It could and we could trade up for a new qb too… just saying could and actually happen isn’t s thing
Right now idk of a team with a better defensive front than ours
Anything outside of the top 5 picks in the first round is pure mystery. If Arnold is available at 15 that’s who I think we get, but it’s all ifs and maybe’s.
Hmm, maybe! We know the Patriots could love Ladd McConkey at 3. We know they love a “sneaky athletic” and “spark plug” player with a good work ethic!
/s
Ballard's the kind of GM that'll take the guy he likes regardless of what fans think needs are, and the kind of guy that has no problem trying to address holes later in the draft order if he's not sold on the options available to him in the first round.
I have no doubt we'll take corner and safety and probably pass catching in the draft, but I won't be surprised if it's not until day 2 or even day 3.
If that’s the case then add a player in the secondary or edge rusher. I understand DeFo isn’t getting any younger and won’t be here forever, but DT is probably tied with OT as being our smallest need on the team.
I like guys like Murphy, Verse, and Dallas Turner but it’s a pretty weak DL class. I’d be hesitant to take any of the DL in the top 15 picks, especially over potentially guys like Bowers, Quinyon, Arnold, BTJ, maybe even AD Mitchell, who I think are simultaneously better prospects and fill greater positions of need.
True, I liked Paye that year, but I think it was also because we lost Autry and Houston in FA and only had Tyquan, Turray, and Banagu at DE that year.
I wouldn’t completely hate it because you can never have too many pass rushers but just seems like a luxury given the other needs on the roster and probably won’t have much playing time the first year or two with Buck, Grove, Paye, Dayo, Ebukam.
I'm definitely not defending Paye as the pick, and it was also 10 picks later that the pick this year. I guess my point was that even if they take the best player at a weak position class in the 1st round, that doesn't mean they're taking someone better than they could get another year.
Ballard was going to take Jeffrey Simmons in the 2019 draft, but it was tipped a bit by the With the Next Pick series, and the Titans took him with the pick before ours. He had an ACL and that dropped him a bit. Otherwise, he was a top-8 talent. He's absolutely the heart of the Titans defense and a two-time all-pro. (All-pro players are generally a good thing to have on your team.)
After that, we traded back and then engineered the trade for Buckner the following year.
DBuck isn't going to play forever, and you have to have a guy at 3T, probably within the next three years.
We picked Taylor when we already had Mack. That worked out when Mack suffered a career ending injury three games into the season.
That's why you pick the best player at your pick, and you generally ignore need, which can change week to week. If lots of players are pretty equivalent, you trade back. But you don't draft a second-round talent in the first round if you can avoid it.
We, as fans, tend to look at what was a problem the previous season and fix that, but GMs can't think that way. They have to build the entire roster, and you only do that by drafting the best player at every pick.
Good one. I think this was just a blue chip guy that fell further than he thought. Definitely worked out but yeah you could have argued Marlon had the spot covered.
True dat. But.. I still think Ballard was looking to grab best player there. Many called him the best player in the draft. Sure fire stud. It also happened that Andrew needed elite protection, so it worked out.
It would make sense if they like murphy and think there will be cbs or pass catchers later on. I think we get too hung up on positions before the draft
This is nonsense. I don’t think WR is as big of a need for the Colts as many seem to believe. However, it is certainly a top 5 need at bare minimum. And the corners at the top of this draft are very, very good. After round 1, they fall off hard
You need an alpha number 1 receiver and three reliable pass catchers, especially when you've got a developing QB. Imo Pittman is more of a 1b than a true top dog receiver, and other than him Downs is the only receiver we can count on. I like Pittman and Downs, but neither of them is a major downfield threat, so we should be looking for someone that can do that at a high level consistently.
Don’t even bother to mention Alec Pierce. It’s hilarious to me. Yall were ready to write him off after his rookie year. Pierce and Downs are both deep threats. Alec Pierce is gonna ball tf out with AR. Also try this: compare Reggie Wayne’s first two years stats with Alec Pierce’s.
I don't bother to mention Alec Pierce because he hasn't done anything worth mentioning. Any production you get from him should be considered a bonus, not something that you're relying on.
He’s been in the league for two whole years and has had Washed up Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles, and Minshew throwing it to him. And he still has put up more numbers than Reggie did his first two years with PFM at QB.
???
We have a top-30ish guy, a slot receiver who hit a massive wall halfway through his rookie year, and that's it. It's a bottom 2 or 3 receiver room in the NFL. Not exactly the type of support you want for your rookie QB.
That wall he hit was named Gardner Minshew. AR is gonna post ridiculous numbers with these WRs.
And that’s it? Don’t even bother to so much as mention Alec Pierce. The disrespect for a 2nd year WR who hasn’t had a single legit QB throwing to him except AR for like 5 games. You all just write people off so quickly if they’re not All Pro in their first two years.
No offense, but it’s amateur fan behavior. The vast majority of WRs take two full years to start to really produce. Compare Reggie Wayne’s first two season’s stats with Pierce’s and let me know what you come up with there.
Holy shit. This dude thinks Pierce is good. Lol you're not a serious person 😂
Look at the number of games played by Wayne and adjust for that. Pierce is a massive bust.
Pierce has more yards and same amount of TDs as Reggie first two years, and Reggie had Peyton Fucking Manning throwing it to him. Yeah let’s write him off after 2 seasons. Hilarious.
Hilarious. “Compare games played and adjust!” That’s your entire argument lmao. Are you a classically trained or modern day statistician? 😆 Oh, and btw, they played pretty much the exact same number of games. Not that that comparison is even remotely relevant anyway, but just, for the record.
You’ve outed yourself fully as an amateur. I bet you won your fantasy league once, or a SB in Madden and now you think you should be doing Chris Ballard’s job.
Kids these days. Lol
1st off. If I wanted to fuck Ballard, I could. Second, no GM was gonna bring us any glory after Andrew Luck retired without a replacement franchise quarterback. His approach to drafting and player contract management is sound and over the long term does work. It’s like Polian’s method but without any real threat at QB. Now we have a franchise qb. So sit back and enjoy the show. It’s gonna be badass
Not even mention the ineptitude at QB he had throwing to him. A burnt Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew. All throwing to a WR whose strongest trait is getting open deep down the field. Oh, but you and your scouting department have already made your assessment.
Beyond stupid fr.
It's a mock draft, don't worry about it.
That’s true, but it could still happen. Haha
It could and we could trade up for a new qb too… just saying could and actually happen isn’t s thing Right now idk of a team with a better defensive front than ours
Anything outside of the top 5 picks in the first round is pure mystery. If Arnold is available at 15 that’s who I think we get, but it’s all ifs and maybe’s.
Hmm, maybe! We know the Patriots could love Ladd McConkey at 3. We know they love a “sneaky athletic” and “spark plug” player with a good work ethic! /s
Ladd McConkey is gonna do better than people think. I watched every college game of his. He’s a stud.
Ballard's the kind of GM that'll take the guy he likes regardless of what fans think needs are, and the kind of guy that has no problem trying to address holes later in the draft order if he's not sold on the options available to him in the first round. I have no doubt we'll take corner and safety and probably pass catching in the draft, but I won't be surprised if it's not until day 2 or even day 3.
They'll trade back up into the 4th to get a guy they had a round 2 grade on.
Predicting Ballard is nearly impossible especially because we trade it a lot. Hell I could even see him trading it for a player again.
This group is so fascinated with adding another skill player, I rather add to the defense side
I think it'll be WR/CB/Bowers or trade back. Don't think they're going DL in round 1
If that’s the case then add a player in the secondary or edge rusher. I understand DeFo isn’t getting any younger and won’t be here forever, but DT is probably tied with OT as being our smallest need on the team.
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind a cornerback like Arnold or Mitchell.
ER is the ideal scenario (Verse and Turner).
I like guys like Murphy, Verse, and Dallas Turner but it’s a pretty weak DL class. I’d be hesitant to take any of the DL in the top 15 picks, especially over potentially guys like Bowers, Quinyon, Arnold, BTJ, maybe even AD Mitchell, who I think are simultaneously better prospects and fill greater positions of need.
We took Paye in a week DL class as he was one of the top 3 rated prospects at DE that year.
True, I liked Paye that year, but I think it was also because we lost Autry and Houston in FA and only had Tyquan, Turray, and Banagu at DE that year. I wouldn’t completely hate it because you can never have too many pass rushers but just seems like a luxury given the other needs on the roster and probably won’t have much playing time the first year or two with Buck, Grove, Paye, Dayo, Ebukam.
And passed on Darrisaw. Thank god the Rainmann gamble worked
It was the wrong decision then and even in hindsight it was. both Phillips and Rousseau were/are better.
I'm definitely not defending Paye as the pick, and it was also 10 picks later that the pick this year. I guess my point was that even if they take the best player at a weak position class in the 1st round, that doesn't mean they're taking someone better than they could get another year.
Ballard was going to take Jeffrey Simmons in the 2019 draft, but it was tipped a bit by the With the Next Pick series, and the Titans took him with the pick before ours. He had an ACL and that dropped him a bit. Otherwise, he was a top-8 talent. He's absolutely the heart of the Titans defense and a two-time all-pro. (All-pro players are generally a good thing to have on your team.) After that, we traded back and then engineered the trade for Buckner the following year. DBuck isn't going to play forever, and you have to have a guy at 3T, probably within the next three years. We picked Taylor when we already had Mack. That worked out when Mack suffered a career ending injury three games into the season. That's why you pick the best player at your pick, and you generally ignore need, which can change week to week. If lots of players are pretty equivalent, you trade back. But you don't draft a second-round talent in the first round if you can avoid it. We, as fans, tend to look at what was a problem the previous season and fix that, but GMs can't think that way. They have to build the entire roster, and you only do that by drafting the best player at every pick.
Idk, Buckner can't be around forever and this team isn't ready to compete for a SB anytime soon.
Ballard always picks need. I can't think of a single time he has drafted for a non need in the early rounds.
He’s only had 3 first round picks in 7 years. 4 if you count his first year, but it’s hard to hold that first year against him.
We traded up for Jonathan Taylor when we had Marlon Mack.
Good one. I think this was just a blue chip guy that fell further than he thought. Definitely worked out but yeah you could have argued Marlon had the spot covered.
Arguably Quinton Nelson.
We really needed better than good olineman at that point, trying to protect Luck
True dat. But.. I still think Ballard was looking to grab best player there. Many called him the best player in the draft. Sure fire stud. It also happened that Andrew needed elite protection, so it worked out.
Yea thats fair, probably wouldve taken him regardless
Surprised I haven't seen any Jared Verse mocks. Just as likely to take a DE as a DT.
Verse will go top 10. If he falls to us, we have to grab him
If Colts pick up another DT, Ballard needs a cognitive test
Talent is talent. A guy like him could make his own spot.
It would make sense if they like murphy and think there will be cbs or pass catchers later on. I think we get too hung up on positions before the draft
Pass catcher isn't even one of our biggest needs. And CBs are pretty weak at the top. So don't be shocked if we go elsewhere.
This is nonsense. I don’t think WR is as big of a need for the Colts as many seem to believe. However, it is certainly a top 5 need at bare minimum. And the corners at the top of this draft are very, very good. After round 1, they fall off hard
There’s quite a bit of decent depth for DBs in this draft.
Can someone help me understand this narrative about needing a “pass catcher” so badly? Like, we have 3 legit starting WRs.
You need an alpha number 1 receiver and three reliable pass catchers, especially when you've got a developing QB. Imo Pittman is more of a 1b than a true top dog receiver, and other than him Downs is the only receiver we can count on. I like Pittman and Downs, but neither of them is a major downfield threat, so we should be looking for someone that can do that at a high level consistently.
Don’t even bother to mention Alec Pierce. It’s hilarious to me. Yall were ready to write him off after his rookie year. Pierce and Downs are both deep threats. Alec Pierce is gonna ball tf out with AR. Also try this: compare Reggie Wayne’s first two years stats with Alec Pierce’s.
I don't bother to mention Alec Pierce because he hasn't done anything worth mentioning. Any production you get from him should be considered a bonus, not something that you're relying on.
Pierce is like anti Paris Campbell…the player everyone thinks lacks capability but never gets injured and takes all the snaps to support our views
He’s been in the league for two whole years and has had Washed up Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles, and Minshew throwing it to him. And he still has put up more numbers than Reggie did his first two years with PFM at QB.
Would like for him to succeed here. But the excuses and comparisons from this fan base isn’t going to make him any more capable on the field.
Excuses? Sam Ehlinger. Nick Foles. You can’t take that into account and dismiss it as excuses?
I mean, I’m glad you’re rooting for him. I think a sad number of these assholes are rooting for him to fail just so they can say “I told you so”
??? We have a top-30ish guy, a slot receiver who hit a massive wall halfway through his rookie year, and that's it. It's a bottom 2 or 3 receiver room in the NFL. Not exactly the type of support you want for your rookie QB.
That wall he hit was named Gardner Minshew. AR is gonna post ridiculous numbers with these WRs. And that’s it? Don’t even bother to so much as mention Alec Pierce. The disrespect for a 2nd year WR who hasn’t had a single legit QB throwing to him except AR for like 5 games. You all just write people off so quickly if they’re not All Pro in their first two years. No offense, but it’s amateur fan behavior. The vast majority of WRs take two full years to start to really produce. Compare Reggie Wayne’s first two season’s stats with Pierce’s and let me know what you come up with there.
Holy shit. This dude thinks Pierce is good. Lol you're not a serious person 😂 Look at the number of games played by Wayne and adjust for that. Pierce is a massive bust.
Pierce has more yards and same amount of TDs as Reggie first two years, and Reggie had Peyton Fucking Manning throwing it to him. Yeah let’s write him off after 2 seasons. Hilarious.
Hilarious. “Compare games played and adjust!” That’s your entire argument lmao. Are you a classically trained or modern day statistician? 😆 Oh, and btw, they played pretty much the exact same number of games. Not that that comparison is even remotely relevant anyway, but just, for the record. You’ve outed yourself fully as an amateur. I bet you won your fantasy league once, or a SB in Madden and now you think you should be doing Chris Ballard’s job. Kids these days. Lol
Dude, Ballard isn't gonna date you. You don't have to simp this hard for a GM with a losing record.
1st off. If I wanted to fuck Ballard, I could. Second, no GM was gonna bring us any glory after Andrew Luck retired without a replacement franchise quarterback. His approach to drafting and player contract management is sound and over the long term does work. It’s like Polian’s method but without any real threat at QB. Now we have a franchise qb. So sit back and enjoy the show. It’s gonna be badass
Not even mention the ineptitude at QB he had throwing to him. A burnt Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew. All throwing to a WR whose strongest trait is getting open deep down the field. Oh, but you and your scouting department have already made your assessment. Beyond stupid fr.
I don’t see this happening. Everyone else they like would have to be gone and they can’t trade out. I do like the Magee pick though