So far the practice squad consists of Reece Fountain, Steve Ihamel, Phillip Walker, D.J. White and Mo-Allie Cox

Here is Ballard in his own words explaining the Simon decision. Even if the thinking is he was competing for a job on the right end not the left end I don't see how Hunt beats him out but I guess that's why they pay him the big bucks. Time will tell......I also gotta wonder whether there was a thought that his neck injury would re-occur.....

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...d=133691530109

That team at least had some defensive talent in addition to Luck.

It still doesn't make any sense. Basically: "we decided he wasn't a scheme fit after OTAs, but still kept him around taking snaps, even though we knew we were probably going to cut him." Seems totally unnecessary.

This team is so fkd yet again.

In 2 more years, we'll realize that Ballard was no better then Grisom.

Always reaching for BS draft picks. Cutting better players.

I guess we'll see if FR can put together a game plan.

Still think Bengals kick out ass.

Well, that seems a bit premature. The Bengals killing us would not be a surprise, I expect a slow rough start all things considered. I also would not be surprised if this looks like a much different team late in the season. Time will tell.

I think the defense will improve as the season goes along. It might be, like, 30th to 20th improvement, but I'll buy some stock in the linebackers (especially Leonard) and safeties playing ultimately well. It's the DL and CB depth I'm worried about.

What's the use of having all the cash when he doesn't want to sign free agents, he wants to build through the draft.

If no other threats emerge, other than TY, then the ass kicking is coming. We need Ebron the RB committee and at least 1 more WR yo step up. Every teams game plan will be to take away TY. Luck has to know this right?

That seems fair enough, I also think the Offense will have as much of an improvement as the season goes on. I still expect Luck to look rough and make a fair amount of bad decision for the first 2-6 games and then take off and look very good.

Everyone is blaming Ballard. But really isn’t this the DC’s call? He determines who he wants to play. I’m sure Ballard has a say, but if the DC is not fighting for him, or maybe against him. Ultimately that’s the guy they have to convince.

Probably. But probably spot on. :(

So in releasing Delaire and Pipkins. The Colts signed S-Caorey Moore and DE-Al-Quadin Muhammad?

Let's be honest, Delaire looked like a stud vs scrubs and we have no idea if he is good or crap. This happens every year with depth players who look all-pro vs guys who will be flipping fries or selling used cars a few weeks later.

i

I'm not disagreeing, but Delaire at least showed a lot of fight.

It seems unfocused, or at least not strictly adhering to his philosophy. Either always let the best, youngest fit get the reps or don't. What did they expect to see that made the argument in favor of keeping Simon until the last possible moment? It's like a situational coin flip.

Ballards reasoning for cutting Simon

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...me/1158937002/

I hate this rigid stick to the scheme attitude, but I like his long-term view of building the team. It is what it is and Simon is not the difference in a successful season. I hope he lands on a decent team and has a great season.

Does anyone know if either of these guys are any good?

It doesn't matter whose call it was. Ballard set the tone on how this team would be ran and judged when he was hired in that press conference, and he said no favorites would be played, that the players knew if someone didn't earn it and he didn't want that culture. He said players would earn those spots. So no matter who made these calls, it's clearly not what Ballard preached, because lesser players are being kept and players producing are getting cut.

Tell me that Basham earned a spot on this roster.

I can tell you that, but I’d be lying 🤥

But Ballard said, basically, in the piece above that although Simon is better right now, they think Basham(lol) and Turay will be better down the line.

That’s the opposite of “earning” your spot.

That reeks of hubris to me. “The guys I drafted are better than some guy i signed off the street”.

Simon is not an all pro. He has 15 sacks in his entire career. IF you keep Simon, the young guys will get less playing time. Less practice time. Simon is a known quantity and these young guys much have more ability, but less experience. It's not baseball, where guys have the minor leagues to learn. Its a much shorter clock for a career. You can't teach athletic ability and youth. They kept the talent.

Ballard has cut people from last years squad that he drafted. He took the blame for trying to convert Green from safety to CB. He has shown he can make the tough decision. And he will be wrong on some of this.

Hubris is when someone on the internet claims to know more about a team than the guy running it.

Did they keep the talent? I haven't been impressed with many of these guys they kept, I was more impressed with several that they cut

What we see in games is a small sample of what goes on with a team. It's more than just running and hitting people.

Nah, hubris is convincing yourself that Basham will help the team more, at ANY point, than John Simon would have.

I absolutely love you guys. After 4 preseason games with a brand new staff and a huge turnover it is clear that Ballard is a failure. The evidence is clear. He disagrees with who should be the 51,52 and 53 guy on the team with some of you. It is so obvious that he can't evaluate players worth a shit, just look at all the other gm's in the league who hit on what, 80-90 percent of their draft picks? Ballard is such an idiot he is keeping players he thinks may develop into something big with some coaching. We know that won't happen. He needed to keep older players who are better now but have hit there peak. Don't give the playing time to younger guys even though we won't reach the heights we all want to get to with the old dudes. Look, I don't want to come off as loving Ballard. I like how he appears to be about as honest as a gm can be. I have very little idea of how good he is at most of this stuff because he doesn't have a track record as a gm. This was his first draft with his own scouting department He did great getting extra picks etc. The problem is that none of us have any idea of how good those picks will be. Some have not even played due to injury. I'll say that the first two picks look like they may be special. Ballard may suck, he may be average or really good. It's to early to tell. Lets see where this team is after they play 16 games. Gonna be fun to watch.

I think we heard that before, oh yeah, TJ Green.

It's not about Simon, btw. It's about Ballard and his staff not following through on how he preached this team would be ran.

I’ll apologize at the beginning of this. This will be way to long and I know many will skip it because of it. But I just can’t express my thoughts on this effectively in a short sound bite so I’m going to rant a little.

Look, I get that Simon isn’t an all pro and he’s not some impact player that individually will swing the teams win / loss record in any meaningful way. But it isn’t just about Simon. Its about the overall direction that Ballard is taking. Simon is just another symptom of that. It’s that the team is, IMO, worse at this moment than it should be - even while accounting for rebuilding. And I believe it’s significantly worse than it could be if Ballard wasn’t hell bent on his 4 yr rebuild. If it wasn’t for Luck I could possibly get behind Ballard’s vision. I just can’t with Luck in place. Luck gives this team a chance to win every time he steps on the field and I think it is crazy to disregard the advantage he gives the team and the gift Ballard has been given as a GM to inherit him. And I think Ballard is almost criminally negligent in ignoring the fragility of that gift and for putting it at risk by trotting out a shit roster around him and willingly wasting years.

We are just months removed from there being serious questions about whether or not Lucks career would be in jeopardy. And there is still at least a slight question in everyone’s mind that he may not be the same player he was before the injury. So it just blows my mind that Ballard can cut better performing players, ignore free agency, and play a long game knowing that it’s at least 3 years of what should be the prime of Luck’s career. I’m one that has called Ballard arrogant. I will acknowledge that in his job you need someone with a vision. You need someone that makes tough decisions, can ignore all the noise, and say it’s my job and my decision. That’s not why I believe Ballard is arrogant. I believe Ballard is arrogant because his approach says that he and is vision are more important than Andrew Luck to the Indianapolis Colts. And he and it are not, plain and simple.

This is all now just compounded by Ballard talking the talk but not walking the walk. You can preach to me all you want about how these younger guys will be better long term for the team and Ballard believes this and that’s why he’s made the moves he has. But I will tell you that every single GM that has ever cut a performing veteran to keep one of their draft picks who hasn’t shown anything has also rationalized why they did it and it is never different than what Ballard has said - that he felt it was best for the team in the long run. But go back to Ballard’s own words. He specifically said that you can’t talk it and not live it because the guys in the locker room know who earned their spots and who didn’t. And I believe he is absolutely right. I gaurentee you that Luck, Hilton, Castanvo, and Adam V know that Simon earned his spot. I gairentee you that they would rather get on the field with Simon and several others that have been let go than those Ballard has kept. And the younger guys know it to.

Ballard constantly talks about building the right culture and uses it as an excuse for not pursuing free agents now. It’s now to the point that I have to question the culture he’s building. From what I’ve seen it’s not a winning one. On winning teams performance is what counts. You earn your spot. Veterans aren’t moved out in mass to make it easy for young guys to shine. But that is exactly the culture that is being built. It’s not one of performance it’s one of potential. Up to this point I haven’t said that Ballard’s approach won’t eventually work, just that I didn’t think it was right with having a franchise QB in place. But I’m now starting to question if it will ever work, because I’ve seen teams to try this approach and I can’t remember it ever working. Experience and competition count and Ballard talks about it but he isn’t providing it. I mean Jesus, the entire LBing corps have like 6 career starts between them. And other than Leonard they have no pedigree either. They are not top draft picks you expect to contribute right away. They are cast aways and undrafted free agents. I’m sorry, but that is not meaningful fucking competition. Same at WR except Ty. Ballard talks a great game but he sure as hell isnt living it.

But he’s smart in one respect. I guess cunning may be a better word. Where he seems, IMO, to believe he is more important than Luck and is willing to throw meaningful years away, he at least seems to recognize that Luck will mask the shit show he’s putting out there for a large portion of the fan base. Luck will give the team the illusion of progress to most of the fan base and buy Ballard some time. He doesn’t come out and say it’s a 4 year rebuild he has the GM speak down pat. We are growing, improving. No short cuts. Can’t just be about Luck, have to give him help. After the Grigson fiasco fans are eager to eat it up. Tell them it will be 4 years and Luck will just have to suck it up and most would recognize the waste and revolt. But talk the talk well enough, let Luck do what he does - mask the obvious deficiencies - and you don’t have to walk the walk. You can cut better players, ignore free agency, and put out a worse roster and still be given the time to build what is truly important to the Indianapolis Colts - you and your vision for the future.

That’s my current feelings on Ballard. We are now stuck with him and his long term vision. I can only hope like hell that I’m wrong and people are calling me an idiot and throwing posts like this in my face in a year or two or three. But with each of these BS decisions he makes I see not just a direction I don’t agree with, but also a culture that I don’t agree with either. And I become more and more skeptical that I will ever have to eat crow on this. I’ll cheer like hell for all these young guys and pray I’m wrong. But I can’t put on blue hued glasses and ignore what I see.

Again sorry so long to anyone that actually read that, but I get frustrated seeing the sound bite arguments and not feeling like I’ve been able to actually get my point across to anyone.

I don't disagree and think that's the way to run a team myself. So the question remains: why have Simon eating up all these camp and preseason reps if the final outcome is predetermined?

Probably just to see if they could get a bite on him at all- definitely seemed like that was the case when he was playing so late in these meaningless pre-season charades...

the NEW coaching staff needed to see what they needed to see. It's not a science. It's an art and that takes more time and what you feel in your heart, not what is on paper

You can't run a team without a VISION and a MISSION. The VISION is where you want to be. The MISSION is how you get there. And sometimes, good people will be let go, because they won't have enough TIME to get you to the GOAL.

The NFL is the most merciless buisness. How many guys get to play 10 years? IF the NFL was a democracy, then Manning never would have left. It's not. It's about what can you do for me now AND in the next 3 years.

It blows. It's cruel. It's unfair. And we the fans cheer every Sunday.

Ballard gets credit for cutting a shitty player he paid to start? That makes no sense

The gm takes the blame.

Grigson got all the blame

Anyone who thinks this will get fixed by this year is dreaming

I think people just expect Ballard to improve the team. This team looks to me to be one of the worst colts rosters I have ever seen. At least since 2000

You mean the VISION to take project players in the draft when there are starting quality players available? What great VISION!

I was responding to Chakas argument that Ballard took a cheap flyer on Howard who most thought would be a serviceable player. And that once it was realized Howard sucked, Ballard didn’t compound the issue by keeping him. His minimal FA signing history still sucks.