Ballard on Building a Locker Room.

[Dark Superman]

I think I'm starting to understand Ballard's whole philosophy on building a locker room in Indianapolis with Horseshoe guys. Chris Ballard wanted to come to Indianapolis and make the draft this teams main priority in moving forward. You draft your guys and have them grow in a system you believe they will succeed in. These young guys can all come in and learn the ins and outs of the NFL together, building chemistry as the seasons come and go. Chris Ballard is weighing heavily on his first two draft classes to be the building blocks of the future in Indianapolis. He's laying the foundation with these two draft classes and he's saving a ton of money by doing so. By the time next year's offseason comes around this team will have an identity and that's when I can see Ballard dipping a little more into free agency to add the necessary pieces to build a championship team in Indianapolis. It's better to draft these young guys for pennies and see what you have before going on a spending spree and trying to fill holes that could easily be filled with cheaper and younger players.

 

Ryan Grigson nailed the 2012 draft and didn't do this franchise much good after that. Every offseason he continued to go out and spend a ton of money of guys who just for whatever reason didn't live up to the billing. If you want the culture to be a particular way then you draft guys and mold them into the type of players you want. It's nearly impossible bringing in veterans to do the same. What Chris Ballard is doing does take a bit more time but it makes so much sense in the long haul. If a draft pick doesn't pan out the way you want then it's a lot better then paying a guy top dollar and having him eating up a huge chunk of your cap space.

 

The guys Ballard is bringing in resemble a lot of characteristics our QB holds. High football IQ, hard-working, and possess a ton of talent. I really love the direction this team is headed in. I'm glad Chris Ballard knows in order for this team to win, we need to add talent around Andrew Luck. He's done a terrific job so far and I can't wait to see what the guy does next offseason.

 

I believe the future is bright in Indy. Go Colts!