Ballard clock ticking: Opportunity or Failure

[LJpalmbeacher2]

On 8/31/2024 at 12:59 PM, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

I'll always wonder what might have been had Pagano not been able to return and Bruce Arians led this team for the next several years...

 

Luck's career may have been shorter. 

Arians offense was pass deep and with the colts shaky OL was not a good combination in keeping your QB healthy.

[ColtStrong2013]

3 hours ago, LJpalmbeacher2 said:

 

Luck's career may have been shorter. 

Arians offense was pass deep and with the colts shaky OL was not a good combination in keeping your QB healthy.

Yeah we discussed that. I don't disagree. Might have had more success though in what was already a short career. Regardless, no consistency with offensive scheme. I can imagine that is hard to roster build too, which is all on Grigson for allowing it to happen, regardless.  I'd rather have an offensive coach calling the shots and developing consistency with the quarterback (especially with someone like Andrew Luck) than on defense. You can keep the same defense in place and fill the coordinator spot based on your overall plan, which is why Ballard's philosophy makes more sense than the constant shuffling we did under Grigson, even if the qb position wasn't sorted out, and Reich didn't work out. The plan is obvious. 

[Hoose]

I know it’s been said before, but it bears restating: as goes AR goes Ballard. If AR turns out as special as we all hope, Ballard is going nowhere because this team will be headed for some good years ahead. If AR turns out to be a major disappointment or if he gets seriously injured once again, Ballard’s tenure will be over IMO. It will be time to start the QB search all over again, and that will almost certainly start with a new GM. 
Heres hoping for good days ahead with AR. 

[crazycolt1]

On 9/2/2024 at 6:35 PM, Hoose said:

I know it’s been said before, but it bears restating: as goes AR goes Ballard. If AR turns out as special as we all hope, Ballard is going nowhere because this team will be headed for some good years ahead. If AR turns out to be a major disappointment or if he gets seriously injured once again, Ballard’s tenure will be over IMO. It will be time to start the QB search all over again, and that will almost certainly start with a new GM. 
Heres hoping for good days ahead with AR. 

One thing to alway keep in mind that AR doesn't have a chance without a team full of talented players and that is all on Ballard.  

[tfunky14]

5 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

One thing to alway keep in mind that AR doesn't have a chance without a team full of talented players and that is all on Ballard.  

wow, never thought of that.  

[csmopar]

7 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

One thing to alway keep in mind that AR doesn't have a chance without a team full of talented players and that is all on Ballard.  

We have talented players… just not at the flashy positions 

[throwing BBZ]

8 hours ago, crazycolt1 said:

One thing to alway keep in mind that AR doesn't have a chance without a team full of talented players and that is all on Ballard.  

 

 I think Very Little of the information accumulated for the creation of our draft board comes from Ballard. The movement ups come from others pounding the table, and moving downs are calculated by opposition need studies, and yes the love for more shots.

 And his FA strategy is heavily weighed on input from his highly trusted Capologist who is also our contract negotiator.

 Our roster is an accumulation of input from dozens, and I see the best overall talent here since our SB years. But the same can be said for all of our divisional opponents.

 The competition in the AFC is Incredible. And we certainly look to be a 2025 and beyond team. 

 How fast can Steichen, Jim Bob and Reggie get AR and his receivers on the same page?

 Can our secondary make enough plays?

 

[CoachLite]

4 hours ago, csmopar said:

We have talented players… just not at the flashy positions 

I wonder if we have the coaching to get adequate performance from the players we have? This season will tell.

[stitches]

5 hours ago, csmopar said:

We have talented players… just not at the flashy positions 

We might have flashiest player at the flashiest position. Lets just hope he's good... and healthy. 

[OLD FAN MAN]

4 hours ago, stitches said:

We might have flashiest player at the flashiest position. Lets just hope he's good... and healthy. 

i hope he can cause our receivers to have some flash

[csmopar]

7 hours ago, CoachLite said:

I wonder if we have the coaching to get adequate performance from the players we have? This season will tell.

I think so. 

[Two_pound]

This is for all the uninformed Ballard dissenters on here who have a very short memory. Do yourselves a favor and go back to the 2014 season and watch games. The game against the Redskins was a microcosm of the whole season so I'll use it in this example. First off, Gosder Cherilous gave up a strip sack to Ryan Kerrigan on the first play from scrimmage as Kerrigan ran right around him. But the main focus of this post will be the defense. Many of the starters were not drafted. Ricky Jean Fransois and Arther Jones were the tackles with Cory Redding, Josh Chapman and Montori Hughes backups(they were draft picks). Linebackers Dqwell Jackson and Jerrel Freeman(both free agents) Eric Waldon and Bjorn Weorner were outside rushers along with Jonathon Newsome(Woerner and Newsome were draft picks). I'll add that Newsome was a 6th round pick but was better than Weorner. Now the secondary is where it gets fun. Corners-Davis, Toler, Brown, Butler(all free agents or trade). Josh Gordy was also on the team, the only draft pick, and Dewey McDonald an undrafted free agent was the other corner. Safties Laron Landry and Mike Adams. We were 7-4 entering the game, the Redskins were 3-8. An interesting stat for the Redskins going into that game they were 1 for 41 on third downs of 10 or more yards and were 0 for their last 34. Guess how many 3rd and 10+ yards conversions we gave up to Colt McCoy(who was just making his second start of the season)? FIVE- and that doesn't include the 29 yard play we gave up on a 2nd and 19.

     Just absolutely incredible how bad Grigson was with his drafting and free agent signings. This was just his 3rd year at the helm and he had already completely destroyed the team that had made the playoffs 11 of the 14 previous seasons before he got there in 2012. This team finished 11-5 that season because Andrew Luck was just that GREAT. Him, T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne, and to a lesser extent, Fleener and Boo Herron could annilate opponents offensively. The five losses were to the Eagles, Broncos, steelers, pats and cowplops. Interestingly, that looks like a list of teams we lose to 4 out of every 5 times we have played them these past 52 years, amazing.

     I will take Chris Ballard and his solid drafting and team building over anyone else. In reality, Ballard has been the best Colt gm in the 52 years of Irsay ownership. Polian failed miserably because he only made 2 sb appearances while Peyton was his qb. Grigson had Luck and was a joke and that's putting it nicely. Ballard got his qb, now we have to start playing more aggressive defense, which we haven't done for the past 52 years, and I cannot figure that one out. 52 years and we just stand around and play super soft zone every year.

[KB]

4 hours ago, Two_pound said:

This is for all the uninformed Ballard dissenters on here who have a very short memory. Do yourselves a favor and go back to the 2014 season and watch games. The game against the Redskins was a microcosm of the whole season so I'll use it in this example. First off, Gosder Cherilous gave up a strip sack to Ryan Kerrigan on the first play from scrimmage as Kerrigan ran right around him. But the main focus of this post will be the defense. Many of the starters were not drafted. Ricky Jean Fransois and Arther Jones were the tackles with Cory Redding, Josh Chapman and Montori Hughes backups(they were draft picks). Linebackers Dqwell Jackson and Jerrel Freeman(both free agents) Eric Waldon and Bjorn Weorner were outside rushers along with Jonathon Newsome(Woerner and Newsome were draft picks). I'll add that Newsome was a 6th round pick but was better than Weorner. Now the secondary is where it gets fun. Corners-Davis, Toler, Brown, Butler(all free agents or trade). Josh Gordy was also on the team, the only draft pick, and Dewey McDonald an undrafted free agent was the other corner. Safties Laron Landry and Mike Adams. We were 7-4 entering the game, the Redskins were 3-8. An interesting stat for the Redskins going into that game they were 1 for 41 on third downs of 10 or more yards and were 0 for their last 34. Guess how many 3rd and 10+ yards conversions we gave up to Colt McCoy(who was just making his second start of the season)? FIVE- and that doesn't include the 29 yard play we gave up on a 2nd and 19.

     Just absolutely incredible how bad Grigson was with his drafting and free agent signings. This was just his 3rd year at the helm and he had already completely destroyed the team that had made the playoffs 11 of the 14 previous seasons before he got there in 2012. This team finished 11-5 that season because Andrew Luck was just that GREAT. Him, T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne, and to a lesser extent, Fleener and Boo Herron could annilate opponents offensively. The five losses were to the Eagles, Broncos, steelers, pats and cowplops. Interestingly, that looks like a list of teams we lose to 4 out of every 5 times we have played them these past 52 years, amazing.

     I will take Chris Ballard and his solid drafting and team building over anyone else. In reality, Ballard has been the best Colt gm in the 52 years of Irsay ownership. Polian failed miserably because he only made 2 sb appearances while Peyton was his qb. Grigson had Luck and was a joke and that's putting it nicely. Ballard got his qb, now we have to start playing more aggressive defense, which we haven't done for the past 52 years, and I cannot figure that one out. 52 years and we just stand around and play super soft zone every year.

I've made the same argument over the years. What I will say is that was a decade ago. Grigsons fingerprints are pretty much off the roster (I think we have Kelly left and that's about it). Everyone on the roster is who Ballard wants at that spot.

Most spots where we are having issues are areas where the starter was penciled in before the season, or where no real competition was brought in. Ballard has gone away from what he preached when he got here as far as having each player compete for their spot. We were supposed to lose good players because of the competition being brought in.

Ballard did really well at linebacker when he got here, but to not have anyone that could push Franklin or Speed was a mistake. They've had to earn their way since getting here. Nothing should be handed to them now. The battle for CB2 was between an udfa coming off an acl and a 7th rounder from last year. I like Jones, but that's not competition. Our CB1 had no one but the injury bug to battle all camp. Injury bug almost won. The safety competition was more of a "can anyone prove that we shouldn't let Cross start". Everyone knew we needed an upgrade at safety since the end of last season and not a single move was made. This was just the defense. Our offense isn't as bad but the O line that returned all five starters got handled yesterday.

I'm not trying to say this season is doomed, or Ballard should be ran out of town. This is a full blown Ballard roster tho. It's what he wants. If it dosnt get us to the playoffs this year, and get us a playoff win, then it's time to move on.

[lester]

29 minutes ago, KB said:

...This is a full blown Ballard roster tho. It's what he wants. If it dosnt get us to the playoffs this year, and get us a playoff win, then it's time to move on.

 

My opinion: you're almost right. This is (IS!) the offense that Ballard wants. I think he leaned heavily in 2024 on the building blocks for Anthony Richardson. Those blocks will all grow together this year, developing as a unit for next year.

 

For defense, he mostly likes what he has because he is saving resources for the decisions he has to make next year.

 

The fun part? We'll know who is right about Ballard next season, when our true window opens with AR.

 

Think about it this way, what part of the offense do we really want to improve next year? An upgrade at tight-end and a back up RB, maybe? Not much else to fiddle with on the O side in 2025.

 

That leaves a ton of resources to re-tool a defense that already looks suspect in 2024. Ballard isn't saving his cap space because he loves our secondary; he's saving it because he doesn't need old guys right now. He needs not quite so old guys next year to go with his 1st and 2nd round rookies on D.

 

That is my opinion.

[Two_pound]

I agree with both you guys, my main emphasis was if you go back to Grigson and how he did things the roster quickly became a train wreck of earth shattering magnitude. Thus, the 4-12 record in 2017 when Luck didn't play.(That so many on here love to attribute to part of "Ballards failure"). Watching these games from 2012-2014(you can pull them up on youtube and I suppose if you have nfl+ they are available also), it is ridiculous how bad Grigson blew millions of dollars of cap space on guys who just couldn't play any better than a 6th round rookie. I do think next year our draft will be heavy on defense. But also the Colts played that super soft stand around zone that was very ineffective most games(Manusky was the dc). I personally never blamed or cared that Luck retired and after watching some of these games from his first 3 seasons I feel sorry for him the way Grigson destroyed the team and he got the crap beat out of him. Let's hope Irsay keeps Ballard around for another decade anyways!!!!

[GoColts8818]

14 hours ago, Two_pound said:

This is for all the uninformed Ballard dissenters on here who have a very short memory. Do yourselves a favor and go back to the 2014 season and watch games. The game against the Redskins was a microcosm of the whole season so I'll use it in this example. First off, Gosder Cherilous gave up a strip sack to Ryan Kerrigan on the first play from scrimmage as Kerrigan ran right around him. But the main focus of this post will be the defense. Many of the starters were not drafted. Ricky Jean Fransois and Arther Jones were the tackles with Cory Redding, Josh Chapman and Montori Hughes backups(they were draft picks). Linebackers Dqwell Jackson and Jerrel Freeman(both free agents) Eric Waldon and Bjorn Weorner were outside rushers along with Jonathon Newsome(Woerner and Newsome were draft picks). I'll add that Newsome was a 6th round pick but was better than Weorner. Now the secondary is where it gets fun. Corners-Davis, Toler, Brown, Butler(all free agents or trade). Josh Gordy was also on the team, the only draft pick, and Dewey McDonald an undrafted free agent was the other corner. Safties Laron Landry and Mike Adams. We were 7-4 entering the game, the Redskins were 3-8. An interesting stat for the Redskins going into that game they were 1 for 41 on third downs of 10 or more yards and were 0 for their last 34. Guess how many 3rd and 10+ yards conversions we gave up to Colt McCoy(who was just making his second start of the season)? FIVE- and that doesn't include the 29 yard play we gave up on a 2nd and 19.

     Just absolutely incredible how bad Grigson was with his drafting and free agent signings. This was just his 3rd year at the helm and he had already completely destroyed the team that had made the playoffs 11 of the 14 previous seasons before he got there in 2012. This team finished 11-5 that season because Andrew Luck was just that GREAT. Him, T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne, and to a lesser extent, Fleener and Boo Herron could annilate opponents offensively. The five losses were to the Eagles, Broncos, steelers, pats and cowplops. Interestingly, that looks like a list of teams we lose to 4 out of every 5 times we have played them these past 52 years, amazing.

     I will take Chris Ballard and his solid drafting and team building over anyone else. In reality, Ballard has been the best Colt gm in the 52 years of Irsay ownership. Polian failed miserably because he only made 2 sb appearances while Peyton was his qb. Grigson had Luck and was a joke and that's putting it nicely. Ballard got his qb, now we have to start playing more aggressive defense, which we haven't done for the past 52 years, and I cannot figure that one out. 52 years and we just stand around and play super soft zone every year.

I was with you up to the last paragraph.  Polian built the most dominant team in franchise history.  Yes they had issues in the playoffs but that was often because the Colts stars didn’t perform in those games.  That was more on the players than Polian not having the talent.  When it’s all said and done Polian probably drafted five hall of Famers, Manning, Edge, Freeney and Mathis and Wayne will get in.  He also hired a Hall of Fame coach and signed a Hall of Fame kicker and delivered the only Super Bowl win in Indianapolis franchise history.  You don’t fail miserably and have that kind of success.  Maybe he didn’t have as much success as we wanted but he was far from a miserable failure.

[Two_pound]

I am just putting into context for all the Ballard dissenters. I think Ballard has done a tremendous job. But at the same time the Polian era is the most disappointing because Manning really is the greatest qb to ever play the game. So not to win multiple, multiple sb's is a major fail. And it was the defense. Granted there were bizarre playoff loses that can be placed solely on the officiating(2000 in Miami, 2003 in n.e., 2005 pissburgh, 2007 at S.D.). The sb loss to New Orleans, the Saints ran the same 4 plays, crossing routes underneath and Coyer did nothing to stop it, we just stayed back in our patented soft zone and let it happen. Way too often over the 14 years of Manning football the defense just couldn't get off the field and Manning sat helplessly on the bench watching, just like Luck, and to renew our memories, last Sunday also. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we have not played good solid defense for 52 years except for maybe 5 seasons('87 was the best year, but of course we lost 14-10 in the playoffs that season!)

[LJpalmbeacher2]

23 hours ago, Two_pound said:

This is for all the uninformed Ballard dissenters on here who have a very short memory. Do yourselves a favor and go back to the 2014 season and watch games. The game against the Redskins was a microcosm of the whole season so I'll use it in this example. First off, Gosder Cherilous gave up a strip sack to Ryan Kerrigan on the first play from scrimmage as Kerrigan ran right around him. But the main focus of this post will be the defense. Many of the starters were not drafted. Ricky Jean Fransois and Arther Jones were the tackles with Cory Redding, Josh Chapman and Montori Hughes backups(they were draft picks). Linebackers Dqwell Jackson and Jerrel Freeman(both free agents) Eric Waldon and Bjorn Weorner were outside rushers along with Jonathon Newsome(Woerner and Newsome were draft picks). I'll add that Newsome was a 6th round pick but was better than Weorner. Now the secondary is where it gets fun. Corners-Davis, Toler, Brown, Butler(all free agents or trade). Josh Gordy was also on the team, the only draft pick, and Dewey McDonald an undrafted free agent was the other corner. Safties Laron Landry and Mike Adams. We were 7-4 entering the game, the Redskins were 3-8. An interesting stat for the Redskins going into that game they were 1 for 41 on third downs of 10 or more yards and were 0 for their last 34. Guess how many 3rd and 10+ yards conversions we gave up to Colt McCoy(who was just making his second start of the season)? FIVE- and that doesn't include the 29 yard play we gave up on a 2nd and 19.

     Just absolutely incredible how bad Grigson was with his drafting and free agent signings. This was just his 3rd year at the helm and he had already completely destroyed the team that had made the playoffs 11 of the 14 previous seasons before he got there in 2012. This team finished 11-5 that season because Andrew Luck was just that GREAT. Him, T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne, and to a lesser extent, Fleener and Boo Herron could annilate opponents offensively. The five losses were to the Eagles, Broncos, steelers, pats and cowplops. Interestingly, that looks like a list of teams we lose to 4 out of every 5 times we have played them these past 52 years, amazing.

     I will take Chris Ballard and his solid drafting and team building over anyone else. In reality, Ballard has been the best Colt gm in the 52 years of Irsay ownership. Polian failed miserably because he only made 2 sb appearances while Peyton was his qb. Grigson had Luck and was a joke and that's putting it nicely. Ballard got his qb, now we have to start playing more aggressive defense, which we haven't done for the past 52 years, and I cannot figure that one out. 52 years and we just stand around and play super soft zone every year.