Chris Ballard Speaks......

[Stephen]

24 minutes ago, IinD said:

Yeah, you know how it goes. Even Cleveland fans are probably optimistic in the off-season.. Haha.

 

I can't get to worked up yet, but I don't completely hate Ballard going the youth route.

 

Maybe it won't be so bad, we've never been one of those 'throw the rookies into the fire' teams so hopefully this recent trend will make them perform. 

 

Can't really lose our minds yet like some people are doing. For all we know Jax could become the usual Jax, and there's no guarantees Vrabel will be good in Tennessee. Houston also is very up and down over the years.

 

Can't underestimate what having our QB does. That wasn't the Colts last year. I'll buy in until I see one more draft and FA period. If we suck this year and next, I'll hop off the Ballard express and curse them like everyone else..

I expect alot of shoot outs this year

[2006Coltsbestever]

Did Delaire make the Roster?

[Stephen]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

Did Delaire make the Roster?

Got cut for another de

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Stephen said:

Got cut for another de

I liked him, I was skimming through the Posts and wasn't sure. Thanks

[Farns01]

I like the Frank Reich hire and I wonder who Ballard would have targeted as a coach if he was allowed to cut ties with Pagano last year.  I think Grigson was to busy trying prove he was smartest guy in the room.  Drafting projects in early rounds that should have been used on players who have shown the skill level of a starter.  He should have drafted projects in later rounds to give them time to develope.

[Stephen]

27 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I liked him, I was skimming through the Posts and wasn't sure. Thanks

Al quadin Muhammad  replaced him

[Defjamz26]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Grigson & Pagano were trying immediately.

 

Ballard got hired and announced a 3-year rebuild.   So he’s got all the time he needs to play the kids and let them grow and learn on the job.

 

Two different approaches..

 

And honestly, that’s the way it should be. Team building starts with building a foundation. Building a foundation starts with drafting and developing a nucleus of young players. To do that you have to save your draft picks (multiply them if possible), save money  to re-sign your younger players to 2nd contracts by being selective in FA, and be willing to let young players start soonet rather than later. 

 

As the saying goes, sometimes things have to get bad before they get good. Ballard isn’t afraid of that. I think by the time the next offseason comes around, the roster will have started to really take shape and gel.

[IinD]

3 hours ago, Stephen said:

I expect alot of shoot outs this year

Exactly what I see as well. They'll put together one or two good D games to fool us into thinking they might be good, but more often than not they'll definitely struggle I think as well. 

 

Most here see the run D might be an issue.

 

You know what though, we never REALLY ran the cover two like it should have been run last time, maybe Ballard will get it right with time. Our LB's definitely seem quicker then guys like Brackett, June, Hagler, Morris etc..The bigger zone CB's we seem to covet now are better then the Jason David and Nick Harper types.

 

Hopefully they'll surprise us.

 

We're Colts fans, we know what it's like to win 45-43..

[stitches]

BTW this shows to me that last year was indeed a completely lost year. We lost most players of consequence that we signed to play in the Pagano 34 scheme - Hankins, Simon, Melvin. The common thread - they were all good players, they were all fit for 34 better than for quick get off after the ball, Tampa 2 defense.  Even the contracts were structured in a way to allow us to save money after cutting those. 

 

Complete and utter waste of a year and now we are starting from ground 0 - all youth all around the roster. This also makes me realize that we will be making decisions this year for the long-term development of the team rather than for the short term success, which means that if it is between winning one or two more games or giving the young guys opportunities to play and develop we will choose the latter. It makes me tamper my expectations even more this year. I thought we will be pushing for playoff spot but IMO it will be very very hard with such a young roster. It might be for the better long-term future, but it definitely will hurt us this year. 

[Stephen]

8 hours ago, stitches said:

BTW this shows to me that last year was indeed a completely lost year. We lost most players of consequence that we signed to play in the Pagano 34 scheme - Hankins, Simon, Melvin. The common thread - they were all good players, they were all fit for 34 better than for quick get off after the ball, Tampa 2 defense.  Even the contracts were structured in a way to allow us to save money after cutting those. 

 

Complete and utter waste of a year and now we are starting from ground 0 - all youth all around the roster. This also makes me realize that we will be making decisions this year for the long-term development of the team rather than for the short term success, which means that if it is between winning one or two more games or giving the young guys opportunities to play and develop we will choose the latter. It makes me tamper my expectations even more this year. I thought we will be pushing for playoff spot but IMO it will be very very hard with such a young roster. It might be for the better long-term future, but it definitely will hurt us this year. 

Well yea if teams rush for 200 yards a game and move the ball with ease between the 20s it will be hard to win games. I think relying solely on red zone defense is a bad formula for success. Sure we might stop bad teams from getting in the endzone,but tom brady and other vet qbs will eat us alive if we give them a million tries in the redzone