacks, but it's also true that many of them came in a set of games and their pressure/hurry/knockdown rates were low overall. It could be true that PFF likes them for some reason. I mean they gave Dayo 12 sacks on the season. But not only do they apparently count metrics differently than PFR, they are also grading based on their own criteria. Regarding ESPN, this one is tougher. ESPN has them in the top 5 for pass rush win rate, but only one ER is even in the top 20 for ERs (and that's Ebukam back at #18). Paye and Dayo aren't even in the top 20. And then you have DeFo at #5 for IDL. PHI has the #7 and #14 ERs and the #7 IDL....yet are behind IND somehow. If we buy that IND was top 5 in pass rush win rate, then we have to buy that the OL was also #26 in pass block win rate and that CHI was top 5 in pass block win rate or that TEN was #12 in pass block win rate. Now, just about anybody who follows the NFL wouldn't buy that. And PFF will tell you that the Colts are a top 5 OL and that CHI?TEN are bottom 5. But again, the same games that lifted the season sack total could have done the same for PFF's grading by creating bias. So all of those could be true. It's the ESPN stats that don't make much sense. And if the Colts are firing their DL coach, I have to think they don't buy the ESPN stats either.

Yep. Unless Ollie parlayed last year into a promotion, it would seem like the FO and coaching staff agreed to an extent. And if it was that the Colts fired him, watch out for the whiplash from how fast the narrative turns into "well the pass rush wasn't really that good." After so many of Colts Twitter have said it was really good.

Dodds said "What are we doing? Like 13 games?" He did say he came around on AR, but of course he is going to say that.

AR came out of that with a shoulder that needed to be repaired because he had already torn his AC joint in HS, right? I wouldn't call him injury-prone, but injuries are still a concern. AR doesn't have a huge sample of games played in his lifetime and has had some injuries. And his game is based on physicality. The hope regarding his shoulder is that it repaired it for good and there won't be any additional issues. But that's only part of the concern IMO.

For real. So much drafting on potential and upside. And Ballard is constantly praised for it, as if these guys are sure things. Let’s draft a raw ER in R2 and he develops into an actual NFL player. (Banogu) Let’s draft a slow CB who lacks agility and hope he can be our lockdown CB1. (RYS) Let’s draft a raw DL player in with a torn Achilles in R2 and hope that he recovers and turns into the R1 player only we think he is. (Dayo) Let’s draft an older, but still raw TE who has one year of receiving in college in R3 and hope he learns how to run routes and catch and be our TE1. (Woods) To Ballard’s credit, the “let’s draft this older OT with only two years experience in college and hope he becomes our LT” has worked out. But there are far more that haven’t. That’s why I always contend that Ballard’s drafting post-2018 is way overrated. At the end of the day, how much of all of that “potential” has been realized into winning football games?

Evans was a top 10 draft pick who entered the league at 21 and legit broke out at 22. They are not alike at all. I actually think there is a decent chance that Evans is better the next 3 years as well.

I can't really see why Evans would want to play here, given other options that could be available. Re-signing MPJ is the path of least resistance and the one this team will take.

I misread that...that's my bad. "You have a clear agenda" says the Ballard white knight who probably posts 100x more than me and always shows up on every thread that is critical of Ballard. Talk about pot meet kettle. And it's very easy for me to have a conversation. I have my opinions and I support them. It's just difficult for you and your ilk because you don't like hearing those opinions (often times facts) and prefer to stick to excuses.

Much better? Where is the evidence that he has been much better beyond feelings? It's certainly not in the results. His predecessor won more playoffs games in half the time. The guy before that is a HOFer.

So boring that you replied haha. If he wasn't the current WR coach, he isn't even talking about Alec Pierce. But he ALSO happens to be a Colts legend, which matters to people. If the DB coach was talking about how great Nick Cross or Rodney Thomas are, or making comps to great Ss after two seasons, likely few are listening...and many are making side eyes. Nico was not widely considered a bust. He was a R3 pick and he made a big jump in his second year...he just dealt with injuries and only played 441 snaps. If he was healthy, he would have likely put up 800+ yards. And that was with Davis Mills at QB. AP has yet to take a step forward like that. Comparing him to Nico is a huge stretch. I recall many Colts fans saying AP was a better WR than Nico before this year too...because this fanbase has a lot of homers.

After I do my research and get my betting slips in, I will let you know. I am a Lamar fan, so would like to see him hush some people about how he can't get it done in the playoffs. And losing to HOU would just add more ammunition. But I do think it would be fun to see Stroud and Love keep winning and somehow end up in the SB. Both guys in their first seasons starting taking two teams that nobody really expected to do anything to the SB would certainly be interesting.

Because Ballard drafted him. But a lot of this is because Reggie is a big fan and I think there's a good amount of cognitive dissonance in questioning a Colts legend.

Aiyuk is a stud. He's just been buried on a team with another stud WR and stud TE. But I doubt they could even get SF to give up him for #15.

The X Man.

They didn't win a game he finished. Perhaps they end up winning the other two where he got hurt. But still, that's just 2-2. AR could stay healthy and they win 6-8 games. The schedule adjustment is probably worth a win or two on its own, assuming those teams are still good. I would bet their Vegas O/U wins will be 7.5. So I don't think 7-8 wins is really that pessimistic before we have more in-season information. But anything below that and I think Ballard's seat gets very warm. Not to mention Irsay's health situation. That could become a huge variable if his daughter/s take over the team.

Hmm...why isn't just picking a player at #15 an option.

Wait...that's what you thought I meant?!? LOL. To be fair, you did fire first. I was merely responding in kind. But I actually rarely attack anybody on this site.

You play out this dialogue with sock puppets? You probably even use your Ballard sock puppet for other purposes too, but I am not one to judge. Ballard and Reich were aligned too…as are every GM and HC. Because the goal (beyond printing money for owners) is to win playoff games and get to a SB. Ballard has not proven capable of doing that as a GM. Every bit of criticism about his lack of success is fair. But he’s held to some weird double standard…where a 4-12-1 record doesn’t get him fired…and a 9-8 record gets him celebrated. It came down to having to just win 2/3 games to make the playoffs, and a Ballard team couldn’t get it done…again. Same as 2021. Different QB, different HC…same results. I have no clue what Ballard has done to earn such devotion from you and others, who seem compelled to white knight for him.

I don’t really know the circumstances of his firing…it was just an example of ousting a successful GM with an internal transition plan. But it did seem like Ballard liked him.

I think he’s something like 40-42-1 since Luck retired. One playoff appearance. No wins. IND is among 13 teams who haven’t won a playoff game in that time. Colts are always “trending in the right direction.” That’s what mediocre teams do…but never get to the next level. Steichen is awesome…so why continue to let Ballard limit the ceiling of this team.

Pretty sure we just saw the greatest overall QB play in a playoff weekend….ever. Defense seemed optional at times

It’s not unprecedented. KC fired John Dorsey and promoted Brett Veach to GM. But it wouldn’t be Dodds…it would have to be Brown since they want to build around AR…and AR is his guy. Dodds was the one who was hesitant.

Of course they are going to be compared. They were taken two spots apart in the same draft to two teams in the same division. The only people who think Stroud hasn't proven to be better thus far are Colts fans. But it defies logic and what we have seen. If the players were reversed, and the Colts were about to play next weekend with Stroud, you wouldn't be saying what you said. But nothing is written in stone. AR will have time to prove he is better...if he is.

True, but Gay missed one FG when AR was playing. He missed 7 with Minshew. I think they both have could use that as a reason. Hopefully, Gay is much better next year.