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I believe that the biggest factor by far is the addition of Daniel Jones. He is showing us what Philip Rivers showed us in the 2020 season ...... that Chris Ballard, who was hired by AND kept on by Jim Irsay in spite of all the heat that he got for doing so, is a damned good General Manager.

Carlie is great, but the foundations of the current success that the Colts are having was laid down by Chris Ballard, who likely would have been canned by the overwhelming majority of NFL team owners not named Jim Irsay.

o

I'm not entirely sure that 2+2 is adding up to 4 here. I don't think anyone on the planet thought that Daniel Jones would be a top tier QB any time in his career. Yes, Ballard gets credit for building a complete team, I'm not denying that, but I cant believe Ballard thought we were only Daniel Jones away from the team we are now.

If so, what on earth does that say for Anthony One-Eye Richardson.

o


Unlike myself and almost every other Colts fan on the planet, I think that Ballard knew about Daniel Jones. Perhaps not to the point in which he would be toying with defenses the way that he and the Colts' offense has been doing, but at the very least at the level that Philip Rivers was playing at in 2020 ...... that's why he has been sitting in the Colts' GM office for the last 8 and-a-half years, and you, myself, and everybody else on ColtFreaks has not been. So yes, I think that 2+2 does indeed add up to 4 here.

The 2020 Colts were a 39 year-old Philip Rivers away from turning a mediocre 7-9 team the previous season to being a solid 11-5 playoff team that took the Buffalo Bills right down to the wire in the post-season on their home-field in northwestern New York State. I've said numerous times before, Ballard built a complete team and then tried to get the elusive franchise quarterback. He essentially did the opposite of what the New York Giants did ...... the Giants got a solid quarterback in Daniel Jones, and expected him to carry an otherwise incomplete team. Ballard, on the other hand, built complete teams that were a solid quarterback away from being bona-fide contenders (as is evidenced by the 2020 Philip Rivers season, and this 2025 Daniel Jones season.)

Regarding Richardson, Ballard took what was available, not necessarily what he wanted. Stroud was already taken at #2, and the next quarterback that was taken was Will Levis at #33. After that it was Hedon Hooker at #68, Jake Haener at #127, Stetson Bennett at #128, and Aiden O'Connell at #135. He refused to give away a proverbial King's Ransom for Stroud, and in hindsight we're all glad that he didn't.

I personally would have been more patient with Anthony Richardson, and would have had him taking snaps behind the center as the Colts' starting quarterback for this 2025 season ...... one of many reasons why it's a good thing that I am not making the important decisions about this franchise.

o

I live in Giants country, and subsequently, I've seen a lot of DJs games when he played for the Giants. Nothing spectacular, but his completion percentage was usually around 65%. The Giants had a terrible OL and he never seemed to have much time in the pocket. He got sacked a lot. His performance thus far this year, is far beyond what any of us thought we'd see, but I do feel that the Steichen system is tailor made for him. However, I see some rocky times ahead. So far, the OL has been healthy and I don't expect that to stay that way all season. But, after the first 8 weeks this has been a fun season and it's nice to see the respect that this team is getting. My nephew is a life long Steelers fan so we will be watching next weeks' game together. I'm nervous, but hopeful that the Colts can keep up the outstanding performances on offense and hand Rogers a beating that has him wondering why he hadn't already retired.

I got you, and I'm not going to say that the Phillip Rivers season was not fantastic.

Jacoby Brissett
Carson Wentz
Matt Ryan
Sam Ehlinger
Nick Foles
Gardner Minshew
Anthony Richardson
Joe Flacco

have all started for us since 2020. None of those guys were the guy, but Daniel Jones is the guy that Ballard was just waiting for?

Were having a "my steak is too juicy" discussion. But I think Ballard lucked into Daniel Jones and you are trying to make it sound like Ballard (and only Ballard) scouted this out and shrewdly found this massive value buried on the Vikings practice squad.

Ballard had a lot of good planning and a lot of good luck that paid off for all of us.

Agreed. It's certainly plausible that Ballard thought Jones would be better than what both fans and other GMS thought he'd be, but there's no way Ballard thought Jones would be as good as he has been. If Ballard had then he would have been chomping at the bit to trade for or sign Jones when NYG kicked him to the curb last year.

Gotta call BS on this. It was obvious that Ballard was very high on AR and all in on him. Just watch the post draft video that shows our war room when we're almost on the clock in '23. Ballard looks like he's about to burst into tears when it's announced a team has traded up to #3 and then jumps for joy in elation after it's announced that it was HOU that traded up. Also, you have to remember that prior to '24 Ballard drafted based on traits first and other things 2nd. I wouldn't be surprised if Ballard had AR #1 on his draft board that year, and in fact I'd be almost willing to bet the farm on it.

To add my .02 on the Ballard vs. Grigson debate - there's no question Ballard is head and shoulders a better GM than Grigson.

Grigson had a great offseason in 2012, but after that he was nothing shy of god awful. Maybe it was b/c Telesco left and/or took some really good people with him that Grigson couldn't adequately backfill, or maybe it was due to something else. But Grigson and his FO were terrible at talent evaluation from '13 on. He had entire drafts where not a single player made it past their rookie contract in the NFL. I'm sure there are some things that Grigson does well since he's risen through the ranks twice now (he's Assistant GM in Minny now), but there's no doubt he did a shitty job here.

Ballard on the other hand has always been a good at talent evaluation (at least at most positions) and a good drafter. His big problem has always been his lack of urgency and his split philosophy between 2020-2022 where he brought in win now QBs, but continued to slow build the rest of the roster. This led to some huge, gaping holes on the roster for those years. Glad to see that his slow building is all coming together though. Also, he does seem to have become a more complete GM over the past 1-2 years as he now factors in more things that just traits in his draft picks (no way Ballard from a couple of years ago would have drafted Warren) and has seemingly gotten over his phobia of premiere FAs.

I remain convinced that the drafting of AR was largely a Jim Irsay decision. Ballard was elated because he achieved JI's wishes.

I can tell you right now, that Bill Polian wouldn't have touched AR with a 10 foot pole.

Eh. From my experience you don't show that kind of emotion, both the disappointment and the happiness, just b/c you're able to follow orders. Not saying that Jim wasn't supportive, but AR was a Ballard (at least a pre-'24 Ballard) and Morocco Brown pick through and through. Totally tracks w/ his picks in prior years as well: traits first, production in CFB a distant 2nd (or even 3rd).

I do agree that there's no way Bill Polian would have taken AR. AR's accuracy issues would have been much too big of a red flag for Bill.

If you have read BP's book, and in particular his philosophy on drafting QB's there is way more into it than that. There is quota on starts, completion pct., was the QB a captain, etc etc. How in the hell does the entire Colts regime, not follow a HOF GM's rules and principles?