Ballard getting Love!

[PrincetonTiger]

2 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

Interesting. I love and appreciate what Luck did for the Colts. I will never forget him. 

Same here in TigerTown 

[shasta519]

13 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

In 2018, the Pro Football Writers Association named him executive of the year. The year he drafted Nelson, Leonard, and Smith and hired Reich. We went 10-6 that year and won a playoff game at Houston. There are not many in here but a few Ballard haters but they know had Luck not retired we would've probably won a SB by now or at least made the AFC Title Game (KC is a bear). That would set any GM back when you have a great QB like that retire on the fly.

 

I will play devil's advocate here. I think it's a big assumption to say they "probably" would have won a SB or even got to the AFCC.

 

The 2019 Colts would have certainly better. But the flip side to that is that it also means the 2020 offseason likely plays out much differently. You can't assume they are able to get DeFo OR Taylor. The JB money would have been useful though, assuming they used it. But that offseason could have looked pretty different.

 

But moreso, Rivers' passing efficiency (EPA) was on par with Luck's in 2018 (even if you take out his first handful of ramp up games). And the pts/drive for the 2018 and 2020 offenses were nearly identical.

 

So it's possible that Luck could have kept getting better from 2018 on, but he was excellent in 2018. So it's still not a guarantee that they would have been a higher scoring offense.

 

Obviously, we would feel better about the Colts offense with Luck though.

[NannyMcafee]

20 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

Interesting. I love and appreciate what Luck did for the Colts. I will never forget him. 

 

As much as he did, he left a career unfinished... im a Colts fan first and foremost. I am more attached to the likes of Reggie Wayne, Peyton Manning, TY Hilton, because they have been here a long time. I am less attached to the likes of Edge, or Andrew. Both great players. Highly talented. But theres a reason im willing to forget them over others. 

 

If Carson comes here and balls out during a time where the Colts were in QB purgatory, in the end, ill love Carson more than I did Andrew because of what he did for the organization. 

 

Im a Colts fan first. The more you help my team the more I like you. 

[NannyMcafee]

3 hours ago, gspdx said:

 

Not only would that have set any GM back, it could have spelled the end to that GMs time in the organization.  The ability to find a decent replacement QB is a pretty tall order and we have seen over the years some GMs just don't get it done.  Ballard, rather than do what many GMs do, has looked into every option to replace Luck.  An even if we haven't been to the SB or AFC championship, Ballard has kept this team competitive.  

 

Many GMs follow the route of trading away the future of a team to move up in the draft and get a rookie who has a 50/50 shot of being any good.  And then it is too difficult to build the team to support that rookie because so much draft capital is traded away.  Ballard wasn't willing to get desperate and overpay.  

 

We might want Ballard to move faster, or we might disagree with some of the players he has drafted-traded for, but he has done an excellent job of altering his plan once his franchise QB disappeared and continuing to improve the team.  And just maybe he found a guy that can get the job done at QB.  We will see.

 

Its not just the being competitive. He had been filling holes left and right and his players show improvement or at least consistency minus so far, the pass rush. Hopefully that changes this year. 

 

When you see the team improve at various positions and show growth it is more exciting that to be competitive like say, the Bengals. 

 

Here's to an exciting season. 

[chad72]

13 hours ago, John Waylon said:

I was just thinking the same thing. What exactly were they rating on? 

 

Maybe the ability to make it easy for agents of FA players to use his offer as leverage for other teams to outbid??? Easy to leverage because of his reputation, for the agents???

 

Don't shoot the messenger. It has happened several times with free agents.

[stitches]

39 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

Dammit...I thought they traded for Jordan Love. Where is @stitches 

I know, right? My heart skipped a beat when I saw the title... Alas... Ballard is just getting general appreciation. Imagine how much love he would have gotten had he gotten Jordan Love.  

[PrincetonTiger]

17 minutes ago, stitches said:

I know, right? My heart skipped a beat when I saw the title... Alas... Ballard is just getting general appreciation. Imagine how much love he would have gotten had he gotten Jordan Love.  

 

[NewColtsFan]

5 hours ago, The Fish said:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 

 

 

Ballard is the best? I figured he'd be top 5 no matter how you split it, but best? Bar set. 

We’re talking from an agents perspective. 

[shasta519]

13 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

How come we don't hate the Titans for injuring Luck or the Broncos for turning him into a pretzel?

 

Or why not Luck for hurting the same shoulder on a snowboard. Or Chud for calling deep dropbacks all the time. Or Pagano for not replacing Chud.

 

I mean...Grigson was gone in 2017 and JB got sacked 52x. If JB had gotten hurt, whose fault would that have been then? 

 

Grigson "shoulders" some of the blame sure...but there are many parties to "blame" for what happened to Luck. So I have never understood why Grigson is the big villain here. 

 

Ultimately, football is a contact sport and injuries happen (they happened to much of Luck's OL during his time here too, which was a huge reason why it never gelled). And Luck had a very physical style of play. We all thought he was invincible until he wasn't. It's unfortunate, but it's part of the game. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, stitches said:

I know, right? My heart skipped a beat when I saw the title... Alas... Ballard is just getting general appreciation. Imagine how much love he would have gotten had he gotten Jordan Love.  

 

Be still my beating heart.

[ColtV]

15 hours ago, CR91 said:

 

How come we don't hate the Titans for injuring Luck or the Broncos for turning him into a pretzel?

What if the hate was already there for those teams?

[PrincetonTiger]

44 minutes ago, ColtV said:

What if the hate was already there for those teams?

Bingo

[Lawrence Owen]

Yeah, I hear nothing but love for Ballard, from almost everywhere.

 

D'Qwell Jackson even had praise for him, on how he is building the organization, on my first sit down with D'Qwell yesterday.  (And he even mentioned how he had nothing but respect for how Ballard released him.)

[PrincetonTiger]

24 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

Yeah, I hear nothing but love for Ballard, from almost everywhere.

 

D'Qwell Jackson even had praise for him, on how he is building the organization, on my first sit down with D'Qwell yesterday.  (And he even mentioned how he had nothing but respect for how Ballard released him.)

[Myles]

There are only 2 Grigson draftees on the current Colts team.  Kelly and Hilton.  

 

2012 

#1 Andrew Luck

#34 Coby Fleener 

#64 Dwayne Allen 

#92 T.Y. Hilton 

#136 Josh Chapman 

#170 Vick Ballard 

#206 LaVon Brazill 

#208 Justin Anderson 

#214 Tim Fugger 

#253 Chandler Harnish 

2013 – 

#24 Bjoern Werner 

#86 Hugh Thornton 

#121Khaled Holmes 

#139 Montori Hughes 

#192 John Boyett 

#230 Kerwynn Williams 

#254 Justice Cunningham 

2014 – 

#59 Jack Mewhort 

#90 Donte Moncrief

#166 Jonathan Newsome 

#203 Andrew Jackson 

#232 Ulrick John 

2015 – 

#29 Phillip Dorsett 

#65 D’Joun Smith 

#93 Henry Anderson 

#109 Clayton Geathers 

#151 David Parry 

#205 Josh Robinson 

#207 Amarlo Herrera 

#255 Denzelle Good 

2016 – 

#18 Ryan Kelly 

#57 T.J. Green 

#82 Le’Raven Clark 

#116 Hassan Ridgeway 

#125 Antonio Morrison 

#155 Joe Haeg 

#239 Trevor Bates 

#248 Austin Blythe 

[PrincetonTiger]

48 minutes ago, Myles said:

There are only 2 Grigson draftees on the current Colts team.  Kelly and Hilton.  

 

2012 

#1 Andrew Luck

#34 Coby Fleener 

#64 Dwayne Allen 

#92 T.Y. Hilton 

#136 Josh Chapman 

#170 Vick Ballard 

#206 LaVon Brazill 

#208 Justin Anderson 

#214 Tim Fugger 

#253 Chandler Harnish 

2013 – 

#24 Bjoern Werner 

#86 Hugh Thornton 

#121Khaled Holmes 

#139 Montori Hughes 

#192 John Boyett 

#230 Kerwynn Williams 

#254 Justice Cunningham 

2014 – 

#59 Jack Mewhort 

#90 Donte Moncrief

#166 Jonathan Newsome 

#203 Andrew Jackson 

#232 Ulrick John 

2015 – 

#29 Phillip Dorsett 

#65 D’Joun Smith 

#93 Henry Anderson 

#109 Clayton Geathers 

#151 David Parry 

#205 Josh Robinson 

#207 Amarlo Herrera 

#255 Denzelle Good 

2016 – 

#18 Ryan Kelly 

#57 T.J. Green 

#82 Le’Raven Clark 

#116 Hassan Ridgeway 

#125 Antonio Morrison 

#155 Joe Haeg 

#239 Trevor Bates 

#248 Austin Blythe 

Not many of RG draftees are even in the league 

[RockThatBlue]

21 hours ago, CR91 said:

And yet you still get those who think he's doing a terrible job which is nonsense.

Though no GM is perfect, I think I'd have a hard time wanting someone else over Ballard. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

4 hours ago, Myles said:

There are only 2 Grigson draftees on the current Colts team.  Kelly and Hilton.  

 

2012 

#1 Andrew Luck

#34 Coby Fleener 

#64 Dwayne Allen 

#92 T.Y. Hilton 

#136 Josh Chapman 

#170 Vick Ballard 

#206 LaVon Brazill 

#208 Justin Anderson 

#214 Tim Fugger 

#253 Chandler Harnish 

2013 – 

#24 Bjoern Werner 

#86 Hugh Thornton 

#121Khaled Holmes 

#139 Montori Hughes 

#192 John Boyett 

#230 Kerwynn Williams 

#254 Justice Cunningham 

2014 – 

#59 Jack Mewhort 

#90 Donte Moncrief

#166 Jonathan Newsome 

#203 Andrew Jackson 

#232 Ulrick John 

2015 – 

#29 Phillip Dorsett 

#65 D’Joun Smith 

#93 Henry Anderson 

#109 Clayton Geathers 

#151 David Parry 

#205 Josh Robinson 

#207 Amarlo Herrera 

#255 Denzelle Good 

2016 – 

#18 Ryan Kelly 

#57 T.J. Green 

#82 Le’Raven Clark 

#116 Hassan Ridgeway 

#125 Antonio Morrison 

#155 Joe Haeg 

#239 Trevor Bates 

#248 Austin Blythe 

 

How many are still here from ballards first draft? 

[PrincetonTiger]

21 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

How many are still here from ballards first draft? 

Not sure