Boondoggle

If I were a billionaire I wouldn't give two s#!*'s what the peasants think. But I also wouldn't walk around with wounded pride over getting what I deserved when I made a mistake. Guess this is one way of saying I like my billionaires arrogant and above things like the airing of grievances.

Maybe. But I don't see any of that as a big deal. Guys know when things fall out at this level with a staff. By the time they got to that point where the release happened I am sure there were many conversations had between him, the Colts leadership, probably the owner, and his representation. Exploring whether Leonard was surprised over being inactive vs being cut, to me that's splitting hairs. It's the kind of thing the media beats to death for storylines. Steichen is a new head coach. Guy isn't perfect. He's got a team leader grossly underperforming what he is being paid. We can split those hairs with the hows and whys it all went down but in the end the correct decision was made which to me is what is important. It wouldn't be as fun for the media but if they had kept him around the rest of this season I would have been far more critical of the team and their decision making. It surprised me to see them take that tact, and I think if anything it makes me feel more confident in this young head coach.

Strong and decisive move by the Colts. I am surprised. In a good way.

That list is not very good. But I do think they are correct that Ballard is a second tier GM.

Are you accusing me of LARPing.

PFF is the opium of the masses. Those who are not skilled enough to see through the veil of ignorance to the truth beneath, and who are not bold enough to venture forth on their own and share their superior knowledge with the serfs who toil in the darkness.

This team sorely needs a shot in the arm in the trenches. Both sides.

My polyester leisure suit says otherwise.

That's good. Speaking of Ballard I'm not sure I want to see much more of him. He's not terrible but he's not great either. If the goal is finishing middle of the pack he's your huckleberry.

I suspect I could get a completion with his mother.

After this season there are three more with $20M cap hits. Criminally stupid contract to pay an ILB like they did. Boy's gonna have his feet up for a long time to come.

How was that a good job. More appropriate would be "do better next time kid."

Gotta give Stroud credit for playing well but QB isn't a one year deal. It's a long grind and I don't know that he's going to hold up well in that regard. That was my concern with him. He's excellent with simplified reads and has elite arm talent but how will he develop year to year and does he have that drive. Slowik might get a HC gig as well. Teams aggressively poach good OCs and he's doing a fine job. So for me I'll tip the cap to Houston for selecting a QB with appropriate talent for the draft spot, and for setting the kid QB up for success year one. But there's a long way to go for him.

My opinion doesn't need to be factual. He's softer than a tootsie roll fruit cup. And he will inevitably end up where he is best served, which is as an OC under a head coach who isn't soft.

Frank is too nice to be the guy running the show. He's an OC and I think one of the better ones, because he has a strong tendency to balance his attack.

I find your logic irritating. Forcing me in fact to consider that perhaps my dislike of the DC is driving my opinion on this topic.

For me it's about teams being able to correctly project the ceilings of the players. Young is going to be a game manager. He's a great kid, extremely likeable, diligent, etc., etc. But you can get a game manager ceiling at other-than the first overall pick. Load up his tape at Bama and he ran the offense well but he wasn't the guy who makes you say "wow." That was Gibbs. Now maybe in five years he's a stable QB who they build a good offense around. Thing is they'll always have limitations around that QB position with him in it and those limitations will show themselves at the biggest moments when the most is at stake. Stroud has a ceiling commensurate with a high pick. So does Levis and Richardson. As to who among them, if any, end up reaching their ceiling... That will come down to elements like being willing to do the work, being available, and the quality of the roster around them. There are drafts where none of the QBs live up to their ceilings. In fact you can look at first round picks over time and assign percentages of hits/misses, and if you were to crunch all that for guys who live up to their ceilings as high end QB picks it's probably a very low chance to end up with that player. Basically even if you hit on a guy who can start and win you some games that's not what you're really after. You're after the guy who is a grand slam. The guy who completely rewrites your fortune in big games for the next twenty. Colts may miss on Richardson due to availability or his ability to improve mechanics etc. But I respect that they took a shot on a player who might have that highest quality. I'm just praying they got it right.

This reminds me of the suit that sold me my first car. And that should not be viewed as a compliment.

Bradley isn't a great leader, that's how I know. He's not the guy who has the gravitas to tell a player of Shaq's quality and complexity that he needs to do better. He's the kind of guy who will make excuses and protect his players and that doesn't jive well with a former elite player who got paid and put his feet up.

Bobby Knight was my spirit animal. RIP big fella.

That's all a bit too idealistic for me. Hope he can learn to win from the pocket and improve his accuracy and decision making because he's a hell of a talent. But we'll see how he looks next year after another camp.

I've done things that are embarrassing. Like getting too drunk at my sister's wedding and dirty dancing with her new husband's mother. But that post was not one of them.

Colts need to get a DC in here who will put his foot in Shaq's posterior and get him to produce. Making excuses for him is not going to get it done. He'll just coast along until he feels like he needs to prove himself for the next payday and we'll see a brief resurgence, probably when he has to prove himself with another roster.

So do I. And that's the problem here. That he was clearly a guy who would need to run to move the chains year one. He's a high end development project so personally I am very unhappy with the Colts for putting him out there early on and risking his future. They should have started the season with him on the bench and made him earn his way by mastering the offense while he works on mechanics and accuracy.

I'm afraid what made him a different player was putting his feet up after he got paid. He was always a strange dude, I didn't see that coming but paying certain personality types can be hazardous to their production.