AR15 thru 2 games thus far:

[csmopar]

So let the record show that I was not at the time of the draft a fan of picking Anthony Richardson.

 

that said, after attending training camp last year, I can see the potential and why the Colts chose him. So I have warmed up to him. 
 

however, I thought id put out what I’ve seen thru two games thus far. Take it for what it’s worth, which it little. Just my opinion.

 

stats are easily available so I’m not gonna post all those, just general observations.

 

the Bad:

 

Timing is not down with most of his receivers. 

short and medium range accuracy still needs a big improvement.

 

The interceptions, not counting the end of the game today, have all been because he’s stared down or decided where he was going with the ball without seeing the defender. 
 

Hand offs were a big problem today with the two fumbles. 
 

 

the good:

 

his ability to bounce back after a mistake. 
 

his pressure escaping ability. Our OL has been getting abused (again wth) and he’s got defenders in his face it seems in every drop back.

 

long range accuracy. 
 

running to make a play vs running just to run first like Lamar. This is the part that most worried me coming out of the draft. 
 

his arm strength. He has 2 of the top 5 longest catches in the next gen stat era and both were over 60 yards.

 

 

 

conclusion:

 

AR in an interview last offseason stated he wanted to work more on being a pocket passer vs a run first QB that everyone had him pegged as. I think this is part of the reason we have seen the play calling manner that we have seen.  Flacco being brought it strengthens that theory in my opinion. If and this is a big IF, AR can develop that part of his game, he’ll be nearly unstoppable barring health. But he’s got a long ways to go. 
 

heading into this season, I’ve said multiple times that this is gonna be AR like a rookie all over again. He never got to have a full season so the game hasn’t slowed down for him yet. 
 

there’s gonna be huge swings in his performance but overall, I’ve seen enough so far that I’m not panicking over QB play…. Yet. 
 

 

[Patrick Miller]

It’s going to be interesting to see how patient Colts fans will be with Richardson halfway through the season when we haven’t won a game.

[Mighty Blue]

😳

A lot has been said about Colts play in the last two games on the Forum.

I haven’t even seen a game, yet. Sounds like I’m not missing much.

I’m a patient fan, and yes, with more experience, AR5 should improve.🤞🏾

Now, he needs the OL to improve, the DL to improve, the linebackers to improve…I’m starting to sound like a broken  record.

So, what has Mr. Jim Irsay been saying about Ballard, coaches and team?🤔

Hey, Joe…stay warm!

 

🤓

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

If you’re not going to use his strengths they never should have drafted him. This is a recipe for failure and is going to kill his confidence. You have to set him up to suceed so his confidence grows.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

You make it easy on a young QB by running the ball and giving him easy reads. But Steichen thinks taking Taylor out when he is averaging 8.6 yards is a good idea.

[Jz0204945]

2 hours ago, csmopar said:

So let the record show that I was not at the time of the draft a fan of picking Anthony Richardson.

 

that said, after attending training camp last year, I can see the potential and why the Colts chose him. So I have warmed up to him. 
 

however, I thought id put out what I’ve seen thru two games thus far. Take it for what it’s worth, which it little. Just my opinion.

 

stats are easily available so I’m not gonna post all those, just general observations.

 

the Bad:

 

Timing is not down with most of his receivers. 

short and medium range accuracy still needs a big improvement.

 

The interceptions, not counting the end of the game today, have all been because he’s stared down or decided where he was going with the ball without seeing the defender. 
 

Hand offs were a big problem today with the two fumbles. 
 

 

the good:

 

his ability to bounce back after a mistake. 
 

his pressure escaping ability. Our OL has been getting abused (again wth) and he’s got defenders in his face it seems in every drop back.

 

long range accuracy. 
 

running to make a play vs running just to run first like Lamar. This is the part that most worried me coming out of the draft. 
 

his arm strength. He has 2 of the top 5 longest catches in the next gen stat era and both were over 60 yards.

 

 

 

conclusion:

 

AR in an interview last offseason stated he wanted to work more on being a pocket passer vs a run first QB that everyone had him pegged as. I think this is part of the reason we have seen the play calling manner that we have seen.  Flacco being brought it strengthens that theory in my opinion. If and this is a big IF, AR can develop that part of his game, he’ll be nearly unstoppable barring health. But he’s got a long ways to go. 
 

heading into this season, I’ve said multiple times that this is gonna be AR like a rookie all over again. He never got to have a full season so the game hasn’t slowed down for him yet. 
 

there’s gonna be huge swings in his performance but overall, I’ve seen enough so far that I’m not panicking over QB play…. Yet. 
 

 

I just watched the highlights and I'm glad it showed all three int's the first int thrown was a bad decision and bad throw no disputing that the second one was just a great play by that linebacker who just ran the route for Pittman and the hail mary int bounded off receivers hands that's a drop as far as I'm concerned and AD dropped an easy first down right off his hands wide open. Also, what i can't figure out for the life of me the best player on this offense is shredding green bay the whole 3rd quarter then you bench him and don't let him see the field in the 4th and then pass it off as a coach's decision is this guy a bigger * than Frank Reich jury is still out. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, Jz0204945 said:

I just watched the highlights and I'm glad it showed all three int's the first int thrown was a bad decision and bad throw no disputing that the second one was just a great play by that linebacker who just ran the route for Pittman and the hail mary int bounded off receivers hands that's a drop as far as I'm concerned and AD dropped an easy first down right off his hands wide open. Also, what i can't figure out for the life of me the best player on this offense is shredding green bay the whole 3rd quarter then you bench him and don't let him see the field in the 4th and then pass it off as a coach's decision is this guy a bigger * than Frank Reich jury is still out. 

Yep. And he had no explanation for what he did to Taylor. They eventually would of had to stop him which opens up the pass.

[#12.]

4 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

If you’re not going to use his strengths they never should have drafted him. This is a recipe for failure and is going to kill his confidence. You have to set him up to suceed so his confidence grows.

 

According to today's announcers, Ballard is still constantly talking about Richardson being a pocket passer.  Good luck with that.

 

Most people, if they want a pocket passer, they just draft one.  Ballard, on the other hand, seems determined to create one.

[Jz0204945]

Just now, #12. said:

 

According to today's announcers, Ballard is still constantly talking about Richardson being a pocket passer.  Good luck with that.

 

Most people, if they want a pocket passer, they just draft one.  Ballard, on the other hand, seems determined to create one.

Because Ballard is an *, he will never change this team will never a win the division let alone a super bowl with him as our GM.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, #12. said:

 

According to today's announcers, Ballard is still constantly talking about Richardson being a pocket passer.  Good luck with that.

 

Most people, if they want a pocket passer, they just draft one.  Ballard, on the other hand, seems determined to create one.

He will eventually get there.But doing what Steichen has done will end up killing his confidence. He needs to be set up for success until the rest of his game gets where it needs to be.

[Hawkeyecolt]

AR made a bad decision floating the one over AP’s head on the 1st Int.  He threw it off his back foot.  The 2nd Int was really the first time he just read the D wrong for an Int.   Things like that are part of the process.  Having your teammates drop 5 passes shouldn’t happen and it certainly makes the performance seem worse than it was.  Steichen’s decision making also hurt the team a lot today. 

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

The defense also set a horrible tone to start this game. It took all the ribs out of this teams sales. We did not play complimentary football.

[DougDew]

8 hours ago, Jz0204945 said:

I just watched the highlights and I'm glad it showed all three int's the first int thrown was a bad decision and bad throw no disputing that the second one was just a great play by that linebacker who just ran the route for Pittman and the hail mary int bounded off receivers hands that's a drop as far as I'm concerned and AD dropped an easy first down right off his hands wide open. Also, what i can't figure out for the life of me the best player on this offense is shredding green bay the whole 3rd quarter then you bench him and don't let him see the field in the 4th and then pass it off as a coach's decision is this guy a bigger * than Frank Reich jury is still out. 

Both picks were on AR.  AP was open and AR overthrew.  AR didn't have to throw the ball to a covered Pittman, and if Pittman was a step ahead when AR released the ball, then the ball was placed behind Pittman, forcing him to slow down into the trailing LBer. 

 

There must be some strange limitation to JT that fans don't understand, because Frank also used him in a weird rotation.  I think its about pass blocking, and he whiffed badly early in the game, and the formula says that when a team is behind late in the 4th, the passing game takes precedence despite the performance of the RB through three Qs.  Just a guess.

[csmopar]

3 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Both picks were on AR.  AP was open and AR overthrew.  AR didn't have to throw the ball to a covered Pittman, and if Pittman was a step ahead when AR released the ball, then the ball was placed behind Pittman, forcing him to slow down into the trailing LBer. 

 

There must be some strange limitation to JT that fans don't understand, because Frank also used him in a weird rotation.  I think its about pass blocking, and he whiffed badly early in the game, and the formula says that when a team is behind late in the 4th, the passing game takes precedence despite the performance of the RB through three Qs.  Just a guess.

This is my guess as well. 
 

 

that said, this thread is intended to talk about the good and bad of AR, so hopefully we can stick to the topic.

 

Overall I see potential with AR. I think if the Colts are patient and just let him work thru his flaws, we might have something 

[DougDew]

1 minute ago, csmopar said:

This is my guess as well. 
 

 

that said, this thread is intended to talk about the good and bad of AR, so hopefully we can stick to the topic.

 

Overall I see potential with AR. I think if the Colts are patient and just let him work thru his flaws, we might have something 

Its hard to make any kind of judgment after two games. 

 

Just a spitball observation, his throwing motion looks weird.  It's as if his entire body is moving/wiggling when he throws, instead of rotating a shoulder over a steady body and hips, and I don't mean when he's rolling out.

 

Also, in both games, his plant foot has slipped on two or three different dropbacks when about to throw.  One resulted in a TD to AP, but plant foot issues is a sign of poor lower body discipline.

 

Basic stuff, IMO.

[Solid84]

He has almost no experience. He needs the reps and it’s going to be really ugly at times. 
 

Touch and timing. Chemistry with his receivers. Trusting what he sees. All of that will take time and because AR has such limited experience it’ll take a lot of time. 
 

Before the season started I said this isn’t the Colts’ year. That we shouldn’t expect much. I very much stand by that. This is about getting AR ready for the NFL.

The biggest issue so far has been the rest of the team not stepping up. Why are people blaming AR when players on their 2nd or 3rd contracts are playing like amateurs? They don’t look prepared. 

[ColtStrong2013]

8 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

If you’re not going to use his strengths they never should have drafted him. This is a recipe for failure and is going to kill his confidence. You have to set him up to suceed so his confidence grows.

 

8 hours ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

You make it easy on a young QB by running the ball and giving him easy reads. But Steichen thinks taking Taylor out when he is averaging 8.6 yards is a good idea.

 

I agree with you on JT. I don't know that running AR like crazy is the best thing for him. Pushing him to only run when necessary (like the long 1st down conversion he had yesterday) and instead allowing him to make the mistakes from the pocket is the way to go. If we want him to be the complete package, he has to make those mistakes, learn from them, and continue finishing games which means avoiding injury. At this pace, we might not win many games, but he's going to learn throughout the season, that I'm confident in. 

[Nevbot]

5 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Its hard to make any kind of judgment after two games. 

 

Just a spitball observation, his throwing motion looks weird.  It's as if his entire body is moving/wiggling when he throws, instead of rotating a shoulder over a steady body and hips, and I don't mean when he's rolling out.

 

Also, in both games, his plant foot has slipped on two or three different dropbacks when about to throw.  One resulted in a TD to AP, but plant foot issues is a sign of poor lower body discipline.

 

Basic stuff, IMO.

It isn't necessarily a weird throwing motion but just kind of looks a bit raw and home made.  Rivers had a weird throwing motion.  I don't think the throwing motion matters so much if you can get it out of your hands quickly, and you're tall enough to fling it over big humans. 

I really have been watching this aspect closely this year and will continue to watch, as AR is nowhere close to a refined passer yet. He had a full offseason to do whatever he needed to do to tweak any sloppy mechanics with Tom House (after rehabbing of course), had a full training camp with Steichen- but I don't see too much of a difference in AR mechanically as a passer compared to his limited action last year- in fact sometimes it feels like regression. His throwing base and platform are not solid, he feet are very happy (not Peyton happy, where choppy pocket movement is productive).

His footwork and mental timing are the clear and obvious issues here, and that would explain why he looks at his worst for all of the short and intermediate stuff.  Those are the cerebral and quick decision plays that usually are split second or pre determined- and its no surprise that his INT's are coming from those same first-read misfire type of decisions.

I wouldn't mess around too much if at all with Anthony's throwing mechanics.  He has a fast release and naturally changes his arm angles when necessary (perhaps needs to learn the ideal moments to apply each arm angle, but he is a natural at doing it). I would absolutely work on cleaning up his footwork and touch passing and hammer away at it.  No rapport with Pittman, as he is our best possession receiver.

Sometimes being the most dynamic athlete can be a bad thing for the QB position. They know they can run and never truly  settle in the pocket and become that guy who succeeds at QB because because he mastered the mental side and developed the physical aspect over time. Quick processing and a great arm will always be king. Manning is one extreme and AR is another.  Luck was a beautiful balance of both, but was missing the mental drive to WANT to be the best and stay the best. 

 

 

 

Once Anthony has a #1 security blanket (is that Downs or someone not on the roster ala Brock Bowers) I think we see more growth.  That TE is currently not on our roster. 

 

  

 

[csmopar]

27 minutes ago, DougDew said:

Its hard to make any kind of judgment after two games. 

 

Just a spitball observation, his throwing motion looks weird.  It's as if his entire body is moving/wiggling when he throws, instead of rotating a shoulder over a steady body and hips, and I don't mean when he's rolling out.

 

Also, in both games, his plant foot has slipped on two or three different dropbacks when about to throw.  One resulted in a TD to AP, but plant foot issues is a sign of poor lower body discipline.

 

Basic stuff, IMO.

I noticed that too. But I think that’s something that will come. Yesterday was just his 20th game since highschool… he’s relied on sheer athletic ability to this point, now comes the fine tuning. 

[csmopar]

24 minutes ago, Solid84 said:

He has almost no experience. He needs the reps and it’s going to be really ugly at times. 
 

Touch and timing. Chemistry with his receivers. Trusting what he sees. All of that will take time and because AR has such limited experience it’ll take a lot of time. 
 

Before the season started I said this isn’t the Colts’ year. That we shouldn’t expect much. I very much stand by that. This is about getting AR ready for the NFL.

The biggest issue so far has been the rest of the team not stepping up. Why are people blaming AR when players on their 2nd or 3rd contracts are playing like amateurs? They don’t look prepared. 

For the record, I’m not blaming AR for being 0-2. I honestly don’t care about our record at all this year. 
 

I want to see two things:

 

first:  can he stay healthy a full season

second: does he progress with more game experience 

[DougDew]

7 minutes ago, Nevbot said:

It isn't necessarily a weird throwing motion but just kind of looks a bit raw and home made.  Rivers had a weird throwing motion.  I don't think the throwing motion matters so much if you can get it out of your hands quickly, and you're tall enough to fling it over big humans. 

I really have been watching this aspect closely this year and will continue to watch, as AR is nowhere close to a refined passer yet. He had a full offseason to do whatever he needed to do to tweak any sloppy mechanics with Tom House (after rehabbing of course), had a full training camp with Steichen- but I don't see too much of a difference in AR mechanically as a passer compared to his limited action last year- in fact sometimes it feels like regression. His throwing base and platform are not solid, he feet are very happy (not Peyton happy, where choppy pocket movement is productive).

His footwork and mental timing are the clear and obvious issues here, and that would explain why he looks at his worst for all of the short and intermediate stuff.  Those are the cerebral and quick decision plays that usually are split second or pre determined- and its no surprise that his INT's are coming from those same first-read misfire type of decisions.

I wouldn't mess around too much if at all with Anthony's throwing mechanics.  He has a fast release and naturally changes his arm angles when necessary (perhaps needs to learn the ideal moments to apply each arm angle, but he is a natural at doing it). I would absolutely work on cleaning up his footwork and touch passing and hammer away at it.  No rapport with Pittman, as he is our best possession receiver.

Sometimes being the most dynamic athlete can be a bad thing for the QB position. They know they can run and never truly  settle in the pocket and become that guy who succeeds at QB because because he mastered the mental side and developed the physical aspect over time. Quick processing and a great arm will always be king. Manning is one extreme and AR is another.  Luck was a beautiful balance of both, but was missing the mental drive to WANT to be the best and stay the best. 

 

 

 

Once Anthony has a #1 security blanket (is that Downs or someone not on the roster ala Brock Bowers) I think we see more growth.  That TE is currently not on our roster. 

 

  

 

Home made passing motion is a good term.  The issue is that he's a pro QB who has not come to his profession equipped with the skill he should have been taught in his youth.  A failure of the modern football way that allows a QB to pass to the next grade by getting by on his natural athleticism but not really learning a marketable skill.  

 

The scary part is that we don't know if AR has that natural hand to eye coordination that the good throwers have.  College is supposed to weed those out to where those students who lack it get cut and have to make a living using their actual college degree instead of getting promoted to the NFL.  I don't think we've gotten to that fork in the road with AR yet.

[conklincolt]

Last year, Richardson was replaced by a backup quarterback, and we won a lot of games.

[IrsaysArmy]

I’m not worried about Richardson in the slightest bit. He’s 1 of about 4 guys on our team with value.

[TrueBlue4ever]

Wrong place to put this I know, just rewatched the game on JT’s last series played and he appears by my naked Eye that he got injured. Let’s hope I am wrong, more to the story here and we will find out today. Trying to rationalize his lack of playing time in the last 3 series leads me to this conclusion, not a dropped ball from a poor throw. 

[JediXMan]

Everyone knows TEs are young QBs top security blankets and frankly despite all the hype this offseason they’ve been underwhelming so far. We have Mo that makes like 1 catch a game then effs off the rest of the game. Granson who slips a lot and drops so many catchable passes. I really hope Mallory gets some snaps he has good hands and has looked decent when he did that play.

[Patrick Miller]

Granson is trash. Time to give someone else a shot. Mallory.

[Colt.45]

Lifting this comment from another thread:

 

I think almost everyone (haters/lovers) understands this i.e. he's raw. Whether he's a bust or boom eventually, the facts were always pretty clear. He's a truly raw dude with god-type, unicorn, truly ONE-of-ONE physical gifts capable of breaking any defense and changing the league. Those are facts.

 

Raw also means he has that jarring experience gap that is always going to have to get filled one way or another. What's happening now is folks are having to live through the reality of what was always going to happen. So, we see lots of polar opposite comments, lots of frustration, lots of annoyance, lots of 'I told yous', lots of camps, but let's all not lose track of the basic fact - We all knew these struggles were coming, what we didn't know and still don't know is how it ends. 

 

A raw player must learn. How quickly he learns, how accurate he becomes, how much of a leader he truly becomes, how he learns to balance his gifts with his weaknesses, how he learns to own the game, his drive to win. That all determines how it all ends.

This young man has a good/v.good teacher, patient staff (who understand how to create the best plans for the player), good owner and organization, and the burning will to be great. For me, he'll get really good faster than he should but it doesn't mean he aint gotta learn and take the lumps he's due. This is GM's chosen QB choice, I think he can and will be great. The other QBs in college don't matter - not unless there's an Andrew Luck out there and FWIW there isnt'.

 

Sadly, the team record means nothing this year, same as last year. Once fans get to that realization, it becomes easier to swallow the present struggles. There's the question of how much blame the GM should take for the longer term failure to win but that's another story entirely. 

[SOMDColtsfan]

"I'm a freak of nature" -AR. Before every downfall comes pride.  There's too much hype on what "can be". The whole organization is letting this young man down by hyping him up and then doing literally nothing to help him out on any side of the ball.

[runthepost]

48 minutes ago, conklincolt said:

Last year, Richardson was replaced by a backup quarterback, and we won a lot of games.

Backup QB who was a decent starter. Minshew was/is a better QB than AR but Minshew upside is very limited compared to AR. 

[bluephantom87]

8 hours ago, #12. said:

 

According to today's announcers, Ballard is still constantly talking about Richardson being a pocket passer.  Good luck with that.

 

Most people, if they want a pocket passer, they just draft one.  Ballard, on the other hand, seems determined to create one.

 

He should've moved up in the draft and took Stroud then instead of letting one of the qbs drop to him because that's not AR's game. I'm so sick of Ballard and the yearly non factor of this team. Regular prime time games are a thing of the past under this arrogant gm whose accomplished absolutely nothing with the shoe except reward "his" guys deserving or not (based on difference making abilities) with new contracts. Too many JAG types.

 

By no means in this a championship roster or even close to one. Take away the legit excuse of dealing with AR's growing pains what do we really have after EIGHT years? A weak d-line with only one stud (Buck) that was traded for and not drafted. An even weaker secondary that teams are bypassing on because they can simply run it down our throats. Meh type linebackers that were already suspect in coverage now look very avg when being run at directly. All this comes under the watchful eye of a "nice guy" dc that has led this defense to back to back seasons of being ranked 28th league wise in points allowed. Every opposing qb (backup or not) has a chance against this group.

 

The o-line is middle of the pack at best. We have a room full of TEs yet none are dynamic or special. Whose JT"s backup? Sermon? Good luck with that. We have a 40 yr old backup qb in Flacco who in his last game a season ago looked god awful mirroring his poor play of previous seasons which led to his retirement in the first place but I guess Ballard is counting on the Cinderella version of Joe that led the Browns to a playoff berth after sitting on the couch in retirement. We also still have the limited Sam Ehlinger on roster as qb3 who according to Shannon Sharpe after his start against the Pats a couple of seasons ago "couldn't play dead in a horror movie" but hey he knows the playbook according to Ballard. Lol. As always in Ballard we trust!!!

[Patrick Miller]

1 hour ago, csmopar said:

For the record, I’m not blaming AR for being 0-2. I honestly don’t care about our record at all this year. 
 

I want to see two things:

 

first:  can he stay healthy a full season

second: does he progress with more game experience 

Would you rather go 0-17 with Richardson as long as he stays healthy and gets experience…..or have a chance at the playoffs with Flacco? I guess if you have a lot of faith in AR you’d say the former?

[JediXMan]

2 hours ago, Solid84 said:

He has almost no experience. He needs the reps and it’s going to be really ugly at times. 
 

Touch and timing. Chemistry with his receivers. Trusting what he sees. All of that will take time and because AR has such limited experience it’ll take a lot of time. 
 

Before the season started I said this isn’t the Colts’ year. That we shouldn’t expect much. I very much stand by that. This is about getting AR ready for the NFL.

The biggest issue so far has been the rest of the team not stepping up. Why are people blaming AR when players on their 2nd or 3rd contracts are playing like amateurs? They don’t look prepared. 

I’m going to be honest I don’t think he’ll ever have upper tier touch in the NFL. For some QBs it comes naturally. I still think he can have a successful NFL career I don’t think touch will ever be one of his strengths.

[bluebombers87]

43 minutes ago, runthepost said:

Backup QB who was a decent starter. Minshew was/is a better QB than AR but Minshew upside is very limited compared to AR. 

I think this is fair to both QBs

[Solid84]

2 minutes ago, JediXMan said:

I’m going to be honest I don’t think he’ll ever have upper tier touch in the NFL. For some QBs it comes naturally. I still think he can have a successful NFL career I don’t think touch will ever be one of his strengths.

I don't think he will either.

 

It took Allen 2 full seasons to get a handle of it and I think it's going to be the same for AR. Doesn't really harmonize with fans being tired of losing/mediocricy, though. AR is going to catch a lot of flak unfortunately. Steichen will need to get a lot more creative with the run game to help him out. I don't think Steichen has been good enough at helping him out so far this season.

[DougDew]

51 minutes ago, bluephantom87 said:

He should've moved up in the draft and took Stroud then instead of letting one of the qbs drop to him because that's not AR's game

People are bashing Ballard now, and I'm not going to pile on.  I like him better now that he's addressing skilled positions with higher draft picks/capital.

 

But to be honest, if we remember that draft, CHI was selling the first pick and we were at #4, so logic says we could have gotten that pick for less than CAR paid.  Every pundit was saying that Young was the best prospect and should go number 1, so a lot of folks here did not talk about trading up to 1 because they did not like BY.  They were content on getting the best QB left at 4.

 

So you are not going to get a lot of support for criticizing Ballard for not trading up, but your criticism is valid considering that Stroud is clearly the best QB of the bunch and we definitely had a trading partner looking for a deal.

 

Especially if Ballard has always wanted more of a drop back passer...why wait for AR to fall to 4 when we could have gotten the best drop back passer of the 4 by simply making an easy trade with CHI. And Stroud was the best drop back passer, it was his "lack of creativity"...the trendy...that was his criticism.  

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

1 minute ago, DougDew said:

People are bashing Ballard now, and I'm not going to pile on.  I like him better now that he's addressing skilled positions with higher draft picks/capital.

 

But to be honest, if we remember that draft, CHI was selling the first pick and we were at #4, so logic says we could have gotten that pick for less than CAR paid.  Everybody was saying that Young was the best prospect and should go number 1, so a lot of folks here did not talk about trading up to 1.  They were content on getting the best Qb left at 4.

 

So you are not going to get a lot of support for criticizing Ballard for not trading up, but your criticism is valid considering that Stroud is clearly the best QB of the bunch and we definitely had a trading partner looking for a deal.

He is the best right now. 

[Hark]

AR is the least of my worries right now. He is a young, inexperienced QB trying to play in the NFL. He is going to flash athletic brilliance and follow it with absolutely awful play. To paraphrase Dennis Green, he is who we thought he is. I'm fine with what I have seen so far. I am far more concerned with the awful run defense so far, which was supposed to be a strength.

[DougDew]

7 minutes ago, Restinpeacesweetchloe said:

He is the best right now. 

But supposedly Ballard was saying that he wants AR to be a drop back passer.  Sorry, it was never thought that AR would eventually be a better drop back passer than Stroud.  Never.  It was that AR could do a lot more than Stroud....like more of a Hurts in Philly.

 

It makes no sense now for Ballard to say that he thinks of AR as a drop back passer.  Sure, that has to be a part of every NFL QBs game, but those aren't the words to use to describe ARs future compared to Stroud, IMO.

[Restinpeacesweetchloe]

2 minutes ago, DougDew said:

But supposedly Ballard was saying that he wants AR to be a drop back passer.  Sorry, it was never thought that AR would eventually be a better drop back passer than Stroud.  Never.  It was that AR could do a lot more than Stroud....like more of a Hurts in Philly.

 

It makes no sense now for Ballard to say that he thinks of AR as a drop back passer.  Sure, that has to be a part of every NFL QBs game, but those aren't the words to use to describe ARs future compared to Stroud, IMO.

Ballard isn’t calling plays. Steichen has to go back to those few snaps last season until he develops his passing game. 

[coming on strong]

1 hour ago, Patrick Miller said:

Would you rather go 0-17 with Richardson as long as he stays healthy and gets experience…..or have a chance at the playoffs with Flacco? I guess if you have a lot of faith in AR you’d say the former?

I’d rather go 0-17 with Richardson to be honest . Let him get the reps to see if he shows any sign of improvement. This team even with Flacco has zero chance at a Super Bowl . I rather take a 1st overall pick over going 7-10 or 9-8 .