The Official Ballard IS Impressing Me Thread

[southwest1]

Just to echo similar sentiments by other regulars in this thread, nice write up @Trueman.

 

Clearly, you put a considerable amount of time into this thread, you articulated your praise of our GM via the draft & other roster moves thoroughly, & you deserve to be commended for that. Well done.

 

Carry on...

[Yoshinator]

9 minutes ago, southwest1 said:

Just to echo similar sentiments by other regulars in this thread, nice write up @Trueman.

 

Clearly, you put a considerable amount of time into this thread, you articulated your praise of our GM via the draft & other roster moves thoroughly, & you deserve to be commended for that. Well done.

 

Carry on...

Hey southwest, I haven't seen you on the boards in a while. Has everything been ok? Just checking up on you as your presence has been missed. 

[southwest1]

1 hour ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Hey southwest, I haven't seen you on the boards in a while. Has everything been ok? Just checking up on you as your presence has been missed. 

Hey there @Jared Cisneros,

 

Thank you for being concerned about my welfare. I was sidelined with an illness for awhile. Plus, I also pride myself on paying attention to what my elected public servants are doing in my state. Suffice to say, you'll probably see me around more once the midterm election dust settles.  I won't elaborate any further since I have no desire to violate Forum rules regarding civic or political discussions.

 

At any rate,  I appreciate your kind words. I hope life is treating you alright as well brother.

[Yoshinator]

Just now, southwest1 said:

Hey there @Jared Cisneros,

 

Thank you for being concerned about my welfare. I was sidelined with an illness for awhile. Plus, I also pride myself on paying attention to what my elected public servants are doing in my state. Suffice to say, you'll probably see me around more once the midterm election dust settles.  I won't elaborate any further since I have no desire to violate Forum rules regarding civic or political discussions.

 

At any rate,  I appreciate your kind words. I hope life is treating you alright as well brother.

Sorry about your illness, I'm glad you're alright. Life is definitely good right now, and I can't wait to see you on the forum more. You are one of the best posters here and it's always nice talking to you!

[southwest1]

2 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Sorry about your illness, I'm glad you're alright. Life is definitely good right now, and I can't wait to see you on the forum more. You are one of the best posters here and it's always nice talking to you!

Yeah, you're a darn fine poster yourself Jared. You're very smart & you always make me laugh.

 

Just remember to vote & buy a lottery ticket too because I always wanted to say I knew somebody who won billions. I won't even ask ya for a small loan either. Just Kidding!

[Superman]

14 hours ago, Peterk2011 said:

 

What "too early" means? Is it 1 year? Is it 2 years? Is it 3? Or 4? Or does it depend on something else? Do we have a consensus about when it is "not too early"?

 

I think evaluating someone's job is a repeating process. You do it frequently, and repeatedly. There is no "too early", you do it from the very begining and it never ends. Of course, a fair evaluation requires that you exclude those moves/actions, of which you can't (yet) fairly judge. But Ballard has done plenty already, which we can already judge, because we know the result. So far, positive moves way outnumber the negatives. I think he has done a great job so far.

 

We will judge him next month again, then the next month, and the next year, and so on. We won't stop judging him until he is the Colts GM. The result may or may not change.

 

I don't know how in depth we have to go on what is and isn't fair to evaluate, but obviously we can call out good decisions and bad decisions in real time, when there's clear evidence. Banner wasn't a good draft pick, Leonard was; don't need to wait three years to talk about those. But was Hooker a good pick? Quincy? Smith? Fountain? Only time will tell.

 

Overall, a GM should be evaluated by the quality of the roster, resource management, staff hires, etc. Most of that takes time to become clear. 

 

I keep going back to Grigson in 2012 because it was such an interesting and unique situation. I think he earned and deserved his EotY award, but that didn't mean he was a good GM. His decision making from March to September 2013 proved to be disastrous for the quality of the roster and the future of the team. But it took time for that to become clear. 

 

We can surely give our opinions on what a GM does in real time, but a fair evaluation -- not a point by point accounting of every individual move, but a judgment based on the quality of the roster and the direction of the team -- is better done from a broader perspective as some of the dust begins to settle. 

[Vexed]

Where Do The Colts Rank? Week 8 (2018)

By Andrew Walker Posted Oct 24

INDIANAPOLIS - Here's your weekly look at where the standout Indianapolis Colts units and individual players rank among their AFC and NFL peers heading into Week 8 of the 2018 season:
Colts Offense

- Second in the NFL in sacks allowed per pass attempt (3.21 percent)

- Tied for first in the NFL in third-down conversion percentage (50.0)

- Ninth in the NFL in red zone percentage (64.29)

- Tied for ninth in the NFL in goal-to-go percentage (75.00)

- Seventh in the NFL in points scored (189)

- 10th in the NFL in points per game (27.0)

- First in the NFL in third-down conversions (51)

- Tied for fifth in the NFL in fewest sacks allowed (10)

- Second in the NFL in total receptions by tight ends (52)
Quarterback Andrew Luck

- First in the NFL in passing attempts (311)

- Second in the NFL and first in the AFC in completions (203)

- 10th in the NFL and fifth in the AFC in passing yards (1,948)

- Second in the NFL in passing touchdowns (20)

- Fifth in the NFL and third in the AFC in passing touchdown percentage (6.4)

- Fourth in the AFC in fourth-quarter passer rating (103.6)

- Sixth in the AFC in completion percentage (65.3)

- Fifth in the AFC in interception percentage (2.6)

- Fifth in the AFC in quarterback rating (93.3)

- Most passing yards in a single game among AFC quarterbacks this season (464, Week 4 against Texans)

- Longest active streak in NFL of three or more touchdown passes (four games)

- Longest active streak in NFL with at least one passing touchdwn (30 games)

- Tied for fourth in the NFL in first-down throws (104)
Running back Nyheim Hines

- Fourth among NFL rookies in first downs (25)

- Seventh among NFL rookies in scoring by non-kickers (18)

- Second among NFL rookies and fifth among NFL running backs in receptions (32)

- Tied for first in the NFL in third-and-one rushing percentage (100)

- Tied for fifth among NFL rookies in touchdowns (3)

- Tied for second among NFL rookies in receiving touchdowns (2)

- Seventh among NFL rookies in yards from scrimmage (340)
Tight end Eric Ebron

- Tied for ninth in the NFL, first among NFL tight ends and tied for sixth in the AFC in scoring by non-kickers (36)

- Tied for sixth in the NFL, first among NFL tight ends and tied for second in the AFC in third-down receptions (13)

- Sixth among NFL tight ends in receiving yards (357)

- Tied for third among NFL tight ends in receptions (33)

- Second in the NFL and first among NFL tight ends in touchdown receptions (6)
Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton

- Tied for 10th in the NFL and tied for fourth in the AFC in third-down receptions (12)
Running back Jordan Wilkins

- Seventh among NFL rookies in rushing yards (221)
Tight end Jack Doyle

- First among NFL tight ends and ninth in the NFL in highest catch percentage since 2013 (75.9)
Tight end Erik Swoope

- Third among NFL tight ends in touchdown receptions (3)

Colts Defense

- 10th in the NFL in average rushing yards allowed per play (4.02)

- Eighth in the NFL in interception percentage (3.49)

- 10th in the NFL in sacks per pass attempt (8.14 percent)

- Eighth in the NFL in red zone percentage allowed (45.8)

- Tied for fourth in the NFL in most opponent negative plays (51)

- Tied for third in the NFL in takeaways (15)

- Tied for fifth in the NFL in defensive fumble recoveries (6)

- Eighth in the NFL in forced fumbles (8)

- Tied for sixth in the NFL in interceptions (9)

- Third in the NFL in tackles for loss (43)

- Tied for fourth in the NFL in sacks (21)
Linebacker Darius Leonard

- Tied for second in the NFL in defensive fumble recoveries (2)

- Tied for eighth in the NFL and tied for fourth in the AFC in total fumble recoveries (2)

- Second among NFL rookies in sacks (4.0)

- First in the NFL in total tackles (79)

- First in the NFL in solo tackles (54)
Defensive end Kemoko Turay

- Fourth among NFL rookies in sacks (3.0)
Cornerback Kenny Moore II

- Tied for 11th in the NFL and tied for fourth in the AFC in interceptions (2)
Defensive tackle Margus Hunt

- Tied for second in the NFL in tackles for loss (10.0)

Colts Special Teams

- Sixth in the NFL in punt return average (11.8)

- Third in the NFL in punt return average allowed (5.0)

- Fourth in the NFL in kickoff return average allowed (18.9)
Kicker Adam Vinatieri

- Tied for 11th in the NFL and sixth in the AFC in scoring by kickers (53)
Punter Rigoberto Sanchez

- Third in the NFL and first in the AFC in net average punting (43.1)

- 10th in the NFL and fifth in the AFC in punting average (46.7)

Keep the faith... we’re getting better. Much better.

 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

On 10/21/2018 at 8:41 PM, Trueman said:

I have no idea how people can't like what he's doing. Truly. We've been in every game this season ; Luck looks outstanding ; our O-Line finally seems to be coming together ; our young players are all improving ; we'll have another draft to stack on top this one and  tons of cap flexibility. The plan is clearly working.

Ballard looks like he's an elite evaluator so far with a disciplined approach. His hitting % is insane. His worst moves are 3rd/4th round picks (with Grigson's scouts) and a couple dudes on 1 year no harm/no foul contracts that he eventually cut. Oh, and I guess Simon and Hankins if you like complaining about guys he signed in the first place.

 

HEAR, HEAR!

[Trueman]

12 minutes ago, Lucky Colts Fan said:

 

HEAR, HEAR!

 

[Legend of Luck]

Chris Ballard is the absolute best and we are so, so, so, so, extraordinarily lucky to have him. Our future looks incredible!

[Luck is Good]

Ballard is the man. Definitely helps to have a competent GM

[superrep1967]

6 hours ago, Legend of Luck said:

Chris Ballard is the absolute best and we are so, so, so, so, extraordinarily lucky to have him. Our future looks incredible!

I totally agree I think right now we may the best GM in the league. I at least wouldn't want any other right now or anytime in the near future. 

[CoachLite]

Just to see the improvement in the Colts over the past month, not only is Ballard doing a great job, but many of the coaches and players are coming together to form a cohesive, winning team. It's beyond me to see how some could criticize what has been accomplished.

[Myles]

I hope Irsay allows him to open the wallet a bit in the off season.   We are sitting pretty in cap space (best in the league).   I don't want to go "Redskins" in free agency, but a few position players would be nice.  We do have our fair share of players to resign or replace.