colts89

Seems like a great time to invest in adding veteran DBs to our young room.

Good for him. The court of public opinion had him guilty the second the news hit the interwebs, but that isn't anything new.

I'm no college football fanatic, but this is absolutely the first time I've ever heard anyone call MHJ a diva. Most say he has an absolute hardcore work ethic and doesn't speak much at all, similar to his dad. Am I missing something?

I wasn't explicitly mentioning your comment, or only what I've read on this forum. Way too many Colts fans are okay passing on him because of his position and getting a CB instead. I personally think that's silly. If he somehow ends at 15, that's a no brainer. I'd personally trade up to get him or Nabers this year, but that's just my opinion that I doubt Ballard shares lol. Getting AR acquainted with a young weapon earlier on in his career is a good move imo, even if it takes additional capital. Plenty have called him the GOAT College TE. If he's not the greatest, he's top 3 at worst.https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-why-brock-bowers-is-the-greatest-tight-end-in-college-football-history I really do suggest watching all his career snaps. Besides the accolades/stats given in the above link, it's a pretty easy eye test to figure out he's special IMHO.

I'm not sure how people can think Bowers wouldn't be worth it at pick 15 if he's somehow there (he won't be). It's honestly wild to me. Too many people playing GM in there heads and wanting to pass on Bowers because he's a TE? Really?? He's the best TE in CFB history easily. He dominated the SEC since his true freshman year. He's the definition of a blue chip game changer with his YAC ability, being able to catch any ball thrown his radius, and just knowing where to attack a defense despite most of the D game planning for him specifically. He's also a solid and willing blocker as well. This isn't an opinion just based on a 2 minute highlight reel. You can watch every snap of his from his freshman year to his last year and Georgia and realize he's on a different level then pretty much everyone else on the field. He's a blue chip player and he'd be an absolutely excellent weapon for AR who loves to target TEs anyways.

I would rather use the assets required to trade for Diggs to trade up for Nabers, Bowers, or MHJ (he'd required more than a first and fourth ofc) in the draft if we were going to give up picks at all for a receiving talent. A decent amount of blue chip receivers are available this year if Ballard thinks this is the year to finally make a move like that (he won't, which would hurt if those guys ball out in the league as they are expected to)

He has a close family who knows his history and could easily keep a close eye on him, along with an ungodly amount of money to obtain the best rehab around along with being able to hire people to protect him from his own vices. Dude can barely walk and is appears that he's still abusing hardcore drugs as almost a 70 year old because he wants to larp like a rock star. It's a lot easier for him to stop then almost every human alive. I used to defend him as an owner, but he has to give up those responsibilities to his daughter if he's been making any decisions under the influence.

We don't know the full details, but this makes me think a lot less of Irsay's immediate circle/family if he is abusing again. At this point in his life, with all the medical/drug issues he's had, and the stupid amount of money he has, he shouldn't be in scenarios where he can be abusing drugs again. If he is openly using, they're all simply yes men and that's pretty pathetic. Now, an overdose doesn't mean he necessarily was abusing tons of drugs, but at this point in his life, and with the amount of laced stuff out there, it doesn't take a lot.

It'd take , at minimum, 3 first rounders worth of value to trade up to the #5 spot it would take to get MHJ if he somehow drops that low imo. I would love to see him on this roster, but I can't see how Ballard could ever justify that given how much he loves his draft picks. It'd have to come from an Irsay override, which isn't an unrealistic thing to think could happen given MH's history here and how much Irsay loves that era (for good reason obviously) I do think something more realistic is if the Colts trade into #8-#12 spots for one of Nabers, Bowers, or Odunze. A lot of potentially elite playmakers in this year's draft that might fall into the 8-12 range due to the QB need that a lot of team and this subsequently being a very deep draft at that spot. If anyone hasn't seen highlights of Bowers from his 3 years in college, it's a fun watch. He was essentially the best TE in college from his true rookie season. I can't see how a player like him couldn't make Anthony Richardson's life a lot easier given how he likes to target TE's a ton.

I would do that in a heartbeat as well. But it's gonna cost way more than that.

Lol, no. The most far-fetched thing I could imagine happening is Irsay overriding Ballard and trading a % ton of capital in order to get MHJ.

Yeah. The hit vs the Titans he could of slid and still have gained 3-4 yards on 1st down. It's still a positive play. The hit vs the Texans he could of slid and we'd still be at 1st and goal around the 5 yard line. He has to try and avoid the hits where the defensive player has a full head of momentum because they're essentially looking to hurt him with a clean hit. I hope his off-season is full of studying Lamar Jackson tape from this year.

You need at least 2 solid receiving threats on an NFL offense to get very far. Pittman definitely proved he can be one of those two options on any team. Elite, no, but very good, productive, and consistent for sure. Another WR should be drafted early either this year or next, but unless you're very convinced that Pierce can replace his production then it'd be silly to not retain Pittman with at least the franchise tag going into next year.

I don't know where these ideas pertaining to AR come from. It's like some Colts fans want him to fail. No, the QB you picked at #4 is not going to be moved to TE. In the 2.5 games he played, he certainly didn't look like a TE. He looked like a promising rookie QB with a laser rocket arm who scored 7 total TDs in an offense centered around his talents. His pro completion percentage was 59.5%, which is in line, and better than some, of his fellow rookie class. That's impressive considering AR was coming into the league as the QB with the least starting experience and the lowest college completion percentage (53.8) ever for a drafted player. Most people thought his pro completion percentage was going to be even worse, but it looks like they were wrong about that. I'd bet he makes more people wrong next year.

This seems like prime trade down area for Ballard tbh with you. I'd bet on it even. I hope we would select Bowers if he's somehow available in our spot (doubtful, but possible due to QB/OL/WR needs in the top 10). That's a blue chip player, position be damned. Given Ogletree might be released due to his legal issues, and Mo is a FA (I think), TE might be more of a position of need then some think. He has all the potential of becoming an elite receiving/YAC option for AR while also being a solid blocker. There are also interesting CB (Kool aid and DeJean) and WR (Odunze, Nabers) prospects that might be available at our spot as well. Picking a WR in RD1 really depends on how Steichen views Pierce going forward. If he thinks he has a shot of dramatically improving his production with AR next year, then I kind of doubt we go WR early on. If he thinks he has no shot in his offense, and they really like a guy then they might go ahead and draft his replacement/competition. DE seems like a waste of the #15 pick. We have a very solid DL group. They were far and away the best part of our defense this year. Unless you are sure to get a blue chip DE pass rusher, then I'd rather bet on Payed/Dayo to continue developing next year and Ebukam to hold the fort. Paye and Dayo both almost had 10 sacks this year and and have been very good edge defenders. Other positional groups need a lot more help. CB is an obvious need on this roster as well, but Ballard might simply 'like his guys' that he picked last year, despite their lack of production. If we trade down, I can easily see Ballard going for one of the top LBs in the draft as well in the early 2nd/late 1st. We are weak enough in a bunch of positions to make BPA a real thing this year.

I mean all FA players should be wanting to know their worth on the market. That isn't anything crazy. I doubt he goes anywhere this year. At worst, he gets tagged.

He's an average starter. He is decent at run stopping, but below average at pass coverage. Some games he makes clutch tackles and other games he has bad misses. He's overrated if people think of him as someone on Prime Leonard's level. That being said, I would love to see the Colts upgrade and bring more talent into the LB group considering Leonard's gone and they lost Okereke last year. I wouldn't hate having Franklin as part of the rotation next year at the right price.

I think the only real asset we have to trade up in the first would be Buckner. I hope we don't do that. I'd rather trade future picks then him.

No he hasn't. Simply look up his stats. People were saying he would average in the 40s in his completion percentage for the season, but besides the Rams game, he had a 60%+ completion percentage in every other game he was in this year.

Bradleys unit in 2022 was ranked 11th in pass defense and 11th in rush defense if I recall correctly. There was a pretty big downgrade this year, but that primarily had to do with losing DB and LB talent IMO. If Ballard makes moves in those spots, then I would be okay with Bradley returning next year. However, another year with the defensive stats we just put up should force their hands.

The final play should be equally blamed on all 3 parties.Poor throw, poor hands and a strange play call that relys on a QB whose having a poor game and a 3rd string RB catching a ball for your whole season when you've put up 180+ yds on the ground this game when you only needed 1 yard. But tbh, it's never all on the final play. The passing game being absolutely horrible is the primary reason why we lost.

Remember all, he was out CB1 going into the season. No clue how they let that happen.

I don't even want to recall the Browns game. I've blocked it out of my memory. So, that one.

I think that Ballard is a very solid drafter. But I also think he's pretty bad at everything else a GM does. Free agency decisions being the worst of it. This DB group was bad enough that Darrell Baker was somehow our CB1 to start the season. You can't tell me that they couldn't find some veteran better than Baker Jr in the offseason. I refuse to believe it lol. The skill position's groups on offense are also pretty bad and Ballard hasn't helped add any parts there via FA either. Downs looks to be good, but we don't have any special recieving threats on the roster. Ballard's time as a Colts is directly tied to how well AR turns out to be. If Ballard doesn't equip the team with enough parts to let him shine, he's outta here.

I hope you're right next year, but It'd be silly if Steichen simply hopes that is the case. Having a one trick pony at that spot who can't seem to provide any other utility in the passing game is something very risky to bet on going forward. We'll see.