Ballard Predraft press conference 12pm

[stitches]

2 minutes ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

I think I'd take Tillery too. This is a simplified take but I think Tillery is the higher ceiling guy while Wilkins is the higher floor/lower ceiling guy. Although I don't think Tillery's floor is that low.

I agree. Wilkins is not bad by any stretch of the imagination and I'd take him with 26 too... but I just have Tillery ranked super high and I think his pass-rush upside is much higher so... I have to go with that if both are on the board. 

[Stephen]

Hollywood brown

[Steamboat_Shaun]

23 minutes ago, stitches said:

I take Tillery easy over Wilkins. But that's just me... with or without tipped passes. 

 

13 minutes ago, Fisticuffs111 said:

I think I'd take Tillery too. This is a simplified take but I think Tillery is the higher ceiling guy while Wilkins is the higher floor/lower ceiling guy. Although I don't think Tillery's floor is that low.

 

You guys Notre Dame fans by chance?

[stitches]

Just now, Steamboat_Shaun said:

You guys Notre Dame fans by chance?

I'm not. 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

1 minute ago, stitches said:

I'm not. 

 

I had to ask being that both teams reside in Indiana & there's a ton of overlap between the 2 fanbases.

[stitches]

3 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

I had to ask being that both teams reside in Indiana & there's a ton of overlap between the 2 fanbases.

Understandable, but yeah. I have no college team rooting interest in this one. I just like Tillery better. (on the field that is... Wilkins seems to be drawing rave reviews about his off-field/leadership/character stuff, while like we discussed earlier Tillery is drawing some questions about being too well-rounded outside of football... I don't know how to evaluate those and I haven't talked to them so... I defer to who I like on the field and leave the character evaluation to the pros(Ballard and the Colts FO))

[ColtStrong2013]

Man, the offseason is enjoyable when it's Ballard running things. So approachable for the media and fans. Very direct and honest to the process without showing his hand. I have always been a fan of the day to day moves in the offseason leading up to the draft, but this is on a different level. Complete confidence in this GM and scouting department. 

[horseshoecrabs]

I still think if we stayed at our pick, that it wont be any of the so called fashionable players you think he might pick. so just enjoy the ride and don't get your hopes up too much on a  player you think we should have on your board. 

[Jackie Daytona]

2 hours ago, Shafty138 said:

I'm starting to think Ben Banogu is a DE they may have rated a lot higher on their board than some teams....

Hey!  right now, Venturi is on JMV talking up Banogu as in the same tier as Tillery, talent wise, and is his pick as a Ballard early target that everyone will say is a reach by 2 rounds.... lol....

 

Not that it means anything, but at least I'm not on an island here....

[DraftMaster]

I'm so glad that Chris Ballard is our GM, he has done an amazing job here in just 2 years! No matter who he picks this week I will trust that he made the right pick. His success last year warrants full trust from the fans. In Ballard We Trust!

[Smonroe]

4 hours ago, PeterBowman said:

One thing that is 100% certain.....people will whine,complain, pitch a fit no matter what happens......thinking only the 1st round matters etc.

 

Why, I can't see that happening at all!

 

 

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, horseshoecrabs said:

I still think if we stayed at our pick, that it wont be any of the so called fashionable players you think he might pick. so just enjoy the ride and don't get your hopes up too much on a  player you think we should have on your board. 

Exactly- Ballard said his board does not look like what others might think.

Pretty telling IMO.

[BOTT]

4 hours ago, stitches said:

Too smart and 'worldly'... Might have actually read some books while in college. NFL teams cannot have that. Might read about CTE in some book and decide he doesn't want to play football anymore. 

Old school NFL guys don't like defensive linemen with too much "learning" in them......

[horseshoecrabs]

We are not going to appeal to them period, enough said .

[Fisticuffs111]

3 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

 

You guys Notre Dame fans by chance?

My Dad is, and I watch games with him sometimes, but I don't consider myself a fan of theirs. On the other hand, I actually like Clemson a lot in terms of the defensive talent they churn out. Like Dexter Lawrence, love him, would love to have him here, I think he's underrated by most on this board.

I admit it's a hard choice between Tillery and Wilkins though and I don't think you could go wrong with either guy. In the beginning of my whole looking into prospects, I liked Wilkins more.

[LockeDown]

If 17-70 are pretty much the same, Ballard will probably blow Kiper and McShays mind. 

[GoColtsGo5150]

14 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

I don't think Lawrence is a fit for this D.  However, maybe they want to take it in a different direction.  One huge monster at NT to occupy 2 O linemen.  Then let the other 3 D linemen wreck havoc. Would remind me when we had Cory Simon and he was over weight. 

Oh yeah,  I would certainly argue that Wilkins is more of a fit for our D than Lawrence. I just chose Lawrence due to the fact we've reportedly met with him a few times (we haven't necessarily heard that for Wilkins.)

 

13 hours ago, superrep1967 said:

Who do you think will still be there at 26?

I feel like most of them except Burns and maybe Jacobs and Simmons will be there. Unfortunately the one I would want out of those 8 would be Burns. I like Abram but I feel like he could be around at 34 (and if he's not there still will be other good safeties on the board.)

[crazycolt1]

1 hour ago, GoColtsGo5150 said:

Oh yeah,  I would certainly argue that Wilkins is more of a fit for our D than Lawrence. I just chose Lawrence due to the fact we've reportedly met with him a few times (we haven't necessarily heard that for Wilkins.)

 

I wouldn't put too much into the meetings of players.

Could be a multiple meet of one player is there is some unanswered questions?

We drafted Q last year without meeting him at all.

Just saying.

We never know.

[coltsfeva]

    The one thing Polian regretted was not getting a difference maker at DT. When they did get one (MacFarlan), they got to the SB.

     I hope Lawrence is there at 26 but after seeing the, “ With the next pick” series and hearing Ballard in this conference, I’m cool with whatever they do. 

[richard pallo]

19 hours ago, MTC said:

Love Ballard's tease at the end.

 

"I'll see you all Thursday... or maybe not, maybe Friday".

Hmmm.  Maybe it's a little tease about a possible Frank Clark trade that could be coming that could change things for Thursday.  Was he flashing a big smile?  LOL.

[krunk]

15 hours ago, Shafty138 said:

Hey!  right now, Venturi is on JMV talking up Banogu as in the same tier as Tillery, talent wise, and is his pick as a Ballard early target that everyone will say is a reach by 2 rounds.... lol....

 

Not that it means anything, but at least I'm not on an island here....

I think Banogu is every bit as good as Burns to be honest. The numbers bear it out as well.

[krunk]

18 hours ago, Moosejawcolt said:

I don't think Lawrence is a fit for this D.  However, maybe they want to take it in a different direction.  One huge monster at NT to occupy 2 O linemen.  Then let the other 3 D linemen wreck havoc. Would remind me when we had Cory Simon and he was over weight. 

Clemsons D is very similar to our D. Lawrence fits just fine.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

6 hours ago, LockeDown said:

If 17-70 are pretty much the same, Ballard will probably blow Kiper and McShays mind. 

 

I'll be interested to see what they have to say about Mayocks' draft.

 

Will they praise Mayock because he's their buddy and they want insider info from him in the future?  Or praise him because they want to follow in his footsteps and become NFL GMs themselves?  Will they trash him because they're jealous he's a GM and they're still just analysts?

 

All I know is if Kiper trashes Mayock, and Mayock fires back with "Who the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?  My mailman knows more than him."  I will instantly become a Mayock/Raider fan. 

[shasta519]

I agree with Ballard about it getting hazy from like 15-60. So many players in that range.

 

Can’t wait to see what he does. Really hoping for one of those WRs.

[NewColtsFan]

1 hour ago, shastamasta said:

I agree with Ballard about it getting hazy from like 15-60. So many players in that range.

 

Can’t wait to see what he does. Really hoping for one of those WRs.

 

Forgive me.....

 

But just for clarification....      Ballard actually said from roughly picks 15-70 (not 60)...     that's a Big Honken spread!

 

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, NewColtsFan said:

 

Forgive me.....

 

But just for clarification....      Ballard actually said from roughly picks 15-70 (not 60)...     that's a Big Honken spread!

 

 

It is. I don't think the early 3rd round picks will be on par with the late 1st round picks...but I do think we probably see some guys who are mocked late 1st round end up in late 2nd round.

[throwing BBZ]

On 4/22/2019 at 2:36 PM, Moosejawcolt said:

I don't think Lawrence is a fit for this D.  However, maybe they want to take it in a different direction.  One huge monster at NT to occupy 2 O linemen.  Then let the other 3 D linemen wreck havoc. Would remind me when we had Cory Simon and he was over weight. 

 

 He is a great fit. He will be proving it somewhere. 
 We got run all over by KC in our 4-2 and you are begging for more of it.

  It is nice to beat mediocre teams in the regular season, some have higher expectations come playoff time when it matters.

[EastStreet]

On 4/22/2019 at 3:45 PM, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

My biggest concern with Tillery is that he didn't have a single tipped pass in his entire career at Notre Dame. It probably seems like a small thing, but it's a trait that separates good interior d-line players from great ones at the NFL level. By comparison, Christian Wilkins had 15 throughout his college tenure.

he blocked 2 kicks last year, caused 3 fumbles, and had 5 QBHs to go along with his 10.5 TFLs and 8 Sacks. not sure how many NTs/DTs i've seen block kicks.

[EastStreet]

7 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 He is a great fit. He will be proving it somewhere. 
 We got run all over by KC in our 4-2 and you are begging for more of it.

  It is nice to beat mediocre teams in the regular season, some have higher expectations come playoff time when it matters.

he'll be an early down guy, and likely take a rest on passing downs year one.

i'm ok with that. 

and yes, KC ran all over us

 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

On 4/23/2019 at 9:21 PM, Irish YJ said:

he blocked 2 kicks last year, caused 3 fumbles, and had 5 QBHs to go along with his 10.5 TFLs and 8 Sacks. not sure how many NTs/DTs i've seen block kicks.

 

That's impressive, but if we take him with in the 1st round my guess is that his special teams days are probably over.

[EastStreet]

6 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

That's impressive, but if we take him with in the 1st round my guess is that his special teams days are probably over.

with his height and arms at DT/NT, I could see him playing vs punts and FGs

especially if they use him a passing down specialist in his first year.