Chris Ballard message to Colts fans

[Superman]

9 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Grigson did have a weekly interview show. Just saying.

 

He only started it in 2016, I believe.

 

I hope Ballard keeps it going.

[TKnight24]

5 hours ago, Smonroe said:

"Players that fans can be proud of"  = No Mixon.

I'm probably in the minority, but I have no problem with what Mixon did. Hope he gets a shot in the NFL cause the guy can play

[Smonroe]

9 minutes ago, TKnight24 said:

I'm probably in the minority, but I have no problem with what Mixon did. Hope he gets a shot in the NFL cause the guy can play

 

There's no excuse or forgetting what he did, but we also have remember the circumstances.   They're well documented.  

 

My understanding: Young kid, a day over 18, gets slapped in the face and called a racial slur.  I'm not too sure too many kids could just walk away from that.  

 

All that being said, I personally believe every young kid deserves a second chance.  And I'd love to have his talent on our team. He may be the best all around RB in the draft.  

 

But I think he'll never be a Colt.  

[CR91]

Meh could have smiled a little 

[TKnight24]

24 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

 

There's no excuse or forgetting what he did, but we also have remember the circumstances.   They're well documented.  

 

My understanding: Young kid, a day over 18, gets slapped in the face and called a racial slur.  I'm not too sure too many kids could just walk away from that.  

 

All that being said, I personally believe every young kid deserves a second chance.  And I'd love to have his talent on our team. He may be the best all around RB in the draft.  

 

But I think he'll never be a Colt.  

Not even about being a young kid, for every action there's a reaction. People need to understand that. Grown or Teenager or Kid 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

5 hours ago, stitches said:

What would be a media appearance that would blow you away? I honestly can't imagine what that would look like for me.

Well if the media appearnce was by a young attractive woman, a 'wardrobe malfunction ' might get my attention.

[JColts72]

Chris, u have cash to spend. U don't have to keep shopping at the thrift store.

 

[Defjamz26]

5 hours ago, Superman said:

 

One appearance wouldn't do it. I'm talking about his overall media strategy, which hasn't been anything different than anyone else. He did his introductory stuff when he got hired, then the Combine pressers, and that's it. 

 

Basically, there's this sentiment that everything Ballard does is the opposite of everything Grigson did, and it's really not. There's not enough book on Ballard to contrast him with Grigson, in basically any way.

I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think it's that although they said the same things early on, Ballard shows signs of DOING what he says. Also, Ballard is staying away from ridiculous claims. Grigson came in day 1 and talked about building the monster and how we weren't re-building but re-tooling. Ballard has basically just said that he's working to improve the team, which is a good way to start. You come in and start making claims and it comes back to bite you like it did Grigson.

[Jules]

He has my vote.

 

Just kidding.

 

I really like him though.......I do. 

[Jules]

8 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher said:

 

I'd be proud if we can win our Division and some playoff games.

 

Playoff wins?

 

If we just won the division and beat the crap again in our division I will lead the parade. We lost to Houston last year twice and the Jags nearly swept us as well.

[AZColt11]

WAY to early for me to even begin to judge Ballard, but so far, I like what he's doing.  Of course, by this time in Grigson's tenure, I felt good about it as well.

[braveheartcolt]

I think most of the Ballard whoopie-do is more a reaction to Grigsons departure than anything significant he has done himself, so far.

 

Perhaps that is fair.

[Superman]

3 hours ago, Defjamz26 said:

I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think it's that although they said the same things early on, Ballard shows signs of DOING what he says. Also, Ballard is staying away from ridiculous claims. Grigson came in day 1 and talked about building the monster and how we weren't re-building but re-tooling. Ballard has basically just said that he's working to improve the team, which is a good way to start. You come in and start making claims and it comes back to bite you like it did Grigson.

 

Build the Monster was a Pagano thing, not a Grigson thing. And it was something he promoted to the players, not a declaration that they were going to win championships right out of the gate.

 

Grigson didn't make any ridiculous claims. He said they wanted to compete for championships, just like Ballard has, and the tone was set by Irsay, just like it is now. He got rid of overpaid veterans who weren't producing, making it clear that they were looking to build from the ground up.

 

It's like braveheart just said, Ballard is not Grigson, so everything he does is charming, just the opposite of the man everyone wanted fired. But not only is it premature and shortsighted to try to crown him, it's revisionist to act like Grigson did things differently than Ballard is doing right now. He hasn't even had the time to establish any kind of media engagement that differs from Grigson's, and he hasn't done anything spectacular with regard to personnel.

 

Again, I'm not complaining about Ballard, one bit. But there's nothing special about what he's done so far.

[AKB]

10 hours ago, braveheartcolt said:

After an underwhelming bout of free agency, we get this little ditty. I'm not buying any of it yet. But I do remain hopeful.

I don't think I've observed a singular positive post from you since I've began frequenting the forum. 

 

However, I do happen to agree with what you are saying. I think most here are really just happy it isn't Grigson making the decisions anymore. 

 

I think one thing he is doing is grabbing players that fit our scheme. Whereas Grigson would more so provide talent for a scheme he was envisioning. Which cost him his job of course. 

 

[braveheartcolt]

31 minutes ago, AustinnKaine said:

I don't think I've observed a singular positive post from you since I've began frequenting the forum. 

 

However, I do happen to agree with what you are saying. I think most here are really just happy it isn't Grigson making the decisions anymore. 

 

I think one thing he is doing is grabbing players that fit our scheme. Whereas Grigson would more so provide talent for a scheme he was envisioning. Which cost him his job of course. 

 

You are quite wrong about my posts. I did not like the vitriol aimed at Grigson, nor the ridiculous fanfare for an unknown GM, but I have faith in my team and express it when the time is right. Your opinion is fine though, I am not easily offended.

[theanarchist]

13 hours ago, shastamasta said:

"I know we are rebuilding...but please still buy tickets."

 

Just kidding...sort of.

 

Its pretty clear from what Ballard is doing in FA he did not like the roster and rightly so. Grigson ran the roster into the ground the last 3 years and now Ballard has to try to duct tape it back together without breaking the bank and I think he's doing a good job so far.

[coltsfeva]

3 hours ago, theanarchist said:

Its pretty clear from what Ballard is doing in FA he did not like the roster and rightly so. Grigson ran the roster into the ground the last 3 years and now Ballard has to try to duct tape it back together without breaking the bank and I think he's doing a good job so far.

Double post 

[coltsfeva]

Just now, coltsfeva said:

I'd like to draw an analogy: Ballard just bought a house that needs renovating. He looks at the foundation and state of the roof, mechanics etc. and starts to replace/improve them. Demo day looks like a mess and it's difficult to see the end result being any better. But certain things have to be done first, before all of the new cabinets, lighting, paint, furniture etc. make it look like a new home. He hasn't added any "finishes" yet, but there is the draft. So maybe, just maybe, the end result of this renovation is something that will last for years. And that's something we could all be proud of.

 

[Defjamz26]

5 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Build the Monster was a Pagano thing, not a Grigson thing. And it was something he promoted to the players, not a declaration that they were going to win championships right out of the gate.

 

Grigson didn't make any ridiculous claims. He said they wanted to compete for championships, just like Ballard has, and the tone was set by Irsay, just like it is now. He got rid of overpaid veterans who weren't producing, making it clear that they were looking to build from the ground up.

 

It's like braveheart just said, Ballard is not Grigson, so everything he does is charming, just the opposite of the man everyone wanted fired. But not only is it premature and shortsighted to try to crown him, it's revisionist to act like Grigson did things differently than Ballard is doing right now. He hasn't even had the time to establish any kind of media engagement that differs from Grigson's, and he hasn't done anything spectacular with regard to personnel.

 

Again, I'm not complaining about Ballard, one bit. But there's nothing special about what he's done so far.

But he is. Again, no guys over 30 and no one has a crazy deal. They're all short 2 year (except for Sheard at 3) contracts for small money. No one got overpayed.

 

Nothing Ballard has done is special but it's because it's part of his strategy. And initially it appears as though it's a better strategy than what Grigson did.

[Restored]

The real difference between Ballard and Grigson will be seen in the draft. A large portion of Grigson's players flamed out. Time will tell if Ballard's players will actually be different in this regard.

[Chucklez]

25 minutes ago, Restored said:

The real difference between Ballard and Grigson will be seen in the draft. A large portion of Grigson's players flamed out. Time will tell if Ballard's players will actually be different in this regard.

One thing that gives me a degree of hope is that any player I have seen Ballard directly linked to from the Chiefs and Bears panned out pretty darn well. I just hope that is primarily down to him and his scouting abilities. We'll find out soon enough...

[Valpo2004]

18 hours ago, shastamasta said:

 

Grigs was/is a huge turd...so he probably did himself a favor. Pagano has already reached folk hero status for his ability to spout off cliches and speak for minutes without actually saying anything. Sometimes being behind the scenes is not necessarily a bad thing.

But I do agree that Ballard is a breath of fresh air compared to those two guys. 

 

To be fair a lot of coaches are good at that.  It's called coach speak for a reason.  

[Restored]

40 minutes ago, Chucklez said:

One thing that gives me a degree of hope is that any player I have seen Ballard directly linked to from the Chiefs and Bears panned out pretty darn well. I just hope that is primarily down to him and his scouting abilities. We'll find out soon enough...

 

Yeah and I honestly don't recall this much universal praise for Grigson like I've seen with Ballard when he first started here. Hopefully there's some truth to it.

[crazycolt1]

13 minutes ago, Restored said:

 

Yeah and I honestly don't recall this much universal praise for Grigson like I've seen with Ballard when he first started here. Hopefully there's some truth to it.

Grigson had a lot of praise his 2nd year.  GM of the year is as about as much praise that can be given.

[PeterBowman]

there's really no way to tell if Ballard's plan will pay off until the players take the field. Though I do see what he's doing now and I like the idea of making the players work for it.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:

But he is. Again, no guys over 30 and no one has a crazy deal. They're all short 2 year (except for Sheard at 3) contracts for small money. No one got overpayed.

 

Nothing Ballard has done is special but it's because it's part of his strategy. And initially it appears as though it's a better strategy than what Grigson did.

 

So the Strategy is to be mediocre?

[2006Coltsbestever]

I have to give him 3 years before I can determine anything but that is just me.

[Restored]

50 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Grigson had a lot of praise his 2nd year.  GM of the year is as about as much praise that can be given.

 

Notice how I said when he first started?

[Defjamz26]

48 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher said:

 

So the Strategy is to be mediocre?

No the strategy is to build through the draft and spend wisely. You can't fix everything in one draft and some of the guys drafted might not be ready SRI be significant contributors early. But you have a bunch of holes. Instead of going out and blowing huge money on FAs that might not even pan out on new teams, you sign veteran guys under 30 to force competition while you draft, and the guys you draft get better. These moves are just to help fill out the roster while we draft our future starters.

[2006Coltsbestever]

Grigson won GM of the year but a lot of that was because of Andrew and Andrew not being a bust going 11-5. He did nail it on TY as well and that helped his cause bigtime.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

4 hours ago, Restored said:

The real difference between Ballard and Grigson will be seen in the draft. A large portion of Grigson's players flamed out. Time will tell if Ballard's players will actually be different in this regard.

 

I think even with the FA signings the defense has gotten much younger and faster, and will be vastly improved next season. Not top 5 or anything like that, but it definitely will be better than last year's cellar dweller D, and whatever pieces he adds in the draft will only improve it even further. I'm really excited to see how he handles the draft.

[RollerColt]

2 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Grigson won GM of the year but a lot of that was because of Andrew and Andrew not being a bust going 11-5. He did nail it on TY as well and that helped his cause bigtime.

He also found a gem in Davis. There were some bright spots to his thinking. It's just the diamond in the rough routine more often flamed out. 

 

What I see for the moment is a GM who is trying to put a lot of depth into a team that has historically (like the Chargers) seen too many crucial injuries. We desperately need quality backup players in key positions to help carry the team through those long stretches late in the season. 

[Restored]

1 hour ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

I think even with the FA signings the defense has gotten much younger and faster, and will be vastly improved next season. Not top 5 or anything like that, but it definitely will be better than last year's cellar dweller D, and whatever pieces he adds in the draft will only improve it even further. I'm really excited to see how he handles the draft.

Agreed. The only way to go is up once you've hit the bottom.

[jameszeigler834]

Well lets just have a good draft and I will say it has been a pretty good offseason.

[Superman]

7 hours ago, Defjamz26 said:

But he is. Again, no guys over 30 and no one has a crazy deal. They're all short 2 year (except for Sheard at 3) contracts for small money. No one got overpayed.

 

Nothing Ballard has done is special but it's because it's part of his strategy. And initially it appears as though it's a better strategy than what Grigson did.

 

Please help me understand how Ballard's strategy so far has been any different than what Grigson did in 2012 and 2013.

 

Grigson wasn't signing over 30 guys, except Redding and Aubrayo (and Redding was a very good signing). 

 

Despite all the hand wringing, Grigson wasn't overpaying players, he didn't drop fat contracts on anyone, and there was minimal guaranteed money for all of them. The loudest complaints came on Walden's deal, and he wound up being the best of the 2013 signings. Cherilus couldn't stay healthy, but $6.9m/year isn't outrageous (and never was). Sheard's deal is a higher yearly average than anything Grigson ever gave any FA before 2015.

 

It's the exact same strategy.

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, Restored said:

Agreed. The only way to go is up once you've hit the bottom.

Rock bottom? Really? I can list quite a few other teams that finished worse than 8-8

[gacker65]

To me, Ballard sounds like the boy Oliver from Oliver Twist, saying Sir, may I please have more.  Oliver was asking for more food, while Ballard is asking for more time.

 

Ballard knows he has backed himself in a corner concerning the draft.  The other 31 teams know that Ballard needs Defense.  Balllard has to draft a 1st round Defensive, impact, day 1 starter.  He also knows he has to hit on 2 other Defensive, day 1 starters.

 

 

[Defjamz26]

6 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Please help me understand how Ballard's strategy so far has been any different than what Grigson did in 2012 and 2013.

 

Grigson wasn't signing over 30 guys, except Redding and Aubrayo (and Redding was a very good signing). 

 

Despite all the hand wringing, Grigson wasn't overpaying players, he didn't drop fat contracts on anyone, and there was minimal guaranteed money for all of them. The loudest complaints came on Walden's deal, and he wound up being the best of the 2013 signings. Cherilus couldn't stay healthy, but $6.9m/year isn't outrageous (and never was). Sheard's deal is a higher yearly average than anything Grigson ever gave any FA before 2015.

 

It's the exact same strategy.

At one point Cherilus was the highest paid RT in the league. Let's not forget that if we're bringing him up. And although not everyone saw all of that money, he gave out some ridiculous contracts.

 

Laron Landry?

Andre Johnson?

RJF?

Greg Toler?

 

Like I said not all of them saw all of that money but are you really gonna say he didn't hand out some ridiculous contracts? And there's the difference in strategy right there. In terms of skill the players Ballard has signed aren't significantly better or worse than those listed. But he's signing them for CHEAPER. I won't say Hunt is superior to RJF but his contract is cheaper. 

[Superman]

1 hour ago, Defjamz26 said:

At one point Cherilus was the highest paid RT in the league. Let's not forget that if we're bringing him up. And although not everyone saw all of that money, he gave out some ridiculous contracts.

 

Laron Landry?

Andre Johnson?

RJF?

Greg Toler?

 

Like I said not all of them saw all of that money but are you really gonna say he didn't hand out some ridiculous contracts? And there's the difference in strategy right there. In terms of skill the players Ballard has signed aren't significantly better or worse than those listed. But he's signing them for CHEAPER. I won't say Hunt is superior to RJF but his contract is cheaper. 

 

Cherilus was the highest paid RT in the history of the league, actually. But so what? Nice soundbite, but completely irrelevant. He got $6.9m/year, Andre Smith got $6m/year, Vollmer got $6.75m/year. There was nothing ridiculous or outrageous about his contract.

 

Landry and RJF pretty much going rate for second tier starters at their positions. Toler got less than $5m/year as a starting CB. Nothing outrageous about any of those contracts. The problem with all of them is that they failed to live up to their contracts -- which could easily happen with everyone the Colts have signed this year.

 

Andre Johnson was in Year 4. Different strategy, not pertinent to this conversaton. And it was reported that he had offers for $2-3m/year more than what the Colts gave him.

 

Grigson signed Walden for $4m/year. Ballard signed Simon to play the same position for $4.5m/year. Not cheaper. Schwenke got $3m, Donald Thomas got $3.5m. Sheard got more than any free agent Grigson ever signed. 

 

For the most part, Ballard is signing second and mostly third tier guys who aren't intended to do anything more than fill gaps in the short term. Of course he's not giving them huge contracts. Hunt is a cast off, RJF was a courted FA (and RJF was better in 2012 than Hunt was in 2016). 

 

Ballard's free agency strategy is basically the same as Grigson's was in the first couple years. If his signings work out better, then his execution will have been superior.

 

I will say this -- Ballard is setting himself up for potential comp picks in two years. If some of his one year players play well and get nice deals from other teams in 2018, then the Colts potentially get comped in 2019. This is why I would have been okay with a one year rental of Poe, at the right price. I don't know if that's part of the plan, but it wouldn't surprise me. If it works out that way, I'll give Ballard major credit. 

[GoColtsWin]

20 hours ago, braveheartcolt said:

You are quite wrong about my posts. I did not like the vitriol aimed at Grigson, nor the ridiculous fanfare for an unknown GM, but I have faith in my team and express it when the time is right. Your opinion is fine though, I am not easily offended.

Well said. Folks here get along with each other pretty well, and there will be differences in opinions. At the end of the day, we who post here are a Colts family after all.