Ballard is not impressing me.....

[threeflight]

I said this last winter and I will say it again after this draft.

 

IMO GM Ballard is not impressing me in the least.   I know he talks a good game, and comes across as someone who seems to know what he is doing, but his actions imo leave much to be desired.

 

FA signings have been mediocre at best.  And he has not used the plethora of money he has at his disposal to really get anyone of consequence.

 

Totally bungled the backup QB situation last year expecting to go into the season starting the worst Qb in the world.  Is that guy even still in the league?

 

Bungled the coaching search.

 

His drafts have been this.

 

Malik Hooker FSOhio State

Quincy Wilson CBFlorida

Tarell Basham OLBOhio

Zach Banner OTUSC

Marlon Mack RBSouth Florida

Grover Stewart DTAlbany State

Nate Hairston CBTemple

Anthony Walker Jr.ILBNorthwestern

 

Quenton Nelson Guard Notre Dame

Darius Leonard LinebackerSouth Carolina State

Braden Smith GuardAuburnFrom NY Jets

Kemoko Turay Defensive endRutgersFrom Baltimore via Philadelphia

Tyquan Lewis Defensive endOhio StateFrom Philadelphia via Cleveland

Nyheim Hines Running backNC State

Daurice Fountain Wide receiverNorthern IowaFrom Kansas City via Cleveland, New England, and Oakland

Jordan Wilkins Running backOle MissFrom Philadelphia

Deon Cain Wide receiverClemsonFrom Oakland

Matthew Adams LinebackerHouston

Zaire Franklin LinebackerSyracuse

For a guy who says he is wanting to build through the draft, and yes I realize it is early in the process, but besides a couple of guys...do we really see any standouts here?

 

Hooker, Nelson, Leonard and then???

 

Mack?  Maybe.

Hariston????

 

All those guys and so far we see just a few that look like they may amount to something more than just filler??

 

I mean cmon.  What is this guy doing?  I want to root for him more than anyone but so far, color me not impressed.

[Shadow_Creek]

[WarGhost21]

Let’s just say that in the average NFL draft, if a GM hits on half of his picks, he’s considered to have had an amazing draft. To the outside, simple-minded observers, it’s upsetting that every single pick isn’t a superstar right away. Its not going to happen, but Ballard has only one draft that has actually played NFL regular season snaps, and I’d say 4 of the 8 picks will be starting this year (Hooker, Wilson, Mack, Hairston), and based on what I said above, having half of the draft starting in year 2 is a success. It’s all big picture stuff, don’t look to tightly at the first few years or you’ll miss everything important. 

[Clem-Dog]

 It is way too early to judge most of last year's class let alone this year's picks.   

[Luck 4 president]

Ya I agree with you. His drafts have been disappointing and his FA signings have been... meh... on top of that he cut one of our top 3 defenders from last year and let our best CB walk.

[threeflight]

1 minute ago, Luck 4 president said:

Ya I agree with you. His drafts have been disappointing and his FA signings have been... meh... on top of that he cut one of our top 3 defenders from last year and let our best CB walk.

I agree will add that to the list.

[Gabriel Alexander Morillo]

It literally hasn’t even been one game with Luck...

[SteelCityColt]

So we’re judging a draft class before it’s even played a NFL down now? Amazingly sound thinking, let’s fire Ballard now. 

[Four2itus]

Ballard is impressing me far more than this thread is...

[Superman]

Good heavens...

[NewColtsFan]

Dear God.....

 

Sigh.....      

[IinD]

Lol

[James]

Oh, you again.

[Colts_Fan12]

LOL 

[coltsfan_canada]

Borat "Very nice how much!"

 

[SaturdayAllDay]

[jameszeigler834]

All nonsense while I believe Basham is a flop so far so is Hines Banner was a pick nobody liked but I believe he had potential he has been with the Steelers and looks ok soother than just a cpuple guys off the top of my head his drafts have been atleast half decent.

[zibby43]

2 hours ago, threeflight said:

 

 

Malik Hooker FSOhio State - Very promising; potential stud

Quincy Wilson CBFlorida - Quality depth (at this point)

Tarell Basham OLBOhio - Inconclusive; must make roster this year

Zach Banner OTUSC - Whiff

Marlon Mack RBSouth Florida - Arguably most talented RB on roster; must stay healthy

Grover Stewart DTAlbany State - Whiff

Nate Hairston CBTemple - Started at Nickel; potential to be serviceable Nickel

Anthony Walker Jr.ILBNorthwestern - Ill fit for new scheme

 

Quenton Nelson Guard Notre Dame - Stud

Darius Leonard LinebackerSouth Carolina State - Young stud

Braden Smith GuardAuburnFrom NY Jets - Potential starter at G as Rookie

Kemoko Turay Defensive endRutgersFrom Baltimore via Philadelphia - Talented

Tyquan Lewis Defensive endOhio StateFrom Philadelphia via Cleveland - Injured

Nyheim Hines Running backNC State - Inconclusive but talented as RB; ball security

Daurice Fountain Wide receiverNorthern IowaFrom Kansas City via Cleveland, New England, and Oakland - Project if he survives roster cuts

Jordan Wilkins Running backOle MissFrom Philadelphia - Impressive value pick

Deon Cain Wide receiverClemsonFrom Oakland - On track to play 1st year until injury

Matthew Adams LinebackerHouston - Camp body

Zaire Franklin LinebackerSyracuse - Camp body

 

 

Now that you mention it, I'm actually fairly impressed by Ballard's first 2 drafts as GM given all the scheme and coaching changes.

 

 

[Bshultz]

Zaire Franklin is not a camp body, he's gonna make this roster. So is Grover Stewart. Anthony Walker was going to be the starting mike lb until he got injured.

[braveheartcolt]

Lying in bed and I was looking at the ceiling, thinking I really liked it. It's perhaps not my favourite part of the house, but it's up there.

 

Sorry, not sure what else to say about this thread.....

[SteelCityColt]

23 minutes ago, braveheartcolt said:

Lying in bed and I was looking at the ceiling, thinking I really liked it. It's perhaps not my favourite part of the house, but it's up there.

 

Sorry, not sure what else to say about this thread.....

 

What would you prefer a high ceiling ,or a high floor? Do you think Gruden’s call to arms to bring back good old fashioned artex will fail in the modern ceiling game? Do you think Chris Ballard should be held accountable for not securing some coving to take it over the top?

 

It’s a slow Friday at work and I really want to avoid writing a presentation...

[WoolMagnet]

I think this guy created a 2nd user name just so he had someone to agree with him.

[DaveA1102]

3 hours ago, threeflight said:

I said this last winter and I will say it again after this draft.

 

IMO GM Ballard is not impressing me in the least.   I know he talks a good game, and comes across as someone who seems to know what he is doing, but his actions imo leave much to be desired.

 

FA signings have been mediocre at best.  And he has not used the plethora of money he has at his disposal to really get anyone of consequence.

 

Totally bungled the backup QB situation last year expecting to go into the season starting the worst Qb in the world.  Is that guy even still in the league?

 

Bungled the coaching search.

 

His drafts have been this.

 

Malik Hooker FSOhio State

Quincy Wilson CBFlorida

Tarell Basham OLBOhio

Zach Banner OTUSC

Marlon Mack RBSouth Florida

Grover Stewart DTAlbany State

Nate Hairston CBTemple

Anthony Walker Jr.ILBNorthwestern

 

Quenton Nelson Guard Notre Dame

Darius Leonard LinebackerSouth Carolina State

Braden Smith GuardAuburnFrom NY Jets

Kemoko Turay Defensive endRutgersFrom Baltimore via Philadelphia

Tyquan Lewis Defensive endOhio StateFrom Philadelphia via Cleveland

Nyheim Hines Running backNC State

Daurice Fountain Wide receiverNorthern IowaFrom Kansas City via Cleveland, New England, and Oakland

Jordan Wilkins Running backOle MissFrom Philadelphia

Deon Cain Wide receiverClemsonFrom Oakland

Matthew Adams LinebackerHouston

Zaire Franklin LinebackerSyracuse

For a guy who says he is wanting to build through the draft, and yes I realize it is early in the process, but besides a couple of guys...do we really see any standouts here?

 

Hooker, Nelson, Leonard and then???

 

Mack?  Maybe.

Hariston????

 

All those guys and so far we see just a few that look like they may amount to something more than just filler??

 

I mean cmon.  What is this guy doing?  I want to root for him more than anyone but so far, color me not impressed.

 

Based on your avatar, I think your tank top may be cutting off the circulation to your brain buddy.  

 

Ballard is a new GM and the one thing he does well is admit to his mistakes (Banner a great example).  No GM hits on every pick, even 50% of their picks is doing well.  

 

Ballard also has a plan and tells everyone what his plan is.  He is clear and consistent in his message.  In relation to the cap, I believe he has a plan with that too.  He knows high money FA acquisitions wont make us Superbowl contenders right now, so he is saving that money for when he does.

 

Let's all take a breath, enjoy the first couple of games of the season, and see how we look when the playbook is opened up.

[Jaredfor3]

compare and contrast with Grigson and Ballard:

 

Grigson drafts WR Phillip Dorset in the first round. Ballard trades Dorset for a solid QB in Jacoby Brissett. Not only is JB a top 5 backup in the league, Ballard can possibility use him as trade bait, especially if Luck is back to his old self. 

 

Grigson brought in a a lot of older free agents and most of them did not pan out. Ballard believes in building through the draft. 

 

I will say that I think it was a mistake not retaining RB Frank Gore. 

 

 

 

[NannyMcafee]

Well what do you expect in an instant gratification style culture? This guy clearly only plays madden. Were you not impressed when Ballard fired pagano and hired a new staff that hasn’t even coached one regular season game? So far for me this has been the worst preseason in a while. I know we have overreactors here but damn this season has been a doozy. 

[Yoshinator]

Here's how I'm going to personally judge Ballard. By 4 game stretches. Are players hitting after 4 games? Is Ballard making good decisions on how to pick up players to replace injuries? I will then judge his draft picks as more important than FA's. If someone like Nelson is better than Slauson, than Ballard gets a huge positive from me (for example), since Ballard's philosophy is to build through the draft.

 

I think this is a good basic way of judging him. Just don't do it all at once as draft players take a little while to develop, and we need to see how he responds to adversity in his first season with Andrew Luck back. We aren't winning the SB this year anyway without something crazy happening potentially (Brady season ending injury), so Ballard is playing with house money (or Irsay's money lol) at this point anyway.

[NewColtsFan]

10 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Here's how I'm going to personally judge Ballard. By 4 game stretches. Are players hitting after 4 games? Is Ballard making good decisions on how to pick up players to replace injuries? I will then judge his draft picks as more important than FA's. If someone like Nelson is better than Slauson, than Ballard gets a huge positive from me (for example), since Ballard's philosophy is to build through the draft.

 

I think this is a good basic way of judging him. Just don't do it all at once as draft players take a little while to develop, and we need to see how he responds to adversity in his first season with Andrew Luck back. We aren't winning the SB this year anyway without something crazy happening potentially (Brady season ending injury), so Ballard is playing with house money (or Irsay's money lol) at this point anyway.

 

Why are you posting at 4am?!?

 

Get some sleep!          

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Why are you posting at 4am?!?

 

Get some sleep!          

I just got up and have to check golf lineups for fanduel. Hadn't seen this thread yet, so I thought I'd put in a reasonable post first. 

[basketballsteve]

To the good side the Colts are in the AFC South and Ballard does have a southern accent.   ;)

[SteelCityColt]

40 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Here's how I'm going to personally judge Ballard. By 4 game stretches. Are players hitting after 4 games? Is Ballard making good decisions on how to pick up players to replace injuries? I will then judge his draft picks as more important than FA's. If someone like Nelson is better than Slauson, than Ballard gets a huge positive from me (for example), since Ballard's philosophy is to build through the draft.

 

I think this is a good basic way of judging him. Just don't do it all at once as draft players take a little while to develop, and we need to see how he responds to adversity in his first season with Andrew Luck back. We aren't winning the SB this year anyway without something crazy happening potentially (Brady season ending injury), so Ballard is playing with house money (or Irsay's money lol) at this point anyway.

 

A reasonable and measured way to assess. Especially over the last 4 games when rookies tend to burn out a bit.

[Dingus McGirt]

I'm pretty sure the original post caused the GM to lose sleep.

[NewEra]

Great Scott 

[Fluke_33]

6 hours ago, WarGhost21 said:

Let’s just say that in the average NFL draft, if a GM hits on half of his picks, he’s considered to have had an amazing draft. To the outside, simple-minded observers, it’s upsetting that every single pick isn’t a superstar right away. Its not going to happen, but Ballard has only one draft that has actually played NFL regular season snaps, and I’d say 4 of the 8 picks will be starting this year (Hooker, Wilson, Mack, Hairston), and based on what I said above, having half of the draft starting in year 2 is a success. It’s all big picture stuff, don’t look to tightly at the first few years or you’ll miss everything important. 

Nailed it 

[indyagent17]

Which one of you unlocked the manhole cover?

[Pacergeek]

Although I do agree with the 50% hit number for draft picks, when you ignore free agency, this number needs to be much higher. Ballard put himself in in the corner with his "build through the draft" strategy. 

[Pacergeek]

8 hours ago, WarGhost21 said:

Let’s just say that in the average NFL draft, if a GM hits on half of his picks, he’s considered to have had an amazing draft. To the outside, simple-minded observers, it’s upsetting that every single pick isn’t a superstar right away. Its not going to happen, but Ballard has only one draft that has actually played NFL regular season snaps, and I’d say 4 of the 8 picks will be starting this year (Hooker, Wilson, Mack, Hairston), and based on what I said above, having half of the draft starting in year 2 is a success. It’s all big picture stuff, don’t look to tightly at the first few years or you’ll miss everything important. 

This is not true. Just because a draft pick is starting does not automatically mean he is good. Antonio Morrison was team's leading tackler a year ago, and got himself traded. 

[Scott Pennock]

6 hours ago, threeflight said:

I said this last winter and I will say it again after this draft.

 

IMO GM Ballard is not impressing me in the least.   I know he talks a good game, and comes across as someone who seems to know what he is doing, but his actions imo leave much to be desired.

 

FA signings have been mediocre at best.  And he has not used the plethora of money he has at his disposal to really get anyone of consequence.

 

Totally bungled the backup QB situation last year expecting to go into the season starting the worst Qb in the world.  Is that guy even still in the league?

 

Bungled the coaching search.

 

His drafts have been this.

 

Malik Hooker FSOhio State

Quincy Wilson CBFlorida

Tarell Basham OLBOhio

Zach Banner OTUSC

Marlon Mack RBSouth Florida

Grover Stewart DTAlbany State

Nate Hairston CBTemple

Anthony Walker Jr.ILBNorthwestern

 

Quenton Nelson Guard Notre Dame

Darius Leonard LinebackerSouth Carolina State

Braden Smith GuardAuburnFrom NY Jets

Kemoko Turay Defensive endRutgersFrom Baltimore via Philadelphia

Tyquan Lewis Defensive endOhio StateFrom Philadelphia via Cleveland

Nyheim Hines Running backNC State

Daurice Fountain Wide receiverNorthern IowaFrom Kansas City via Cleveland, New England, and Oakland

Jordan Wilkins Running backOle MissFrom Philadelphia

Deon Cain Wide receiverClemsonFrom Oakland

Matthew Adams LinebackerHouston

Zaire Franklin LinebackerSyracuse

For a guy who says he is wanting to build through the draft, and yes I realize it is early in the process, but besides a couple of guys...do we really see any standouts here?

 

Hooker, Nelson, Leonard and then???

 

Mack?  Maybe.

Hariston????

 

All those guys and so far we see just a few that look like they may amount to something more than just filler??

 

I mean cmon.  What is this guy doing?  I want to root for him more than anyone but so far, color me not impressed.

You were the same type of person who would have crapped all over Theo Epstein when he systematically tore down and rebuilt the Cubs into WS Champions. And yes, the type of person who still cheared when they won.....

 

You're the type that refused to believe in the process and wanted your dessert before the meal was even made....

 

Look at the body of work put together by Ballard (Bears, Chiefs), Hogan (Bears) and Dodds (Seahawks). Those Bears teams were very good defensively and lost to the Colts in SB41 with Rex FREAKING Grossman as thier starting QB - that is nothing short of a miracle in itself. 

 

The Legion of Boom just collapsed in Seattle but there should be little doubt in Dodds capabilities either as they were stout for a solid 5-7 year run.

 

Buckle your chin strap young man and enjoy the ride as it takes more than 1 year and 1 preseason for the "foundation" to be set. Plus, the difference in all of those teams, we actually have a STAR Quarterback when they had/have game mamagers.

[lollygagger8]

7 hours ago, threeflight said:

I said this last winter and I will say it again after this draft.

 

IMO GM Ballard is not impressing me in the least.   I know he talks a good game, and comes across as someone who seems to know what he is doing, but his actions imo leave much to be desired.

 

FA signings have been mediocre at best.  And he has not used the plethora of money he has at his disposal to really get anyone of consequence.

 

Totally bungled the backup QB situation last year expecting to go into the season starting the worst Qb in the world.  Is that guy even still in the league?

 

Bungled the coaching search.

 

His drafts have been this.

 

Malik Hooker FSOhio State

Quincy Wilson CBFlorida

Tarell Basham OLBOhio

Zach Banner OTUSC

Marlon Mack RBSouth Florida

Grover Stewart DTAlbany State

Nate Hairston CBTemple

Anthony Walker Jr.ILBNorthwestern

 

Quenton Nelson Guard Notre Dame

Darius Leonard LinebackerSouth Carolina State

Braden Smith GuardAuburnFrom NY Jets

Kemoko Turay Defensive endRutgersFrom Baltimore via Philadelphia

Tyquan Lewis Defensive endOhio StateFrom Philadelphia via Cleveland

Nyheim Hines Running backNC State

Daurice Fountain Wide receiverNorthern IowaFrom Kansas City via Cleveland, New England, and Oakland

Jordan Wilkins Running backOle MissFrom Philadelphia

Deon Cain Wide receiverClemsonFrom Oakland

Matthew Adams LinebackerHouston

Zaire Franklin LinebackerSyracuse

For a guy who says he is wanting to build through the draft, and yes I realize it is early in the process, but besides a couple of guys...do we really see any standouts here?

 

Hooker, Nelson, Leonard and then???

 

Mack?  Maybe.

Hariston????

 

All those guys and so far we see just a few that look like they may amount to something more than just filler??

 

I mean cmon.  What is this guy doing?  I want to root for him more than anyone but so far, color me not impressed.

[RollerColt]

Why?

[SteelCityColt]

10 minutes ago, Pacergeek said:

This is fake news. Just because a draft pick is starting does not automatically mean he is good. Antonio Morrison was team's leading tackler a year ago, and got himself traded. 

 

1) How is this “fake news”, you can argue that maybe they’re still not talented enough to start in the NFL, but it’s factual that they are the starters most likely. 

2) Being the leading tackler means squat, one of the most misleading stats going.