Ding Dong the Ding Dong is dead! Rejoice, Colts fans!
Colts GM Chris Ballard was probably one of the most hated general managers in the game of football right now. Maybe only above Jerry Jones, who cannot be fired. Most other GMs on his level simply don’t last as long as Ballard did. I’m honestly astonished he lasted this long. I expected everyone out the door after last year’s major collapse, especially under “new” ownership.
Ballard got the job in 2016 at the tail end of the Chuck Pagano era. Ballard’s first big move was to find a new coach after Pagano was fired. They zeroed in on Patriots rehab case Josh McDaniels. McDaniels seemed like a done deal. Suddenly, for reasons we still aren’t sure about, McDaniels bailed to go back to New England. Ballard had failed to grab his guy in a fashion rarely seen: the cold-feet rejection. You could argue this was ultimately a positive, as McDaniels would go to Las Vegas a year later and be complete ass butt once again, but it says something that Ballard and the Colts couldn’t manage to snag this loser in the first place. Fun Fact: Josh McDaniels would go on to be the only coach Jeff Saturday would beat in Sunday combat. That’s a nice funny revenge.
Ballard went with Frank Reich and that more or less worked until Andrew Luck mentally shattered and walked out of the Colts building in yet another exit we never see. Despite being executive of the year in 2018 thanks to two good draft picks (mostly Quenton Nelson), he was now forced to do the hardest job a general manager has: find a QB. Ballard…failed.
First attempt was Jacoby Brissett. Nope. Second attempt was the twilight sparkle of Philip Rivers. They reached the wildcard, but Rivers was not a long term answer and he quit. Next big swing was a big fleecing trade for disgruntled and broken Carson Wentz. Disaster. Next attempt was Twilight Matt Ryan. Failure. Then he decided to finally look towards the draft and he picked Anthony Richardson, a prospect so raw he still mooed.
Richardson got tanked his rookie year (a year he should have sat anyway) so that’s not really on Ballard. However Richardson being so ass the next year certainly is. They also tried some old man Flacco because Chris Ballard’s Colts are an old folks home. The Colts next swing was Daniel Jones of all people, who shockingly played well until injury, and they dug up Philip’s grave and threw him back on the field in a futile attempt to save the season. It did not work.
Ballard gave Jones a big 2-year deal in the offseason and so far Jones has gone pumpkin again. Daniel Jones: football swindler. Do not give that man money. Even the Giants eventually figured that out.
Ballard’s biggest swings all seemed to miss. Richardson was a disaster. Selling the future for Sauce last year has been a disaster. I have no goddamn idea what went on with the Jeff Saturday hire. That felt like a Jim Irsay fever dream but Ballard could have done anything to stop it and didn’t.
Ballard’s successes were milder in comparison. Jonathan Taylor was a good pick. Nelson obviously was, a decade ago, and he seems like he wants out now. DeForest Buckner was the one good Colt pass rusher (another general positional failure to build by Ballard) and he seems to want out now too. The Colts really need a teardown and restart. Let Jones shuffle about as the stopgap.
I’m surprised Ballard was let go so early in the season but maybe Carlie Irsay-Gordon realized she needed to Jazz him out the door before the trade deadline hit and he did one last seppuku to the franchise.
