BeanDiasucci

They're down to 5th now. https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/most-wins-by-a-nfl-team-since-2000

The fascination that is Anthony Richardson can be summed up pretty well by listening to Chris Ballard’s most trusted lieutenants. Initially, Ed Dodds was really skeptical. Whereas, Morocco Brown was blown away. The uncertainty with Dodds revolves so much around the unique profile of Richardson, centered around the quarterback’s lack of experience. .” https://1075thefan.com/92965/colts-scouts-take-anthony-richardson/

Alec Pierce - 73 receptions, 1107 yards first two seasons Donte Moncrief - 96 receptions, 1177 yards first two seasons Zach Pascal - 68 receptions, 875 yards first two seasons Why are people always saying Pierce may develop like Reggie Wayne but don't say he may develop like Donte Moncrief or Zach Pascal? 😆

Irsay is ranked seventh among current NFL owners in winning pct. - 247-182-1 (.576) - and the Colts have a 13-15 playoff record during his tenure. Much of his success can be attributed to Peyton Manning. "Irsay’s record is 141-67 (.678) when Peyton Manning starts at quarterback and 106-115-1 (.480) the rest of the time, which is how the league usually works." https://theathletic.com/5115078/2023/12/08/nfl-owners-ranking-32-teams/

Irsay has talked about his issues with painkillers starting after back surgery in 2014. Did he have back surgery again recently? I haven't seen anything about that.

People here are emphasizing that Irsay was seen attending the Steelers game on 12/16. Did he miss the Falcons game on 12/24, the Raiders game on 12/31 and the Texans game on 1/6? I'm hoping for the best, but this situation is very concerning.

Where in the Colts statement does it say the illness began around Jan. 9?

But it seems he was likely ill well before Jan. 9.

I agree that who the GM picks for a head coach and a QB are two of his most important decisions. I don't think Ballard should get a pass on not doing as well as he might have on these two decisions in previous seasons (IMHO) but I am hopeful that in Season 7, we're headed in the right direction. With the NFL's increased emphasis on passing, finding keepers at WR, CB, and DE has become another way to change the fortunes of your team. I'm expecting more at these positions before giving too much kudos and credit, and am hoping Steichen will have a positive impact on how the Colts assess these positions.

OK, so per you in this thread, posters aren't allowed to criticize players or the players may hate them. And posters aren't allowed to criticize Ballard or you will call them Ballard haters. You seem to position yourself as a mature voice of reason here but isn't this whole, "You're a hater. You're a hater" thing a grade C middle school jab?

I hope Ballard finds the guy responsible for hiring Reich and making the Colts previous QB decisions and lets the guy know that Chris is the GM now and has started making the crucial personnel decisions.

Shouldn't this post be moved to the NFL General forum? Brandon Smith is a LB for the Eagles.

That's true among many people in society, but the American justice system has always favored rich white males. That will make Irsay's quote difficult for many to swallow.

It probably won't happen, but particularly as an undersized linebacker who's had serious injuries the last couple of years, I think he'd be smart to retire before he does any more damage to his body or brain (he's been out with concussions 6 times in his Colts career) that he'll have to live with the rest of his life. At age 28, he's already made more than $50 million.

To me, it's so lame when adults use the term hater for those who don't like something or someone as much as they do. I'm not a Ballard lover, but I am a Ballard liker. Yet I'm sure many would call me a hater. He's in a business in which you need to be great - and perhaps very lucky? - to succeed. I think he's been good, but certainly not great. His shortcomings seem like a fairly short and addressable list, so it's frustrating when he appears stubborn about changing. The Josh Downs pick, though, suggested that Steichen will change Ballard in positive directions. I'm hopeful.

There's a study of NFL player injuries that supports the idea of larger players at a given position being somewhat more likely to be injured than smaller players at that postion. The study is discussed in this article: https://www.hogshaven.com/2019/6/22/18658887/understanding-injuries-in-the-nfl-part-3#:~:text=The TL%3BDR,stadium-level factors. Its findings include: Injury history is strongly correlated with future injury risk. Multiple injuries to the same part of the body carry a 10-15% increased risk of missing time due to injury in the following season unless they are upper extremity bone/joint injuries. Even players with an extensive injury history have a roughly 40% chance of playing 16 games. Smaller players are slightly less likely to get injured than larger players, although this effect is not nearly as important as their usage, position group, and injury history in determining injury risk. Overall, player-level factors are far more important in determining injury risk than team/coach-level factors and stadium-level factors.

OK, but if you're the GM and you let other people dictate what starting QB will be acquired, that's a pretty big fail right? When his #1 job function is personnel decisions, how is going along with others making the wrong QB decision any better than making the wrong decision himself?

Harbaugh was fourth in the NFL MVP voting his second year with the Colts. Guess that means big things for Minshew next season. 😀

Ah yes, they were ready to win! Have those division championships and playoff wins under Ballard made it worthwhile to sacrifice the future of the most important position on the field (especially for a small market team, as you point out)? If Ballard fully understood the importance of the quarterback position, picking one ready-to-retire QB, one who makes lousy decisions, and one who was totally washed up seems unforgivable, He should have convinced Irsay to go with a different approach. If they weren't going to go with a young QB franchise-type starter because they were in win-now mode, what prevented Ballard from drafting a franchise QB to develop under the veteran starter? Even if he had to trade up to do so? Doing that would be truly recognizing the importance of the quarterback position to the team's long-term success. I know people will blame Irsay and Frank, but GMs are hired to take the lead in personnel decisions and if our GM was not taking the lead - or not able to take the lead - on the most important player personnel decision, I'm not giving him on pass on that.

When was that? Stroud had an okay game in his first game against Baltimore's tough D and then was pretty great in games 2, 3, and 4. You don't remember the 384 yards against the Colts in Game 2?

I don't mean this to be snarky in asking, but do you hire people? Hiring someone as a leader who turns out to have the personal/leadership deficiencies that McDaniels in a crucial position like NFL head coach is a major fail. IMHO, you really blew it if this happens, especially if a guy did an image makeover like McDaniels and you fell for it. I wonder if getting burned in this situation was why the interviews this time around were so extensive.

Yes, and, although others disagree, I hold Ballard most accountable for not getting it right since Luck. He should have known this was priority #1 and made it happen.

Somebody should have dropped Ballard a note about this a few years ago.

Some teams with smaller markets than the Colts are doing okay, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and lately the Bengals and Jags.

Nah, c'mon. Don't be crazy. Nobody actually thinks the Shew is the guy. What we really need is the return of Chad Kelly or Jacob Eason to lead us to the playoffs.