Complete Rebuild

[crazycolt1]

43 minutes ago, MacDee1975 said:

 

Take off "whole new coaching staff" and 2/3 of the teams do everything else you listed every year.  The title of the thread is "Complete Rebuild", so Luck has absolutely everything to do with it.

Luck is one player out of a 53 player roster. Luck does nothing without the team mates to help him. If you think by nit picking the words you use it changes nothing.

This team is rebuilding no matter what you want to call it.

[MacDee1975]

1 hour ago, crazycolt1 said:

Luck is one player out of a 53 player roster. Luck does nothing without the team mates to help him. If you think by nit picking the words you use it changes nothing.

This team is rebuilding no matter what you want to call it.

 

I commented on the term "complete rebuild" and "full rebuild" being used, and nothing more.  That is not what is happening right now.  If it was complete rebuild we'd be drafting a qb with pick #3, not trading it for pick #6.  If it was a full rebuild, we would not have many of the same starters projected this coming season, as have been in place the past 1-2 seasons.  Luck, Hilton, Geathers, Simon, Castonzo, Sheard, Doyle.....would not be on the team right now if this was a complete rebuild.

 

 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

 

On 3/20/2018 at 2:47 PM, theanarchist said:

It's obviously clear now that this is a complete rebuild. Coach on down. Ballard makes the trade out of the #3 spot to acquire more picks and lets a couple of solid free agents in Melvin and Moncrief walk and cuts our best defensive linemen. In turn he is in the midst of signing more free agents who failed to shine at their first stops: Ebron, Grant, Autry. (1) All three are very ordinary players and none of those three really offer any hope of what could be an impact type career here with the Colts. 

 

Ballard's first draft was, in my opinion, nothing to write home about. (2) Although its hard to judge a  draft after one year it seems to me that his first draft class, which was DB heavy, seems to be very average. It's great to build through the draft, definitely have to grow your own. (3) We need playmakers guys. We need a Dallas Clark, we need a Robert Mathis, we need a Bob Sanders, we need an Edgerrin James. We need a Dwight Freeney, we need a lunch pail type Gary Brackett middle linebacker. We need a true anchor on the line like Tarek Glenn was. We need a Jeff Saturday. We cant get those all at once obviously but we need a couple of those kinds of players this year or its going to be a 2-14 season and if Luck does come back healthy it wont last if we don't. Right now this team lacks so much it's difficult for me to imagine how long its going to take for this team to ever really compete again. I know that in the NFL you can turn around a team in a year. But that isn't going to happen with this team. Its going to take much longer than that.

 

(4) Right now we have 1 healthy playmaker on this team and that player is TY Hilton. Andrew Luck is still a huge question mark and the offensive line that we currently have will get him killed if they don't invest in it heavily. (5) Hooker could eventually be a playmaking centerfielder but is no Bob Sanders, a defensive field general. (6) We literally have no pass rushing threats on this team. You can argue Sheard but in the end he's a solid player that doesn't make another offense game plan for him line (7) they had to for Freeney and Mathis. (8)We don't even have an every down Running back on this team right now. We have a 3rd down back and a short yardage specialist.

 

I hate to be negative but I forsee a long a haul and I sure hope that Ballard is able to put together a better draft than he did his first go aroungd.

 

 

 

 

Responding in order to the points I bolded:

 

1) Ebron was a 10th overall draft pick.  He has a ton of talent, but has had some issues with drops.  If we utilize him right and he cleans up some of his fundamentals, he is far from ordinary........ Grant and Autry have shown improvement in their short time in the NFL, Autry recording 5 sacks last year on a Raiders D where it would've been tough for some of our regular players from last year even see the field (he was 0.5 sacks shy of our leader, Jabaal Sheard).... regardless, Ballard has said since day 1 that most of his FA signings will be focused on filling temporary gaps, so if that's all they do that is fine... however, way too early to say 'none of those three really offer any hope of what could be an impact type career here with the Colts.'  We haven't even seen them in a Colts' uniform yet.

 

2) As @Smonroe pointed out, all but 1 of our draft picks made the roster and all of them contributed at some point in the season.  Prior to injury, Hooker was widely considered as one of the top D rookies of the year across the NFL (I think NFL.com had him ranked as the top-rated rookie before he got hurt).  Wilson was drafted to play the scheme we're going to be utilizing this year moreso than what we expected last year.  Our DBs were pretty awful going into last season and from last year's draft we have at least 3 very promising DBs moving forward (Hooker, Wilson, Hairston).    Mack showed some very promising glimpses as a rookie RB.  Basham and Stewart definitely made progress as the year went on, and nobody was expecting them to come in and compete for DROY coming from pretty small programs.  I don't think Walker will be much more than a STer for us, but that's fine from a guy as late as he was drafted.  Guys like Bond, Moore II, and Sanchez all played fairly well for UDFA (I hated Moore II at first, but he seemed to grow as the season progressed).   I think it was pretty clear Ballard was drafting with a future scheme change in mind, but regardless it was a pretty solid draft.

 

3) Look at what Ballard had on this team when he took over.... you're talking about future HOFers in Edge, Freeney, maybe Mathis and Saturday, and former NFL DPOY in Sanders.  We actually have a C who is probably every bit as talented as Saturday in Kelly (if he can just stay healthy) and several players with potential to do pretty darn good compared to your hopes.  For example, Dallas Clark had 1 year with 100 receptions, 1 year with 77 receptions and no other years with more than 58 receptions.  In the past 2 seasons Doyle has had 59 receptions and 80 receptions -- oh and Ebron probably has more raw talent than both of them if he can just get some fundamentals down.  Hooker was well on his way to becoming defensive rookie of year before injury (hopefully injury doesn't cut his career short like Sanders).  Gary Brackett was good for us, but never much more than above average -- I think we can do better than him.

 

4) TY is a playmaker.  Mack is a playmaker and showed that with 5 games where he had runs of 20 yards or greater.  Luck is a playmaker if healthy (and all signs point to the staff fully believing that).  Hooker is a playmaker.  Other guys have potential (especially if we increase the talent around them through the draft).

 

5) Bob Sanders was a great Colt, but never once in his career did he play all 16 regular season games.  In fact, he only had 2 seasons in his career with over 10 games played.  He had a monster year the year he won defensive player of the year, but let's not give him too much credit.  Hooker showed to be much more of a ball-hawking S in his rookie year than Sanders ever was... and Hooker was drafted to be a ball-hawking S, not a 'hit stick' like Bob.  Let's just hope Hooker can keep himself healthy, and if so, he'll likely have a very good career.

 

6) Basham was developing nicely toward the end of the year.  Autry with only 3 games as a starter (on a very strong OAK front 7) had 5 sacks last year.  Sheard and Simon have potential.  We literally had no pass rush threats on this team when Ballard took over, he has improved that and many are projecting us to take Chubb at DE with our first pick, which would most likely address our pass rush needs.

 

7)  Freeney and Mathis are arguably the best pass-rush duo of all-time (I'd say for the longevity, they were... though some others were probably more effective for a small handful of seasons).  Mathis had 3.5 sacks as a rookie on a team where he had a future HOFer taking vast majority of attention.  Basham had 2 sacks as a rookie with nobody drawing Freeney-like attention.... having a pass-rush would be great, but expecting us to have 2 HOFers (I actually think Freeney gets in and Mathis finalizes many times but his doping kills his chance) one year after Ballard inherited a dumpster fire is ridiculous.  And let's not forget, we're changing scheme and D coordinator, so we really have no idea how some of our players will be utilized in a new system.  Additionally, with a healthy Luck, hopefully our O can put more points on the board and give our D more opportunities to focus on getting after the other QB.

 

8)  Not many teams in the NFL have true every down backs anymore.  I expect we are not done addressing this position, but with an improved OL, I don't think we're in terrible shape with Mack, Turbin, Michael, Matt Jones, and Ferguson all competing in training camp.

 

_____________

Everyone knew this was a rebuild. Grigson left us in pretty bad shape in many positions.  Ballard has done a pretty good job, IMO, so far of dealing with what he was left.  And let's not forget, we were ahead in many games we lost last year.. with a healthy Luck and perhaps better coaching, we're going to be in almost every game this year.  This team still needs help, but it's not too far away and I like the way Ballard is doing things... he seems to actually have a very solid plan and he's sticking to it.

[OLD FAN MAN]

On 3/20/2018 at 4:47 PM, theanarchist said:

It's obviously clear now that this is a complete rebuild. Coach on down. Ballard makes the trade out of the #3 spot to acquire more picks and lets a couple of solid free agents in Melvin and Moncrief walk and cuts our best defensive linemen. In turn he is in the midst of signing more free agents who failed to shine at their first stops: Ebron, Grant, Autry. All three are very ordinary players and none of those three really offer any hope of what could be an impact type career here with the Colts. 

 

Ballard's first draft was, in my opinion, nothing to write home about. Although its hard to judge a  draft after one year it seems to me that his first draft class, which was DB heavy, seems to be very average. It's great to build through the draft, definitely have to grow your own. We need playmakers guys. We need a Dallas Clark, we need a Robert Mathis, we need a Bob Sanders, we need an Edgerrin James. We need a Dwight Freeney, we need a lunch pail type Gary Brackett middle linebacker. We need a true anchor on the line like Tarek Glenn was. We need a Jeff Saturday. We cant get those all at once obviously but we need a couple of those kinds of players this year or its going to be a 2-14 season and if Luck does come back healthy it wont last if we don't. Right now this team lacks so much it's difficult for me to imagine how long its going to take for this team to ever really compete again. I know that in the NFL you can turn around a team in a year. But that isn't going to happen with this team. Its going to take much longer than that.

 

Right now we have 1 healthy playmaker on this team and that player is TY Hilton. Andrew Luck is still a huge question mark and the offensive line that we currently have will get him killed if they don't invest in it heavily. Hooker could eventually be a playmaking centerfielder but is no Bob Sanders, a defensive field general. We literally have no pass rushing threats on this team. You can argue Sheard but in the end he's a solid player that doesn't make another offense game plan for him line they had to for Freeney and Mathis. We don't even have an every down Running back on this team right now. We have a 3rd down back and a short yardage specialist.

 

I hate to be negative but I forsee a long a haul and I sure hope that Ballard is able to put together a better draft than he did his first go aroungd.

 

 

i concur good post

[IinD]

Unfortunately our former GM screwed us so we've really got no other options.. 

 

I hate it as well. I'm holding onto the hope that if Ballard can hit on a good number of picks,  we'll be rebuilt sooner rather then later. 

[mahagga73]

On 3/20/2018 at 3:49 PM, TdungyW/12 said:

I don’t believe it’s a full rebuild .... we have a few key pieces in place .... some coming back from injury and some just added. With this draft and a few more FA pick ups we will be fine. We are building long term ..... and won’t need to blow up like JAX, TEN and HOUS in like 2-3 years.

Lol, it's as full a rebuild as you can get.  

[mahagga73]

On 3/20/2018 at 3:47 PM, theanarchist said:

It's obviously clear now that this is a complete rebuild. Coach on down. Ballard makes the trade out of the #3 spot to acquire more picks and lets a couple of solid free agents in Melvin and Moncrief walk and cuts our best defensive linemen. In turn he is in the midst of signing more free agents who failed to shine at their first stops: Ebron, Grant, Autry. All three are very ordinary players and none of those three really offer any hope of what could be an impact type career here with the Colts. 

 

Ballard's first draft was, in my opinion, nothing to write home about. Although its hard to judge a  draft after one year it seems to me that his first draft class, which was DB heavy, seems to be very average. It's great to build through the draft, definitely have to grow your own. We need playmakers guys. We need a Dallas Clark, we need a Robert Mathis, we need a Bob Sanders, we need an Edgerrin James. We need a Dwight Freeney, we need a lunch pail type Gary Brackett middle linebacker. We need a true anchor on the line like Tarek Glenn was. We need a Jeff Saturday. We cant get those all at once obviously but we need a couple of those kinds of players this year or its going to be a 2-14 season and if Luck does come back healthy it wont last if we don't. Right now this team lacks so much it's difficult for me to imagine how long its going to take for this team to ever really compete again. I know that in the NFL you can turn around a team in a year. But that isn't going to happen with this team. Its going to take much longer than that.

 

Right now we have 1 healthy playmaker on this team and that player is TY Hilton. Andrew Luck is still a huge question mark and the offensive line that we currently have will get him killed if they don't invest in it heavily. Hooker could eventually be a playmaking centerfielder but is no Bob Sanders, a defensive field general. We literally have no pass rushing threats on this team. You can argue Sheard but in the end he's a solid player that doesn't make another offense game plan for him line they had to for Freeney and Mathis. We don't even have an every down Running back on this team right now. We have a 3rd down back and a short yardage specialist.

 

I hate to be negative but I forsee a long a haul and I sure hope that Ballard is able to put together a better draft than he did his first go aroungd.

 

 

I agree with all that, except too early to judge draft .  I brought up the Luck thing and lack of offensive line moves on another post and was called a negative Nancy. Right now it's early, Ballard can do no wrong . The mood may change when they are 2-8, knowing the fickle nature of Colts fan.  It is a total rebuild, anybody thinking otherwise is deluding themselves.  They let the few guys who actually performed last year go, and they stunk last year . I know the reasons for it , a scheme change . Again,  rebuild . They have no playmakers , one or two. That and a bunch of rookie equals more high draft picks . The ST holders are going to be watching more bad football.  Again, I'm not criticizing the rebuild , just calling it what it is. They are not going to come out and say it for obvious reasons.  Way too early to judge Ballard . I get why they arent taking on big contracts right now. But they better do something about that line if they want Luck to survive the rebuild. 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

12 minutes ago, IinD said:

Unfortunately our former GM screwed us so we've really got no other options.. 

 

I hate it as well. I'm holding onto the hope that if Ballard can hit on a good number of picks,  we'll be rebuilt sooner rather then later. 

 

If healthy, we are not that far off.

 

Safety -- Hooker and Geathers are a very formidable tandem if healthy.  If one is hurt, Farley is a very solid back-up and seems to be able to play either FS or SS (whereas Hooker is really a true FS and Geathers a true SS).  I have not lost all hope on TJ Green yet, but having another player for depth/competition at S couldn't hurt.  Still, a position of strength for us, if healthy.

 

CB -- I think Wilson will do very well in this new system.  Hairston played very well for us last year in the slot.  Desir, when healthy, was playing very well.  If all 3 are healthy, I think Wilson and Desir on the outside and Hairston in the slot is a pretty formidable CB group.  We need some depth here, for sure though.

 

OLB -- Simon (IMO) was our best defensive player prior to injury last year.  Sheard is also fairly good here (though he may move to DE in a 4-3).  Basham was coming on fairly well late in the year (though, he may also move to DE).  We definitely need to address depth here.

 

ILB -- We need to address this position.  Morrison is too slow.  Not sold on Walker or George as much more than rotational guys and STers (though, I won't be shocked if Walker changed that).  As of now, this is the weakest link on D, IMO.

 

DL -- We are pretty strong here.  Kinda stunned by the Hankins release, but if healthy I think we'll be OK with Anderson, Woods, Ridgeway, Stewart, Hunt, Autry, and perhaps Basham/Sheard at DE.  Obviously, another body or 2 would be helpful, but we aren't terrible here (IMO).  If we add Chubb in the draft, this position should be a strong point on the team.

 

OL -- Castonzo is solid at LT.  Kelly is very good at C (if healthy).  Mewhort is a solid OG (if healthy).  Verdict is still out on Haeg, Clark, and Good.  If 2 of the 3 of them improve, our OL isn't that bad (if healthy).  I like Bond and Slauson for depth and versatility.  I think we need to add a couple players in the draft... if we add Q. Nelson in the first or a guy like McGinchy in the 2nd (and we stay healthy), this should be a much improved unit.

 

TE -- Doyle was a probowler last year.  Ebron is a former 10th overall pick with some upside.  Those 2 should be a strong 1-2 TE combo.  Swoope Daniels, Alie-Cox are all good depth guys... this is a position of strength, IMO.

 

WR -- TY is a very solid NFL WR.  Chester Rodgers has shown improvement.  Ryan Grant should be good for 40+ catches.  We need to add at least 1 or 2 more guys here, but with TY leading the group it isn't terrible.  

 

RB -- If healthy, I think the combination of Mack, Turbin, Michael and Matt Jones is pretty deep.  It'd be nice to have a 'bellcow', but I don't think we're terribly hurting here if healthy.

 

QB -- If healthy, Luck is a top 10 QB and Brissett is a very strong back-up.  

 

K -- Vinny is the GOAT

 

P -- Sanchez did very well as a rookie.

 

LS - Luke Rhodes did very well last year.

 

___________________________________________________________

 

With 4 picks in the first 2 rounds, we should be able to add a playmaker at ILB, OL, and one of the following: RB, WR, OLB, DL (or perhaps multiple OL).  

[mahagga73]

35 minutes ago, IinD said:

Unfortunately our former GM screwed us so we've really got no other options.. 

 

I hate it as well. I'm holding onto the hope that if Ballard can hit on a good number of picks,  we'll be rebuilt sooner rather then later. 

Exactly. One should not be expecting much this year.  I'm pretty sure we are going to be picked last,  and for good reason.  If they win 7 game I would call that an early success. 

[IinD]

@ColtsFanMikeC

Agreed with everything. Pretty accurate breakdown. 

 

If he can hit a couple HR's in a couple spots, we can be 'pesky' competitors if you know what i mean.

[mahagga73]

2 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

Luck is one player out of a 53 player roster. Luck does nothing without the team mates to help him. If you think by nit picking the words you use it changes nothing.

This team is rebuilding no matter what you want to call it.

 

5 minutes ago, ColtsFanMikeC said:

 

If healthy, we are not that far off.

 

Safety -- Hooker and Geathers are a very formidable tandem if healthy.  If one is hurt, Farley is a very solid back-up and seems to be able to play either FS or SS (whereas Hooker is really a true FS and Geathers a true SS).  I have not lost all hope on TJ Green yet, but having another player for depth/competition at S couldn't hurt.  Still, a position of strength for us, if healthy.

 

CB -- I think Wilson will do very well in this new system.  Hairston played very well for us last year in the slot.  Desir, when healthy, was playing very well.  If all 3 are healthy, I think Wilson and Desir on the outside and Hairston in the slot is a pretty formidable CB group.  We need some depth here, for sure though.

 

OLB -- Simon (IMO) was our best defensive player prior to injury last year.  Sheard is also fairly good here (though he may move to DE in a 4-3).  Basham was coming on fairly well late in the year (though, he may also move to DE).  We definitely need to address depth here.

 

ILB -- We need to address this position.  Morrison is too slow.  Not sold on Walker or George as much more than rotational guys and STers (though, I won't be shocked if Walker changed that).  As of now, this is the weakest link on D, IMO.

 

DL -- We are pretty strong here.  Kinda stunned by the Hankins release, but if healthy I think we'll be OK with Anderson, Woods, Ridgeway, Stewart, Hunt, Autry, and perhaps Basham/Sheard at DE.  Obviously, another body or 2 would be helpful, but we aren't terrible here (IMO).  If we add Chubb in the draft, this position should be a strong point on the team.

 

OL -- Castonzo is solid at LT.  Kelly is very good at C (if healthy).  Mewhort is a solid OG (if healthy).  Verdict is still out on Haeg, Clark, and Good.  If 2 of the 3 of them improve, our OL isn't that bad (if healthy).  I like Bond and Slauson for depth and versatility.  I think we need to add a couple players in the draft... if we add Q. Nelson in the first or a guy like McGinchy in the 2nd (and we stay healthy), this should be a much improved unit.

 

TE -- Doyle was a probowler last year.  Ebron is a former 10th overall pick with some upside.  Those 2 should be a strong 1-2 TE combo.  Swoope Daniels, Alie-Cox are all good depth guys... this is a position of strength, IMO.

 

WR -- TY is a very solid NFL WR.  Chester Rodgers has shown improvement.  Ryan Grant should be good for 40+ catches.  We need to add at least 1 or 2 more guys here, but with TY leading the group it isn't terrible.  

 

RB -- If healthy, I think the combination of Mack, Turbin, Michael and Matt Jones is pretty deep.  It'd be nice to have a 'bellcow', but I don't think we're terribly hurting here if healthy.

 

QB -- If healthy, Luck is a top 10 QB and Brissett is a very strong back-up.  

 

K -- Vinny is the GOAT

 

P -- Sanchez did very well as a rookie.

 

LS - Luke Rhodes did very well last year.

 

___________________________________________________________

 

With 4 picks in the first 2 rounds, we should be able to add a playmaker at ILB, OL, and one of the following: RB, WR, OLB, DL (or perhaps multiple OL).  

That's the thing.  This team never stays healthy.  And has little depth. 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

Just now, IinD said:

@ColtsFanMikeC

Agreed with everything. Pretty accurate breakdown. 

 

If he can hit a couple HR's in a couple spots, we can be 'pesky' competitors if you know what i mean.

 

He's going to need to hit a couple nice picks, but we really need to stay healthy.

 

IMO, we have an All-Pro guy at QB (if healthy) and multiple other young guys that are pro-bowl caliber (if healthy) in Hooker, Geathers (I think these two can be a top 4 S tandem, ifffff healthy), Kelly, H. Anderson.  Then we have pro-bowl caliber guys in TY and Doyle.

 

If healthy (and with Luck's magic) this team really needs an upgrade in pass rush and OL (we may have big portions of this on our current team with development of guys like Basham and Autry on D along with the scheme switch, and development of Haeg, Clark, Good and health of Mewhort on O).  Otherwise, we pretty much just need some improved depth and #2-4 guys at some positions like WR/CB/etc..

 

That said, I think we're 2-3 years out from being legit contenders, but with a few nice draft picks, some health and development of our younger players (this is what Ballard preaches), this team should most definitely be able to be competitive in AFC South or wildcard spot. 

[ColtsFanMikeC]

7 minutes ago, mahagga73 said:

 

That's the thing.  This team never stays healthy.  And has little depth. 

 

If we can stay healthy (I don't know why we can't seem to do that, maybe Reich will fix this), our starting units are only a couple players away from being pretty darn solid.  

 

But yea, I'll believe that when I see it.

[TdungyW/12]

44 minutes ago, mahagga73 said:

Lol, it's as full a rebuild as you can get.  

Ok brosky

[Four2itus]

Complete, partial, total rebuild, makeover, retool,......

 

Does it matter?

 

We were last in the division. I trust that our QB will be back and from what I have seen so far with Chris, and how I think he will do in the draft....add the new scheme/coaches/play calling, I would be surprised if we didn't climb out of the cellar this year. 

[SteelCityColt]

On 20/03/2018 at 10:47 PM, Cynjin said:

Isn't  there already a thread for this stuff?  Not sure there needs to be continuous new threads, JMO.

 

People complained about everything being merged into one thread...

[Cynjin]

3 minutes ago, SteelCityColt said:

 

People complained about everything being merged into one thread...

 

Yeah I saw that, but honestly I appreciate it when the mods merge all the whiny threads together.   Then there are only one or two threads I have to avoid. 

[southwest1]

On March 20, 2018 at 3:47 PM, theanarchist said:

It's obviously clear now that this is a complete rebuild. Coach on down. Ballard makes the trade out of the #3 spot to acquire more picks and lets a couple of solid free agents in Melvin and Moncrief walk and cuts our best defensive linemen. In turn he is in the midst of signing more free agents who failed to shine at their first stops: Ebron, Grant, Autry. All three are very ordinary players and none of those three really offer any hope of what could be an impact type career here with the Colts. 

 

Ballard's first draft was, in my opinion, nothing to write home about. Although its hard to judge a  draft after one year it seems to me that his first draft class, which was DB heavy, seems to be very average. It's great to build through the draft, definitely have to grow your own. We need playmakers guys. We need a Dallas Clark, we need a Robert Mathis, we need a Bob Sanders, we need an Edgerrin James. We need a Dwight Freeney, we need a lunch pail type Gary Brackett middle linebacker. We need a true anchor on the line like Tarek Glenn was. We need a Jeff Saturday. We cant get those all at once obviously but we need a couple of those kinds of players this year or its going to be a 2-14 season and if Luck does come back healthy it wont last if we don't. Right now this team lacks so much it's difficult for me to imagine how long its going to take for this team to ever really compete again. I know that in the NFL you can turn around a team in a year. But that isn't going to happen with this team. Its going to take much longer than that.

 

Right now we have 1 healthy playmaker on this team and that player is TY Hilton. Andrew Luck is still a huge question mark and the offensive line that we currently have will get him killed if they don't invest in it heavily. Hooker could eventually be a playmaking centerfielder but is no Bob Sanders, a defensive field general. We literally have no pass rushing threats on this team. You can argue Sheard but in the end he's a solid player that doesn't make another offense game plan for him line they had to for Freeney and Mathis. We don't even have an every down Running back on this team right now. We have a 3rd down back and a short yardage specialist.

 

I hate to be negative but I forsee a long a haul and I sure hope that Ballard is able to put together a better draft than he did his first go aroungd.

 

 

Darn TAC, 

 

You sure know how to spread optimism don't ya? To take your post to heart, we sound worse than Cleveland right now. Why are you mentioning Mathis, Clark, Saturday, Freeney, & James BTW? That era great sure, but the NFL is not in the duplication business. With new blood & new faces, the page gets turned. We can't be a slave to our past. You evolve or you die. 

 

I figure in 2 & a half to 3 yrs, the Colts will start competing for division crown titles again & making deep playoff runs again. Jesus man, you make Luck sound like he's a wounded animal who needs to be put down. Take a deep breathe TAC. It's never as bad as first glance might indicate my friend. 

 

I respect your football IQ & I realize that you're just trying to be brutal for our own good. I get that & I agree with you that patience is in order. I just refuse to believe that INDY is a triage unit left for decay & death. 

[southwest1]

4 hours ago, braveheartcolt said:

What bleedin difference does it make what we call it. It will not change our record. I think I will just watch it all playout next season and take it from there. Way too much drama around all this. 

Hey there BHC, 

 

I always get a kick out of your posts. You always make me laugh. I think some fans expect strides too fast or they go the opposite direction & think our team configuration is abysmal with old fart free agents & young guns who get nicked up & can't stay healthy. 

 

The problem is Peyton got us accustom to winning 10 games like it was nuthin' & then wham he comes Chewbacca getting us to the Championship game in 2015. Follow that up with Luck missing football for a season & people act like he forgot how to play or that once he does return, Andrew will shatter like glass into a million pieces with his 1st freight train sack. It's pretty darn funny actually. High expectations mixed with fears that Chewy is 1 hit from being done in this league. We're not as fragile as so many people think we are. 

 

Anyhow, thanks for your clear perspective BHC. We all needed to hear what you had to say. 

[crazycolt1]

3 hours ago, MacDee1975 said:

 

I commented on the term "complete rebuild" and "full rebuild" being used, and nothing more.  That is not what is happening right now.  If it was complete rebuild we'd be drafting a qb with pick #3, not trading it for pick #6.  If it was a full rebuild, we would not have many of the same starters projected this coming season, as have been in place the past 1-2 seasons.  Luck, Hilton, Geathers, Simon, Castonzo, Sheard, Doyle.....would not be on the team right now if this was a complete rebuild.

 

 

The QB has zero to do with what the Colts are doing right now. This would be going regardless of Luck.

By your concept all 52 players and a whole new coaching staff would be a complete rebuild? OK, This is a rebuild.

I don't think you even realize what a whole new coaching change relates to. Not too much has been said about it but that in itself is one thing that could be as important as any players brought in. WE have a 2nd year GM, a rookie head coach and quite a few positional coaches that will be rookies in their positions.  So that constitutes a rebuild in itself.

As far as Ballard is concerned the rebuild started last season and it has been amplified since then.

[theanarchist]

8 hours ago, southwest1 said:

Darn TAC, 

 

You sure know how to spread optimism don't ya? To take your post to heart, we sound worse than Cleveland right now. Why are you mentioning Mathis, Clark, Saturday, Freeney, & James BTW? That era great sure, but the NFL is not in the duplication business. With new blood & new faces, the page gets turned. We can't be a slave to our past. You evolve or you die. 

 

I figure in 2 & a half to 3 yrs, the Colts will start competing for division crown titles again & making deep playoff runs again. Jesus man, you make Luck sound like he's a wounded animal who needs to be put down. Take a deep breathe TAC. It's never as bad as first glance might indicate my friend. 

 

I respect your football IQ & I realize that you're just trying to be brutal for our own good. I get that & I agree with you that patience is in order. I just refuse to believe that INDY is a triage unit left for decay & death. 

I mentioned those players because they were all, for the most part, playmakers. We have maybe 2 on the team now if Luck returns to form. As for Luck, I'm just being a realist. He still isn't throwing a football that we know of. He's working with Tom House. Fantastic. He's been rehabbing for over a year. This is a HUGE question mark still.

[southwest1]

On March 23, 2018 at 2:55 AM, theanarchist said:

I mentioned those players because they were all, for the most part, playmakers. We have maybe 2 on the team now if Luck returns to form. As for Luck, I'm just being a realist. He still isn't throwing a football that we know of. He's working with Tom House. Fantastic. He's been rehabbing for over a year. This is a HUGE question mark still.

We are nearing the end of March not August right? Some INDY fans are turning this Luck not throwing thing into a self fulfilling prophecy I swear. If a person thinks they'll be dead tomorrow, they will probably find a way to make it happen. 

 

No, I disagree. It's not being a realist TAC. It's believing in the worst case scenario 24/7. If we already agree that INDY is at least 2 yrs away from competing for another SB, would it really be that devastating if Jacoby Brissett was under center again? You can't have it both ways. Either we suck without Luck or we can't go far in the playoffs yet cause our defense isn't good enough yet. Which is it? 

 

People have no patience or faith anymore. Sad just sad. Without struggle there is no progress. Neither one of us are abandoning the Colts TAC. Life goes on...

[ColtsfaninWisconsin]

I am a huge fan of the direction of the team. My ONLY concern is when CB was hired he said he was a fan of Ted Thompson (ex-Packers GM) who was known for drafting and developing players with almost no need to bother with free agency (very few exceptions). Since I am in Wisconsin and got a up close view of the Packers during this time I saw a team with a great franchise QB and very little talent around him year after year. It produced 1 SB for Aaron Rodgers. I hope his admiration for this method is mixed with the need to sign decent free agents consistently or this exact scenario could play out for the Colts.

[theanarchist]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 8:22 PM, southwest1 said:

We are nearing the end of March not August right? Some INDY fans are turning this Luck not throwing thing into a self fulfilling prophecy I swear. If a person thinks they'll be dead tomorrow, they will probably find a way to make it happen. 

 

No, I disagree. It's not being a realist TAC. It's believing in the worst case scenario 24/7. If we already agree that INDY is at least 2 yrs away from competing for another SB, would it really be that devastating if Jacoby Brissett was under center again? You can't have it both ways. Either we suck without Luck or we can't go far in the playoffs yet cause our defense isn't good enough yet. Which is it? 

 

People have no patience or faith anymore. Sad just sad. Without struggle there is no progress. Neither one of us are abandoning the Colts TAC. Life goes on...

So, because I'm not a fan of Ballard's first draft and I'm concerned that after a year and 3 months that Andrew Luck is still not throwing a real football that I'm believing in the worst case scenario 24/7? I'll stick by my original post, Ballard has to have a great draft this year, better than last year, in order to get things rolling in the right direction. We need a number of playmakers. I know you cant do it in one draft.

[chrisfarley]

On 3/22/2018 at 2:33 PM, crazycolt1 said:

Yes it is a rebuild.

A whole new coaching staff

A change in defense

A change in offense

Sheading off players who are not wanted

The team going in a different direction

Not spending money on high dollar free agents to use as quick fix band aids

Luck has absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

 

agree, i just hope Hooker comes back 100 percent.  guy is legit but his injury was major.

[deedub75]

The team was actually never properly built so how can it be a rebuild?  

[Coltsman1788]

Rebuild just means what our front office's approach will be for the next 3 years.  Build through the draft and use free agency to add depth more so than talent.  If the Colts are close after 3 years then maybe Ballard splurges on a player or two to help get us over the hump but that isn't guaranteed.  It doesn't mean the Colts won't or can't be competitive before the end of the rebuild but regardless of any on the field success, Ballard's approach will remain the same.  He is determined not to make the same mistake that Griggson did.

 

That said...I'm ready to just fast forward to the draft at this point. This free agency period has been like watching paint dry.  Can't get excited about spending our free agent money on nothing but mediocre depth signings.  Time to draft 2-3 actual play makers for this roster...hopefully. 

[Dark Superman]

As long as #12 is healthy the Colts can compete with anyone.

[southwest1]

On March 30, 2018 at 1:03 AM, theanarchist said:

So, because I'm not a fan of Ballard's first draft and I'm concerned that after a year and 3 months that Andrew Luck is still not throwing a real football that I'm believing in the worst case scenario 24/7? I'll stick by my original post, Ballard has to have a great draft this year, better than last year, in order to get things rolling in the right direction. We need a number of playmakers. I know you cant do it in one draft.

Actually, the reason I commented on your original post really had nothing to do with our GM at all. Just over this paralyzing obsession that so many fans have that if Luck can't play our season is over & we might as well capitulate right now. It's crazy. So, if Luck isn't under center throwing by Sept. why even watch this team? I gotta tell ya that mindset is pretty pathetic TAC. 

 

Tell me what roster doesn't need playmakers exactly? I suspect all 32 right. 

 

Look man, since Ballard was hired in INDY, there has been considerable roster turnover. I know that you are saying that we have a lot of needs on defense as well as offensive line upgrades to protect Luck. All that is true. You're not wrong. However, I take issue with anybody who basically creates the false impression that Colts management is hiding something on Luck's recovery & availability like it's intentional. That's absurd. 

 

Believe whatever lunatic conspiracy theory you want TAC. I don't care. But, this team will move forward regardless of who is under center in Sept. I choose to believe Andrew will start & have a solid yr. Feel free to disagree. That's your prerogative. 

[theanarchist]

32 minutes ago, southwest1 said:

Actually, the reason I commented on your original post really had nothing to do with our GM at all. Just over this paralyzing obsession that so many fans have that if Luck can't play our season is over & we might as well capitulate right now. It's crazy. So, if Luck isn't under center throwing by Sept. why even watch this team? I gotta tell ya that mindset is pretty pathetic TAC. 

 

Tell me what roster doesn't need playmakers exactly? I suspect all 32 right. 

 

Look man, since Ballard was hired in INDY, there has been considerable roster turnover. I know that you are saying that we have a lot of needs on defense as well as offensive line upgrades to protect Luck. All that is true. You're not wrong. However, I take issue with anybody who basically creates the false impression that Colts management is hiding something on Luck's recovery & availability like it's intentional. That's absurd. 

 

Believe whatever lunatic conspiracy theory you want TAC. I don't care. But, this team will move forward regardless of who is under center in Sept. I choose to believe Andrew will start & have a solid yr. Feel free to disagree. That's your prerogative. 

I'm not saying he wont. Im skeptical but I hope he does. My points are that Ballard needs to hit a homerun in this draft with the picks that he has and add a couple of true playmakers.