DavePSL

I don't really have an opinion on the pick but what stings is that we continue in this vicious cycle of having to spend high picks on positions that we just spent high picks on and we don't back fill with free agency...We just spent a 1st and 2nd on DE's and because we will let them walk, we have to spend another 1st round pick on one. Ballard is killing us when he keeps missing on these picks and it makes it very hard to upgrade other areas without free agency. The same thing happened at CB, TE, safety and wr to some degree. Ballard has used a lot of high(1-3round) picks on those positions and we still need help in all of them. His drafting is killing our ability to build a talented roster especially without free agency.

Its not as simple as Ballard just being gone. He will leave a mess behind that we will have to clean up (3 years) and we better hope he doesn't ruin AR's progression in the process and waste the prime of JT because that's where this is heading. Expecting the Colts to compete with teams that are more talented and not winning is going to hurt the head coach too. Get ready to hear another "we were young" excuse after next season. The excuses people make for Ballard after 8 years of mediocrity is amazing. I'm convinced Ballard could trade AR for a 6th round pick and people would be on here justifying it and how Ballard knows more than us. Remember, Ballard has proven nothing before getting this job, NOTHING!!!! People act like he had a track record like Polian so we should give him the benefit of the doubt. The Colts have pretty much become irrelevant in the NFL now and that's sad considering how hard it was for them to become relevant again through the Manning and Luck years.

Listen, I get it fans want to defend our guy in Ballard but how many years are we going to keep making excuses and listen to Ballard talk about his mistakes after the fact? 7 years of this nonsense is enough, especially when now it will reflect on our coach, who I consider to be a very good coach and our potential stud of a QB. Make no mistake about it, Ballard's mistakes don't hurt us fans other than our emotions, it hurts the players and sets them up to fail and it may become a culture where players view the franchise as a team that's not serious about winning and that is a reputation no franchise wants. My point, this is way more than Ballard pissing off fans, its wrecking the franchise and setting up players to fail. You're a free agent, would you want to play for this franchise? Did Luck see something 5 years ago and we are now just realizing it? We can all stick our head in the sand AGAIN, but I'm telling you right now, no way do we compete in our own division with the talent we currently have...NO WAY!!! Ballard will move on and get another job like Grigson did and leave this franchise a mess and that's why fans should be *. No other fan base would sit by idle and continue to back this nonsense for 7 years unless they just don't care.

And for some reason Ballard will get a pass while the coach and AR will be the ones who feel the heat and are expected to win games against teams with more talent. I'm convinced now that Ballard knows how to identify the teams' short comings but has no idea how to acquire players to fix those short comings. He's too worried about the Lockeroom and what other players may think instead of understanding that our players will welcome players in that can help them win. This was a critical offseason for the entire franchise and Ballard sat idle and watched the rest of the division get better. Again, we will go into the season expecting our help to come from the draft and he just doesn't draft well enough for that to happen. After 7 years people, there is a pattern here that clearly doesn't work in today's NFL and if he didn't get aggressive this offseason, he never will. I'm done with the "my fault " crap after every season because he knows he won't be held accountable. I will always support the Colts but Ballard has to go.

These broad statements that free agency doesn't work is nonsense. It is very similar to the draft in that it's who you decide to bring on the team not whether it helps teams get better . Free agency can be very good if you go get the right players and that's Ballard's job to figure that out . Also, remember the reason why we are dependent on free agency is because Ballard keeps missing on draft picks........ Ex...safety is a huge need because he's missed on drafting safeties.

Ballard better be working on a lot more than just Pittman. We will have huge holes to fill if he doesn't sign Grove, Moore and Blackmon. If we can Tag Pittman, I would be more concerned with those guys, especially since teams now have more money than what was expected.

While I agree he will have his struggles because he's young, the 2nd half against the Rams was the best QBing we have had since Luck. I wasn't the only one who was impressed......................... Rams coach, Sean Mcvay after the game. “A freaking stud. Anthony Richardson, that guy is a problem " I think the most impressive thing to me is that he has tremendous pocket presence that will serve him well and is a trait that you have to have to be a great QB. It Doesn't make him a great QB, but you have to have it to be great.

I don't think it's a fluke that the 2 best TE's in the NFL are in the SB and you could easily argue that the 4 best were in the championship games. TE's are a huge part of today's game. No way SF or KC is in the SB without their TE's....BTW, I don't think there is any chance Bowers will be there at 15 because everybody knows they are now "Premium" positions. With our rushing attack and people playing base against AR and JT, a TE could have a huge season in our offense because of mismatches.

When Pittman was out, Peirce was targeted 7 times and he had 3 for 30. He has a long way to go to improve his route running and ability to separate. We have to bring legit competition for the wr's or AR will have a hell of a time trying to improve our passing game. If coaches thought he could impact the game by running shorter routes, Steichen would have him doing just that. QB's throw to guys they trust and who they feel are open and it's always been that way. Minshew has definitely missed AP on some open routes but it's probably because he just doesn't trust him enough to look his way and also because Minshew is limited. BTW, trust happens in the film room just as much as it happens on game day. Also, they have to be open in a certain amount of time usually under 3 seconds. Watch AP and see if he's open under 3 seconds...I would say rarely............... AP gets open on off schedule plays and that's where AR may help him.

Another issue is, the Texans and Titans have more cap space than us. Ballard has to be special here and aggressive. I say we get AR as many weapons as possible because his growth is the most important next step for the franchise. We don't want him out there with less talent trying to win games by himself (Andrew Luck). Thats trouble and could set he and his confidence back and that would be a disaster. I'm tired of listening to Ballard talk up average WR's and loaded TE rooms.

I think we'll find out soon. I think the deadline is in March? If they don't, might be some insight into FA or the draft.

Great post and good perspective on comparisons. Safe to say we probably don't pick up Payes 5th year option.

I didn't cherry pick anything. I said "PREMEIR" positions and RB, LBer and OG are not considered premier positions. QB, LT, WR, Edge, CB are considered premier positions. I also have said many times, Ballard is great at picking OL, RB and Lbers. So if Pittman starts, who gets benched? 2 games against Texans this year Pittman 13 catches 100 yards Collins 16 catches 341 YARDS!!!!!!!! Of course Pittman can start for their wr3 Woods but I damn sure aint benching Collins for Pittman. I find it funny that Pittman gets a pass on his numbers because of Qb play and then people will turn right around and talk about how Collins hasn't produced before this year. Think about what's wrong with that logic?

I never said Pittman was a WR3....I said he would not start over Collins and probably not Tank...Somebody Give me a reason why you would bench Collins or Tank to play Pittman? Doesn't mean Pittman is a WR3, doesn't even mean he's not a WR1. What it does mean is we need more talent with Pittman and more weapons for AR. Would you start Pittman over Chase and Higgins? AJ and Adams? Aiyuk and Deebo? Hill or Waddle? I'm not under valuing Pittman, it's some Colts fans over valuing Pittman and thinking he along with Downs and Pierce are all great weapons for AR to compete with other top AFC teams . What's so wrong with admitting Tunsil is better than Raimann right now ? BTW, I said our OL is solid! Or that Collins is better than Pittman? It's not based on my opinion. It's based on PRODUCTION and stats (facts) There is nothing wrong with giving my honest evaluation of Colts players against other team's players. Doesn't mean I hate any Colts players ............Jesus, I love my wife, but I'll be honest, she's not as pretty as Jessica Alba

AR will only be able to do so much, and we can't expect him to turn average players into players that win us a SB or even a division. We all saw the difference when Tua, Hurts, Allen, Lamar, Goff got better weapons and we watched Mahomes struggle more when he didn't have those same weapons. BTW, i asked what players could start over the team(Texans) we have to beat moving forward? Raimann over Tunsil? NO I like our CBs and they will improve but as of now, they're not starting over Stingley and Nelson Pittman is not starting over Collins and probably not over Tank. So, are we ok saying that Pittman can start over their WR3 and he's supposed to be AR's WR1? I hope not and that's why I keep saying we have to be better at acquiring talent and get AR better weapons NOW because if we don't, we failed AR bigtime. We have the OL and RB and that's huge so were not that far away, but Ballard has to take the next step, which to this point, he hasn't, probably because of his old school mentality (run the ball and stop the run). I think with Steichen, he will. Remember, the Texans, Jags, Titans will add talent and get better too.