PFF Ranks Ballard In 2nd Tier (MERGE)

[VikingsFanInChennai]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:29 AM, Solid84 said:

Oof, yeah, Belichick tier 1? That puts a big question mark this overall ranking in my opinion. 
 

Edit: Didn’t even see Jones in tier 1. Just saw Belichick and went WHAT?! Jones has no place in tier 1 either. 

Jones may not be top tier..

 

But, Cowboys roster is top tier. Has been recently for few years at least. In both defense and offense, in draft and free agency. 

 

That makes you think Jones could be okay being there.

 

I think somebody else does the GM job, and Jerry Jones get the actual name in these rankings. Jerry Jones would like to be in a yacht somewhere, last year even on draft day broadcast.

 

Belichick shouldn't be top tier for sure. 

[ColtStrong2013]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:51 PM, Jared Cisneros said:

He was willing to splurge. That's it. Not saying he was good at it. He just had the willingness to do it. If Ballard had the same willingness to spend in FA as Grigson, he could do it better and we'd fill in weaknesses that are impossible to only fill through the draft. 

I think that is largely a change in philosophy from the ownership. Jim wanted Grigson to be very aggressive in FA. Mike Bluem controls the cap space and basically presents what they can and cannot do, and does it very well. So even under Grigson, we were never in bad cap shape. But he dished out some big time contracts to guys that did not pan out. He also traded a big pick or two for players that didn’t pan out. 
 

Ballard got this job with a presentation of cost cutting measures and a focus on the draft, which is where he had most experience and success. Hiring CB was a total philosophy change and continues to be that being aggressive in FA doesn’t generally work and the more logical route is to acquire as many picks as you can, and try and hit/retain as many strong players as you can. 

I can say it until my face is blue, but I don’t think there is comparison between Ballard and Grigson. Grigson inherited a franchise left tackle, (HOF caliber) pass rusher, #1 (also likely HOF) receiver and the Andrew Luck sweepstakes, which have been the premium positions Ballard’s struggled to land/develop. This team over the last few years has been more competitive against top teams in the regular season, even in last year atrocious season (beating Kansas City, taking the Eagles to the brink, etc) than we saw with Grigson’s teams. Andrew Luck was the difference in record, and I’m not sure you can dispute it. How many close games has this team played the last several years with backup (if even that) caliber qb play? The difference in winning those games and making playoff runs was Andrew Luck.