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Ballard is doing what Polian did


Restinpeacesweetchloe

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I don't think their similar. Polian imo never put value at LBers. He would almost never resign them and just let them walk ala Peterson, June, Thornton, Sessions. Also he was never good at picking olinemen and he has come out and said that himself. He did have an eye for getting skill players and pass rushers, ill give him that.

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4 minutes ago, CR91 said:

I don't think their similar. Polian imo never put value at LBers. He would almost never resign them and just let them walk ala Peterson, June, Thornton, Sessions. Also he was never good at picking olinemen and he has come out and said that himself. He did have an eye for getting skill players and pass rushers, ill give him that.

Polain was good at finding olineman that Mudd wanted.  But after Mudd left then not so much

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11 minutes ago, Chloe6124 said:

I was watching a video last night and was reminded how when the colts won the SB 22 of the starters were players the colts drafted or were undrafted. That is how you build a SB team.

I disagree he is doing what Polian did, Polian's first two years with the Colts he signed a lot of free agents, then starting in year three he focused more on the draft and building/signing from within.

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Having all 22 starters come from your drafts/udfa is not a positive sign for a GM IMO.

That means your bypassing other resources like FA's, Trades, CFL to supplement your team with talent. 

Polian, imo, had a ego and was thinking "look at me what a great drafter I am". Of course, when Peyton missed entire season his roster was exposed as it strugged and earned the #1 OVERALL Pick.

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1 minute ago, Coffeedrinker said:

I disagree he is doing what Polian did, Polian's first two years with the Colts he signed a lot of free agents, then starting in year three he focused more on the draft and building/signing from within.

 

Ballard signed a ton of free agents in 2017. Six of them got multi year deals. He really pulled back in 2018, only signing two free agents to multi year deals, but he also added Grant, Slauson and Howard, who all had opportunity to lock down starting jobs.

 

Polian signed a few free agents his first 2-3 years, but never anyone high profile, mostly veteran backups and depth. There were some years where he signed no veteran FAs. And in those 14 years he was GM, three veteran FAs really stand out to me: Corey Simon (terrible signing, which sent Polian running and screaming), Adam Vinatieri (the best FA signing in Indy history), and Brandon Stokley.

 

His approach always frustrated me, but it worked because he got 3-4 starters out of almost every draft for a decade. 

 

What I think is different about Ballard's stated approach is that he wants to have a core in-house before he takes major swings in free agency. And I agree because team building requires good drafting and developing, and young players have to hit the field to develop. But I don't think he'll ever pull away from free agency as drastically as Polian did.

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2 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Ballard signed a ton of free agents in 2017. Six of them got multi year deals. He really pulled back in 2018, only signing two free agents to multi year deals, but he also added Grant, Slauson and Howard, who all had opportunity to lock down starting jobs.

He did sign quite a few last year, probably forgot because only two are still on the team

2 minutes ago, Superman said:

 

Polian signed a few free agents his first 2-3 years, but never anyone high profile, mostly veteran backups and depth.

I didn't say high profile, but some of them were.  Bratzski, Biscuit, Fred Lane were all pretty high profile, but the rest were players like Wooten, Burris, Poole, King, Royal, Barber, etc.

 

No matter what Polian was a lot more active in FA his first two years than Ballard has been his 1st two (discounting the FAs signed during the season because of injuries, like Inman and Mitchell).  I'm not complaining about Ballard's approach, just saying I don't see a lot of similarities.

 

 

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The whole "Ballard is building through the draft" narrative, as he has admitted, mainly came from the fact free agents were steering away from a 4-12 team where the QB's future was in question.

 

Ballard is not as rigid as Polian.  He's looking at every resource, as evidenced by the guy we just re-signed.  

 

Why would anyone want him to stay away from free agency?  He hit a home run on Ebron and Autry, and has generally done well.

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1 minute ago, #12. said:

Ballard is not as rigid as Polian.  He's looking at every resource, as evidenced by the guy we just re-signed.  

 

This is just not a true statement.  Polian looked at every resource as well even bringing guys in from CFL and Arena Football.

 

He, Polian, signed one free agent because an UDFA went to his office and told him there was a guy working at a grocery store that beat up on a couple of the 1st round draft picks every day in practice.

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I like the fact that they are both salary cap managers. Build through the draft and free agency is how a team should be built. So many teams go out and spend high dollars for free agents and that is why so many teams are strapped for cap money. Ballard has dipped into free agency pool but has been wise with it but didn't break the bank over it. I like what Ballard is doing because it gives us money to pay our own players and to bring in occasional players to fill needs

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16 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

This is just not a true statement.  Polian looked at every resource as well even bringing guys in from CFL and Arena Football.

 

He, Polian, signed one free agent because an UDFA went to his office and told him there was a guy working at a grocery store that beat up on a couple of the 1st round draft picks every day in practice.

 

Sure, we can pick out a thing or two, but trust me, I lived through it.  Overall, I couldn't imagine a GM or team president more rigid, more stuck in his ways.  

 

In no way do I get that sense from Ballard.  In just two years, you've already seen him roll with the punches and evolve in ways.

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14 minutes ago, #12. said:

 

Sure, we can pick out a thing or two, but trust me, I lived through it.  Overall, I couldn't imagine a GM or team president more rigid, more stuck in his ways.  

 

In no way do I get that sense from Ballard.  In just two years, you've already seen him roll with the punches and evolve in ways.

It's not picking out a thing or two.  Additionally, stuck in his ways sure.  But then so is Ballard.


And what do you mean you lived through it?  Were you a member of the Colts organization while Polian was there?  or do you just mean you were a  fan back then?

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1 hour ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

Having all 22 starters come from your drafts/udfa is not a positive sign for a GM IMO.

That means your bypassing other resources like FA's, Trades, CFL to supplement your team with talent. 

Polian, imo, had a ego and was thinking "look at me what a great drafter I am". Of course, when Peyton missed entire season his roster was exposed as it strugged and earned the #1 OVERALL Pick.

not sure what your talking about? we still had an amazing roster just not so great a QB under center post Manning injury 

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I'm intent to see how the free agency plays out after having some success the previous season. Choosing and attracting players will take serious precision. 

 

Ballard has a different philosophy in his approach so far compared to Polian. This coming season, the 3rd with Chris at the helm, we will see just how far their paths diverge. 

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I find it funny how people compare GMs to others and say how 'they do it the right way' and things like that. ALL GMs say 'we're going to build through the draft', 'we want to develop our own', etc....Even Grigson said the same things. I don't think I've ever heard a GM come in somewhere and say, 'Obviously we want to build through free agency and use the draft to fill needs. We want to pay B free agents A money.' Grigson went after too many old free agents after the roster was established and he thought they'd get us over the top. He had a lot of misses through his tenure in all facets but his FAs weren't bad by default just because he spent money. The money needed to be spent, he just went after too many old players and add in a little bad luck with guys like Arthur Jones and he was the disaster he turned out to be. 

 

Where Ballard has impressed me the most is in his convictions on what a guy is worth. A lot of us were all in on Norwell last year, he made an attempt on him, but the guy chose Jacksonville. He didn't just throw a bunch of money at him. Same with Ryan Jensen and Anthony Hitchens. We were all getting our hopes up for them, then their respective teams spent an absolute stupid amount on them, and I breathed a sigh of relief it wasn't us. 

 

We know he's targeted names in free agency, and I expect that to continue. I just like the frugal sense that I get that we aren't going to make someone with chronic knee issues the highest paid player at his position. Smart, supplementary signings like Jabaal Sheard, Denico Autry, and Margus Hunt is how the good ones do it. It's not sexy but it works. 

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?

 

All three Colts GMs signed quite a few free agents when they first got here.   Each GM inherited a bare cupboard (because the last guy just got fired) and they bring in players that fit their schemes right away to have a fieldable team.  Then they drafted and relied less on FA.  

 

Ballard may eventually rely on FA more than the other two if the forum is correct and he's holding back cap to make a splash when the team is competitive.

 

Polian drafted skill players in the first round, Manning, EJ, Wayne, Clark, Dammit Donald, and Anthony Gonzalez.  He also drafted EDGE Freeney and LTs Tony Ugoh and AC in the first round.

 

So far Ballard has drafted a FS and a G in the first round.

 

I don't see a lot of similarity, other than they both sometimes do what all GMs sometimes do.

 

However, Polian seems to have a similar view of positional value as many.

 

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11 minutes ago, The Peytonator said:

I find it funny how people compare GMs to others and say how 'they do it the right way' and things like that. ALL GMs say 'we're going to build through the draft', 'we want to develop our own', etc....Even Grigson said the same things. I don't think I've ever heard a GM come in somewhere and say, 'Obviously we want to build through free agency and use the draft to fill needs. We want to pay B free agents A money.' Grigson went after too many old free agents after the roster was established and he thought they'd get us over the top. He had a lot of misses through his tenure in all facets but his FAs weren't bad by default just because he spent money. The money needed to be spent, he just went after too many old players and add in a little bad luck with guys like Arthur Jones and he was the disaster he turned out to be. 

 

Where Ballard has impressed me the most is in his convictions on what a guy is worth. A lot of us were all in on Norwell last year, he made an attempt on him, but the guy chose Jacksonville. He didn't just throw a bunch of money at him. Same with Ryan Jensen and Anthony Hitchens. We were all getting our hopes up for them, then their respective teams spent an absolute stupid amount on them, and I breathed a sigh of relief it wasn't us. 

 

We know he's targeted names in free agency, and I expect that to continue. I just like the frugal sense that I get that we aren't going to make someone with chronic knee issues the highest paid player at his position. Smart, supplementary signings like Jabaal Sheard, Denico Autry, and Margus Hunt is how the good ones do it. It's not sexy but it works. 

We really don't know how much money he threw at Norwell or Hitchens or Jensen.  Jacksonville was considered a SB contender last off season.  We were not.  For all we know that played a role in where he signed.  Given a choice I would think players would want to be on a contender.  This year it's different for us.  I would think FA's would consider the Colts a pretty good destination point if they want to be on a contender.   Ballard doesn't strike me as the type who would way overpay but I can see him paying a market contract if that is what it takes for a player he thinks would make a difference for us.  The market changes and resets every year.  What looks expensive now won't necessarily look expensive in a year or two.  I think we will now be viewed as contenders.  That changes everything.  JMO.

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1 hour ago, CR91 said:

I don't think their similar. Polian imo never put value at LBers. He would almost never resign them and just let them walk ala Peterson, June, Thornton, Sessions. Also he was never good at picking olinemen and he has come out and said that himself. He did have an eye for getting skill players and pass rushers, ill give him that.

 

Polian put value into the system Dungy had in place.  Peterson wanted to be paid like an All-Pro and Polian let him walk saying he wasn't a superstar, but a product of the system.  None of those players he let walk ever went on to really hurt us (i.e., none of them ever had HOF careers on other teams and the next season we almost always saw the replacement on our team play as well or better than who was let walk).

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=4264011

 

"First off, you've got to have a coach who provides a very specific blueprint as to what he wants at the position," said Polian, five-time recipient of the NFL Executive of the Year Award. "And then [the scouts] follow that blueprint. Part of [the process] is the economical decision, too. There are certain positions that, because of economics, are fungible. That might be different for different teams, but for us linebacker is one of those fungible positions."

 

1 hour ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Polain was good at finding olineman that Mudd wanted.  But after Mudd left then not so much

 

Polian drafted Peyton and we  had one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history starting in his second year.  When Edge got hurt and Rhodes came in and played well, I think Polian realized our offense with Peyton and Marvin didn't have to be a great running offense to win (in the regular season).  Our offense was largely a rhythm offense and the blockers brought in were predominantly good pass protectors.  

 

Ballard seems to be emphasizing much more on being able to win in the trenches if need be, rather than just relying on the pass.  He says this a lot in interviews, basically 'if you want to win in the playoffs you've got to be able to run the ball and stop the run.'  I think a major reason why we only got 1 SB win with Peyton was because Polian was more of the mindset of 'if we can pass the ball and rush the passer after getting a lead, we'll be OK.'  The problem with that was that if we had to go play in bad weather in NE or Pittsburgh we struggled mightily in the playoffs and even at times we struggled at home, as playoff football is a bit different than regular season football.

 

I think some of Ballard's philosophy comes from his development over his career and some probably in part due to inheriting a franchise QB in Luck and seeing how the way Grigs was building the team was causing Luck to get hurt (i.e., not giving him a decent OL and allowing him to play in a system where he had to create a lot of plays all by himself).  

 

Not saying Luck isn't a very good QB.  I think if he can stay healthy and play another 10 or so years, he'll be a HOFer.  That said, Peyton was great enough that the entire team could be built around him and he could win 10+ games (and he also had better weapons surrounding him from the get-go with Marvin and Edge early in his career then Marvin, Dallas, Reggie, etc. later in his career).  We saw a major decline when Peyton went down (much like we saw with Luck).  However, I think Polian always relied too much on Peyton being great and didn't focus the right amount on building teams that could win in the trenches the way Ballard seems to approach it.  

 

54 minutes ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

Having all 22 starters come from your drafts/udfa is not a positive sign for a GM IMO.

That means your bypassing other resources like FA's, Trades, CFL to supplement your team with talent. 

Polian, imo, had a ego and was thinking "look at me what a great drafter I am". Of course, when Peyton missed entire season his roster was exposed as it strugged and earned the #1 OVERALL Pick.

 

I disagree.  Almost all teams that are perennial powerhouses are primarily built on pieces they brought in and developed with FAs usually just filling a gap.  Unless it is a QB moving teams, it's pretty rare that a free agent puts a team 'over the hump' (see Peyton in Denver).

 

Look at the Patriots for example... since their SB in 2002 here is a list of probowl/allpro players on their team who were drafted by them (or initially signed to the NFL w/ NE from CFL or undrafted): 

 

Brady, Bruschi, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Damien Woody, Richard Seymour, Adam Vinatieri, Stephen Gostkowski, Rob Gronkowski, Troy Brown, Willie McGinest, Devin McCourty, Villmer, Jerod Mayo, Brendan Merriwether, Vince Wilfork, D'onta Hightower, Jaime Collins, Chandler Jones, Matt Slater, Malcolm Butler, Asante Samuel, Dan Koppen, Matt Light, Logan Mankins (a total of 26)

 

vs.  guys who started their career elsewhere:

 

Mike Vrabel, Develin (FB), Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Andre Carter, Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon, Larry Izzo, Brian Waters (a total of 9). 

 

Of the FAs they brought in, only Randy Moss was very prolific prior to coming to NE.  Vrabel had 2 seasons of less than 20 tackles to start his career.  Andre Carter was on his way to being a total bust.  Dillon was at the tail end of his career.  Izzo was a STer.  Welker was an average WR who turned into a perennial pro-bowler with Brady...

 

__________________

I agree with you, we shouldn't rely 100% on the draft and if the right FA makes sense, we can't shy from it.  However, Ballard clearly isn't doing that.  He is just not going to break the bank on a guy who is not worth it, especially not just because the guy might be a household name (look how well that worked for Grigson...).  

 

Our current team has a nice mix of young players.  Many of whom were brought in through the draft and developed in Indy and some who came from elsewhere (Autry, Ebron, Sheard, Woods, Glowinski, Slauson, Grant, Vinatieri, Desir, Hunt, etc.. were all guys who started their career elsewhere and who played a big role on our team last year). 

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1 hour ago, Shadow_Creek said:

not sure what your talking about? we still had an amazing roster just not so great a QB under center post Manning injury 

 

We definitely had numerous playmakers on both sides of the ball. Major props to Polian for Freeney, Mathis, Sanders, Reggie, Garcon etc...

But without Manning it fell apart and not being prepared for a injury to Peyton. 

 

Obviously Irsay wasn't satisfied which is why I presume he was fired.

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I’m all for building through the draft. I really am. However, occasionally you have got to add a piece here or there through FA that may cost a little money. 

 

I’m hopeful that after this season everyone saw how well this team did and we become a more attractive spot for free agents to come to. 

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3 hours ago, Superman said:

 

Ballard signed a ton of free agents in 2017. Six of them got multi year deals. He really pulled back in 2018, only signing two free agents to multi year deals, but he also added Grant, Slauson and Howard, who all had opportunity to lock down starting jobs.

 

I think he was forced to sign more than he probably wanted since the cabinet he inherited was so bare. 

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3 hours ago, Chloe6124 said:

I was watching a video last night and was reminded how when the colts won the SB 22 of the starters were players the colts drafted or were undrafted. That is how you build a SB team.

That is not true:  Booger, AV, Harper, Stokely and Saturday were all FA signings

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7 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

That is not true:  Booger, AV, Harper, Stokely and Saturday were all FA signings

I said 22 of the starters from the SB were either colt draft picks or undrafted free agents. I never said all of them or was I talking backups or depth playerz.

 

I wasn’t saying they get the same kind of players. I was saying they both are building the core of the team through the draft. That doesn’doesn’t mean you don’t get a few FA.

 

I also never said there philosophy on how a team is built is the same. It is very different. The main point was that the core players are your own.

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1 minute ago, Chloe6124 said:

I said 22 of the starters from the SB were either colt draft picks or undrafted free agents. I never said all of them or was I talking backups or depth playerz.

 

I wasn’t saying they get the same kind of players. I was saying they both are building the core of the team through the draft. That doesn’doesn’t mean you don’t get a few FA.

 

I also never said there philosophy on how a team is built is the same. It is very different. The main point was that the core players are your own.

There are only 22 starters on the team.  25 if you count ST.  All of the players I mentioned were starters not backup or depth players (although I'm not sure what the difference is between a back-up and a depth player)

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14 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

That is not true:  Booger, AV, Harper, Stokely and Saturday were all FA signings

Booger was a trade not a free agent signing.

 

stokely was on IR and wasn’t a “starter” he was basically a sixth man in basketball

 

saturday was an undrafted free agent pick up.  Yes he was with the Ravens briefly before he landed in Indy but he never played a game for them so he’s pretty much viewed as an undrafted free agent pick up.

 

harper was an undrafted free agent pick up from the CFL.

 

Adam was the only true free agent pick up starter in the super bowl.  

 

So all but two of the starters if you are counting the kickers were home grown.  I think that was more her point.

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1 hour ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

We definitely had numerous playmakers on both sides of the ball. Major props to Polian for Freeney, Mathis, Sanders, Reggie, Garcon etc...

But without Manning it fell apart and not being prepared for a injury to Peyton. 

 

Obviously Irsay wasn't satisfied which is why I presume he was fired.

And right after Polian was fired, Irsay said he wanted a 34 defense like the Chargers/Pats/Steelers defenses that always gave Manning fits, and he wanted a power running game.

 

It wasn't just Polian Irsay was tired of, he was tired of the schemes that only provided PM with one SB.  He didn't go so far as to say the last part, but it seems obvious to me.

 

IMO, Ballard is taking a different approach to building the schemes.  He's trying to get more balance than Polian had, not that he's focusing on how Polian did it..

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1 hour ago, lollygagger8 said:

 

I think he was forced to sign more than he probably wanted since the cabinet he inherited was so bare. 

The cabinet is always bare for a new GM...its why the old one got fired.  Both Polian and Grigson also signed FA early in their tenures because they started off with bad rosters left over from their predecessors.  I'd bet all GMs are in the same boat when they first start off with their new team.  In that sense, all three of our recent GMs took the same approach to free agency early in their tenures.

 

Edit:  As did Polian's Predecessor Bill Tobin, who inherited a bare roster from young GM Jim Irsay.  Tobin signed LT Will Wolford, C Kirk Lowdermilk, and DE Tony Bennet.  All of these were pretty high profile FAs and all earned their money immediately with the Colts.

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11 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Booger was a trade not a free agent signing.

Trade of FA, still not someone that he drafted or signed as an undrafted FA

Quote

 

stokely was on IR and wasn’t a “starter” he was basically a sixth man in basketball

He was a starter before he was on IR and a FA signing.  I thought the conversation was about the year the Colts went to the SB not the SB game only.

Quote

 

saturday was an undrafted free agent pick up.  Yes he was with the Ravens briefly before he landed in Indy but he never played a game for them so he’s pretty much viewed as an undrafted free agent pick up.

Saturday was an UDFA of the Ravens, he was a FA signings of the Colts.  I don't really care how you "view" it.  Also I amde a mistake he was working in a electrical supply store, not a grocery store.

Quote

 

harper was an undrafted free agent pick up from the CFL.

Yup, he was the one I mentioned before about getting players from the CFL.

Quote

 

Adam was the only true free agent pick up starter in the super bowl.  

That is not true.

Quote

 

So all but two of the starters if you are counting the kickers were home grown.  I think that was more her point.

That is not true either.

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22 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Trade of FA, still not someone that he drafted or signed as an undrafted FA

He was a starter before he was on IR and a FA signing.  I thought the conversation was about the year the Colts went to the SB not the SB game only.

Saturday was an UDFA of the Ravens, he was a FA signings of the Colts.  I don't really care how you "view" it.  Also I amde a mistake he was working in a electrical supply store, not a grocery store.

Yup, he was the one I mentioned before about getting players from the CFL.

That is not true.

That is not true either.

Actually it is true.  Booger and Adam were the only players on that team that were starters that weren’t drafted or signed with the Colts as undrafted free agents.  

 

Again Stokely wasn’t a “starter” the Colts started two tight ends rather than three WRs.  Stokely only played in four games that year starting one.  That hardly makes him a starter.  

 

Her larger point was the Colts were largely home grown and not built via free agents from other teams.  

 

Adam was the only guy for the Colts who started in the Super Bowl who was a free agent pick up from another team and no one is going to count Saturday as a true free agent pickup from another team unless you are trying to win a technicality argument.  

 

The only other guy that wasn’t an UDFA or draft pick who started was Booger.  

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2 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

We definitely had numerous playmakers on both sides of the ball. Major props to Polian for Freeney, Mathis, Sanders, Reggie, Garcon etc...

But without Manning it fell apart and not being prepared for a injury to Peyton. 

 

Obviously Irsay wasn't satisfied which is why I presume he was fired.

You just mentioned a name I had forgot about. Wouldn’t it be fun to have garçon back with Hilton. To bad he is getting older and has been injured so much. He will probably be retiring soon. He could be fun until we groomed some recievers. I wish we would of kept him.

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5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

Actually it is true.  Booger and Adam were the only players on that team that were starters that weren’t drafted or signed with the Colts as undrafted free agents.  

Again, the actual players and numbers contradict that.

5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

 

Again Stokely wasn’t a “starter” the Colts started two tight ends rather than three WRs.  Stokely only played in four games that year starting one.  That hardly makes him a starter.

In 2006 that is true, but he was signed as a FA in 2003 and played starter snaps.  But I will remove him from the starter list if that helps you sleep at night.

5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

 

Her larger point was the Colts were largely home grown and not built via free agents from other teams.  

That's fine nor was I arguing that point, just that 22 starers were drafted or signed as UDFA.  Which was not true

5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

 

Adam was the only guy for the Colts who started in the Super Bowl who was a free agent pick up from another team and no one is going to count Saturday as a true free agent pickup from another team unless you are trying to win a technicality argument.  

Whatever you say.

5 minutes ago, GoColts8818 said:

 

The only other guy that wasn’t an UDFA or draft pick who started was Booger.  

And oh, yeah Raheem Brock, who was drafted by the Eagles and claimed off waivers.

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25 minutes ago, Coffeedrinker said:

Again, the actual players and numbers contradict that.

In 2006 that is true, but he was signed as a FA in 2003 and played starter snaps.  But I will remove him from the starter list if that helps you sleep at night.

That's fine nor was I arguing that point, just that 22 starers were drafted or signed as UDFA.  Which was not true

Whatever you say.

And oh, yeah Raheem Brock, who was drafted by the Eagles and claimed off waivers.

Brock never played for the Eagles they let him go because they ran out of money to sign him.  So his first action was as a Colt.  He was basically an undrafted free agent pickup for the Colts.

 

As far as Stokley the OP was specifically talking about the 06 championship team.  He wasn’t a starter on that team.  

 

The Colts starters that year can be found here.

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/clt/2006_roster.htm

 

If you count the kickers 22 of the 24 starters were drafted by the Colts Or signed as undrafted free agents.  The only two not drafted by the Colts or signed as undrafted free agents (which Brock essentially was due to the Eagles running out of money to sign him) were Booger and Adam.  The only real starter for the bulk of the season they have listed that didn’t play a major role in the Super Bowl was Gardner who was replaced by Morris a Colts draft pick.

 

again you are splitting hairs over the original posters main point.  The Colts team in 2006 that won the Super Bowl was largely home grown not built on big name free agents from other teams.

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