GoColts8818

Again exactly. Fans can not like it all they want but they still don’t get a vote in how Irsay runs the team. If fans think they have had it rough with Jim Irsay talk to some long term fans that remember his father or go ask a Washington fan, or Bengals or Lions fan (until very recent history) what bad ownership looks like.

Exactly, like I said before the Texans know for a fact Stroud is their guy, so of course they are going all in after last year. The Colts saw Richardson for part of four games and while what they saw was very encouraging players look good all the time for small stretches until other teams figure out their weaknesses and how to attack them. We are kidding ourselves if we don’t think teams are going to figure out a way to attack Richardson as they get more tape on him. That’s where the rubber will meet the road and tell us if Richardson is truly a franchise QB or not. True franchise guys respond to that by making adjustments to get better. That’s what the Texans got to see last year with Stroud that the Colts haven’t seen with Richardson yet. That’s also without addressing the elephant in the room that is Richardson’s health. He has to prove he can stay healthy and on the field or nothing else is going to matter.

That’s where I am at. While I wish he had done a few other things this off-season I can normally see the logic behind his decisions once you think about it rather you agree with the logic or not. Further more it doesn’t really matter what I think about the job he’s done because I don’t get a say on if he keeps his job. That all depends on Irsay who I don’t think is going to fire Ballard this off-season unless the Colts do something like going 0-17 with Richardson starting all 17 games and I don’t think that’s going to happen. Also, since Irsay owns the team there is no firing him so even if fans don’t like the decisions he’s making fans are going to have to live with it if they want to be Colts fans. So as a Colts fan who wants to see the Colts do well above all else all I can do is hope what Ballard is doing works. Not that people are cheering for the Colts to fail so they will fire Ballard but that’s really the only other option and I don’t see the logic in that. As for people being critical of Ballard that’s perfectly fine, I just said I don’t agree with everything he’s done this season. However, there is a difference in being critical of what he does and going after people who dare to suggest Ballard is anything short of the worst GM in the history of football and everything he does is wrong just because Ballard did it and aren’t willing to see a middle ground at all. I’ve said many times and will say again Ballard is far from perfect but he’s also far from the worst GM in the history of the Colts, let alone the NFL. IMO hes been above average but he’s also had a challenge at the QB spot most GMs never face because most GMs don’t have their franchise QB retire in his prime. Since then if you look at what they’ve done at the QB spot it’s easy to see why Irsay isn’t putting it all on Ballard and gave him another chance with Richardson. Brissett - there was nothing Ballard could do about that one due to Luck’s retirement. Rivers - worked Wentz - Irsay clearly held Reich responsible for that move and not Ballard rather fans agree or not Ryan - plain miss but again I think Irsay went that should have worked but just didn’t that happens sometimes again rather fans agree or not. Richardson - Is tied to Ballard. If Richardson works Ballard keeps his job. If he fails Ballard is going to be gone.

This is a big reason why. The Texans know Stroud is their present and future. The Colts saw Richardson for part of four games last year where he finished one. The Colts still need to find out if he’s the guy or not before they go all in like this. That’s why I never expected it to happen this off-season. Yes I know Richardson looked good when he was in there last year and that is reason to be encouraged but we see people look good all the time in small stretches in the NFL and then other teams figure out how to attack your weaknesses. That’s when you find out if a player is special or not based on how they respond to that. That’s also not including the legit question of can Richardson stay healthy.

I think in a perfect world Blackmon is the SS with Cross as the third safety and the FS is still TBD.

Yeah pretty clear what happen Blackmon realized there was no market for what he wanted and he went back to the Colts who needed a starting safety badly and both sides agreed to do a prove it deal for one year. Win win for both sides. Gives the Colts help and gives Blackmon the best chance to perform with a team and system he already knows. I wasn’t crazy about keeping Blackmon because I figured any deal would be long term and I didn’t like that because of his injury history and the fact I don’t like giving big contracts to guys who have a major career year in a contract year. However, it’s very hard to argue with this move given how the contract shock out.

In theory you can get a player better than both at any pick. However the odds are not high as both are really good to start with and goes down the later in the draft you wait.

I don’t think that’s the plan. He’ll be a special teamer/back up like Odum was when he was here.

They were removed. People were using them to troll.

Special team players have value. Also, Thomas does have a lot of experience starting and looked good his rookie year and is very cheap. That’s an ideal backup. There is probably room for a vet safety to still be added but the roster math is starting to become an issue. That body will have to come from somewhere and I don’t think it’s going to come from any of the four safeties they already have is all.

Scott is going to get at least a year. They haven’t even seen him yet. Thomas while not great at safety last year is very good at special teams.

We’ll see. They now have four safeties on the roster that probably aren’t getting released plus Denbow so they might be out of bodies at the safety spot. I wouldn’t mind bringing in another vet though, I am just not betting on it.

We’ll see what they do. Blackmon has played FS in the past although I agree he was much better at SS last year. Again, I can’t explain exactly everything Ballard is doing here because I don’t understand it all myself.

Blackmon is going into year five. He is your vet safety. Also the Colts are don’t really have roster spots for all those bodies. At safety they now have Blackmon, Cross, Davis, and Thomas. Not to mention Denbow who is no lock to make a roster but is the perfect practice squad level player who can be called up due to injury. They aren’t going to cut Cross or Davis. Thomas helps with special teams and is depth so he’s probably not going anywhere. That’s all four safety spots. At corner they now how Brents, Jones, Flowers, and Moore who are locks for the final roster. They will also probably keep Lammons as the nickel depth spot. They also have Speed and Baker who again are very replaceable but they are here. So at most they probably have one spot at corner to replace Speed or Baker. More than likely that guy is coming in the draft but you can’t completely rule out free agency but I wouldn’t bet on it. I get it fans don’t like the strategy of bringing back the same guys who were the secondary last year and maybe adding a rookie corner and that’s it. I’ll admit I am not a huge fan of it but it’s pretty clear what the Colts are counting on. Ballard is banking on all those young guys taking a step forward this year. IMO that’s a huge roll of the dice but it’s what he’s doing rather I like it or not.

Confirmed by Chap. Wasn’t a fan of re-signing Blackmon all off-season because of his injury history and I don’t trust players that have significant career years in contract years but it’s a one year deal and the Colts needed a vet safety. So Blackmon gets a chance to prove he’s worth the contract he wants and the Colts get a vet safety. We’ll see how it goes.

Alright I didn’t think that would happen but welcome back Blackmon.

I believe your friends were having some April fools fun.

IMO the best corner the Colts have had since they came to Indy. Very sad.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2024/04/01/will-fries-rodney-thomas-ii-among-leaders-in-performance-based-pay/73170551007/?fbclid=IwAR3zjmdmape0bHJXGCcEOyn9Eyy7mG34xqbUuinIFn6-eG_Kp7fqPq-g0mQ_aem_AeY-f_SaqpZbASgD6n8pU_kr8EWcNMVKvByTVfnrAdRpolF3Ei3zzSzHQIv_Gt3CRsA#luhge3bn37y7ac55wk8 i loled at the Thomas part because I just didn’t see it with him last year.

I think you posted a legit source. TV stations don’t post stories like that as an April fools joke.

@OLD FAN MANso since you just left your passive aggressive laughing face that tells me you aren’t interested in real conversation and I shall treat you as since that’s what you are doing.

Just like with RG3 over Luck.

Hail, Hail to old Purdue! Edey vs the NC state kid is going to be fun to watch in the final four!

NERD!!! Just kidding I appreciate what you do tracking all the cap numbers.

I get all the nerves people had after everything with Luck but it’s looking this surgery and rehab is going exactly as planned if not a little better. Great to hear and hopefully he keeps building on what we saw last year and stays healthy.