Ballard says the Colts tried to move up with some big offers, couldn't find anybody willing to go down to 15.
Or Raiders/Broncos. Penix being drafted meant one of those two needed to stay for Nix
The AFC West really has no idea how to compete with KC, and it shows every year.
And I think such talent falling made teams reluctant to move out. They all saw the same guys the teams trying to trade up saw.
Moderator removed comment
1mo
Picking Oenix after giving Cousins the contract they did is what I disagree with. Not necessarily picking him
Well, no shit.
A Penix getting pulled out too early ruining an entire night for everyone? Never.
Underrated
Especially in the range they were trying to move up to. Expecting to move all the way up to 5 just is unrealistic. Maybe they could have moved up to 10 but the Jets essentially swapped knowing the OL they wanted would be there so they likely weren't dropping 5 slots
And here we thought QBs going early would be good for us. But it did cause Latu to drop.
No it didn't it helped us out immensely. We wouldn't have gotten Latu if that didn't happen.
Apparently we made some pretty major offers too, but like Ballard said, nobody was moving. Makes me think were were potentially trying to move up to get Odunze or Nabers
Or Bowers
I doubt it was Bowers. The reason I believe that is that Raiders seemed to be in a prime position to trade out of their pick, when all the QBs were gone. If Colts wanted Bowers, I feel like they would’ve traded with them to get him since many see Raiders taking Bowers as Best Available.
Or the Raiders saw a top 5 guy and weren't willing to trade.
If they valued him in the top 5 wouldn’t they have traded up?
With who. Trading up supposedly was the goal of a ton of teams but no one was willing to go down.
I took your comment to be about the raiders not being willing to trade from 13 as they saw a top 5 player as being available. To which my comment is that if that was how the raiders valued Bowers - should they also not receive the same flak for not trading up for him as they were picking at 13 not in the top 5 (or 11 if accounting for the QB picks).
It can’t go both ways that one team is praised for not trading up and letting a player fall to them and another is criticised for not trading up and letting the draft play out!
But no one was willing to trade down. So for all we know the Raiders tried and failed like all the other reports. This isn't Madden
Wonder if that means we’ll grab a WR in the 2nd. Totally fine getting a CB though
Depends if Cooper Dejean is still there imo
Colts are like pick 46, that's 14 spots. Hard to believe Dejean will still be there.
But I'm not up on what the teams ahead of the colts need or want.
You're probably right, but no one expected 14 straight offensive players to open the draft either.
My thoughts exactly! Mostly offense taken in the first round left us with the best pass rusher in the draft and potentially a starting CB in the 2nd!
I would agree with that
MH Jr, they offered 2-1st rounders and a 2nd is the rumor
If thats true, then no way that was gonna be enough to get Arizona to crack. Props to them for trying I guess
What was the source
User deleted comment
1mo
Dude trust me bro
Can’t fault Ballard for this one. The huge QB run messed up any potential for a trade. We still got a great player at a position of need.
Yup, news is going around that the Giants and Bears were locked in on Nabers and Odunze respectively, which made it even harder. Teams weren't budging, so not much we could do.
I am.okay with Laiatu Latu at 15. I didn't expect him to be there. I don't know if the CBs were worth a top 15 pick.
Widely recognized as the best defensive player in the class. TJ Watt comps have me pretty excited, he looks like a homing missile to the football and his bag of skills against blockers is deep
The little zone drop INT in the highlight reel got me excited af
Besides that. DBs like DeJean,Kool Aid etc fell into the 2nd. We can trade up in the 2nd for one of them. And there are still some.WRs available. The QB line at the top means there's a ton of great talent still available
It surprised tf out of me
I’m not at all unhappy with the pick, especially after seeing and reading more about him, but in no way was he “widely recognized as the best D player in the draft”. I saw multiple mock drafts with him barely going in the first and being the 5th or 6th D player drafted and I don’t recall a single one of them having him as the 1st one taken
All based on possible injury concerns. Hasn’t missed a game in 2 seasons so hopefully those concerns were overblown.
Definitely not widely. Safer to say one of the best. Most seem to have Turner, Latu or Mitchell Definitely not a consensus though so I don't get that
Literally Walterfootball was the only mock I found with him being the first D player taken. Again, I’m super happy with the pick but I’m not going to just make shit up about him either
It happens every year, grasping upon grasping to praise what Ballard does
Meh, it’s just a massive circlejerk in both directions. Picks are either the best to ever play their position or will surely be out of the league in 2 years (exaggerating)
Yeah you are right, think it’s reasonable to say you can see the upside of the move while thinking’s it’s risky and we may have been better taking one of the CB’s
Turner and Latu were the 2 best DL prospects on most board and projected in the top 12. Having our pick of either at 15 is a steal. Besides that..we can still trade up for Kool Aid and DeJean if we wanna be aggressive in the 2nd rd.
He absolutely was considered the best defensive player. He was projected to fall because of his injury issue. Higher selection doesn’t mean better, but by many, many mocks he was projected the best defensive talent in the draft.
“If only he didn’t have this one flaw he would have absolutely been better than all the other players” Right, got it 🤣
I don’t think you really understand how that works? Look at Penix. He went higher and some mocks had him out of the first round. Latu just had a crazy year. 3 years after his injury….. he was the best defensive player and it shows based on being the first off the board even with past injury issues.
No, I understand. And Penix has absolutely nothing to do with any of it.
Again, I’m not against the pick or the player whatsoever. I’m against the claim of him being “widely regarded as the best D player in the draft” when literally 1 or 2 out of dozens of sources are making that claim. It’s just not at all true. Period
Exactly... nobody had him there... but the sub ask saying "I didn't expect him to be there" is silly... you didn't even know he existed, is why you didn't.
If you actually read most of those drafts they say that he was undisputed best pass rusher in draft and would be a consensus top 10 pick but some teams may be concerned about medical.
That explains why some of the earlier picks took so long. The were dealing with calls.
User deleted comment
1mo
Makes it really boring to watch. They should add round 2 to day one (start 1-2 hours earlier), but speed up the action to make it more entertaining.
They had a count down on the screen for the start of the draft and the first pick didn't get announced until 20 min after the count down ended lol
No they take forever because ESPN has to go through every player's entire backstory or they're in the middle of a commercial break. You'd see "pick is in" for like 5 minutes before they ever got around to announcing it most of the time.
It's a show now and the NFL intentionally wants it to fill the full 4 hours. Then ESPN knows it can sell 4 hours worth of advertising. It's always about the money.
And this is why all those comments we hear every year “do what it takes to move up!” are nonsense.
It's not nonsense. It was the right sentiment. But it takes 2 to tango
Not really. People assume every year that there’s offers to move up that teams can’t refuse, which just isn’t the case.
I think people just wanted the effort of trying. Nobody is silly enough to not know they can decline. So hearing this makes me and many others feel better at least.
To be fair, we never fully know what’s happening behind the scenes. The Colts could have tried to move up in previous drafts and we were unaware of it. The same is said for offering free agent contracts.
Problem is the "do whatever it takes" crowd can still have wildly stupid expectations.
"We put some really aggressive offers out there. Teams weren't willing to budge." - Ballard.
"HaRrIsOn WoUlD hAvE bEeN wOrTh 3 FiRsT rOuNd PiCkS!!!! gEt It DoNe!!!" - some lunatic fans on here.
Which is why "whatever it takes" is innately a dumb comment. I am not saying all fans on here that wanted Harrison would have wanted the Colts to offer that but there are absolutely some who have that level of blind faith that Harrison was a transcendent talent that we could afford to do something like that.
There are some "expert armchair GMs" getting destroyed here. It takes two to tango folks. I was impressed Ballard was trying to move up. Some of you really need to pay attention to what is going on, seriously.
That's the story for every team I've seen
Somehow I doubt these "big offers" were big by literally anyone else's standards. Guy is a penny pincher. Bargain bin Ballard.
I mean. This was the case of literally every team we've heard from. Jets tried to do the same from a higher spot and couldn't.
I'm with you, who fucking cares about facts, ideas, and claims that don't support your predetermined narrative!
Where are these "facts" that you speak of?
Do you have insider information on what we were offering up?
Are you being intentionally stupid right now? I am literally calling you out for doing what you are accusing me of. Ballard claims that they tried to move up and your response is just to cry fake news.
The facts are that he has a track record of not making big moves, and no one should believe anything that comes out of his mouth until he actually makes a big move.
Lol, isn't that the same thing he said about FA?
Nothing bolsters the confidence like your GM coming away from FA and round one of the draft saying "well we tried to do better than we did"
I mean he offered hunter a bag. Teams don’t just want to trade out of top 10-12
Hunter wasn't the only good DE that moved in FA and teams will always trade for the right price.....they didn't want to trade out of 10-12 for his price.
What the price was we don't know, but my god stop acting like Hunter was the only God damn FA on the market lol
We did sign the WR1, slot cb1, a top DT, good safety, a couple of rotational d-linemen and backup QB in Free agency. Really don’t get the criticism for not spending just because we retained our own players! It’s not as if we are rolling 100 million into the regular season after letting everyone walk
I never said we didn't sign those players but all of those players, particularly the defenders, were also here in 22 and 23...so I would argue what exactly is their actual value if the floor with them all under contract is 3rd worst in the NFL? It sounds more like endowment effect to me but I don't have a problem with who we extended.
My argument was that Hunter wasn't the only really good DE you could have made a move for this FA. Greenard is a great player, Burns trade was basically a FA pick up so I don't see why Hunter going to Houston matters. Their only 2 years older than Latu and are going to produce a lot more this season than the best case scenario DROY numbers of like 6-7 sacks and 50 tackles.
The modern NFL is all about QB play and our QB play in 23 was appalling. When the team gets even just bell average play it has shown twice in the last 3 years that it’s good enough to be in the playoff conversation. With an above average QB this team will be seen as a contender as the defence will not be up against 30+ turnovers leading to short fields.
Signing Hunter, or one of the other players you mentioned would have meant that we would not have been able to retain the rest of the players. Latu may not be as productive as them in year one, but if he pans out as expected then we will have home under contract for 5 years (plus two tag years) which will provide much better value than one of the aforementioned players signed at top of the market rates.
He’s just making excuses. Year after year
Man look at all the downvotws from all the stans that swore up and down it would be a CB so everyone needed to stfu about Sneed.
Now we have the next TJ Wattt, while the binder lovers pretend they were not drooling the same thing about Paye, Turay, Banogu, Basham, Dayo "this kid is different:
8 years of drafting DL in the first two rounds, watching them bust over 3 years, then draft a replacement and start it all over again. This is what third or fourth iteration of "grow your own pass rusher."
But yah, know it's okay because Hunter was the only FA to exist in all that time and he didn't want to come here despite us offering more money on a deal the details of which never really got reported lol.
So, they're willing to move up? Move up in the second for Cooper, cowards.
Falcons probably threw a wrench in everyone's plans. Colts probably move up for Bowers/Odunze at 8, 12 or 13
doubt
User deleted comment
1mo
Is the draft over?
User deleted comment
1mo
Does Pittman, JT, Downs and a top 5 OL not constitute as weapons?
Colts got an EDGE who can actually pass rush which is what they've needed for years
Yea, and we could leave the draft with zero pass catchers and be fine, no idea why ppl think otherwise
People fell in love with the high end guys at WR which I get but falcons reaching for QB at 8 hurt us
I also think the timing of the AJB extension was on purpose and really increased interest on rookie WRs. Everyone saw him make $32mil/year and said,“fuuuuuuuuhggg that!”
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it. I’m not anti-game changing WR, but we absolutely don’t need a WR. MPJ is great. Downs is way ahead of schedule. Pierce has never had a QB to fit his skill set, Richardson fits his skill set. If you want to argue Pierce is a bust and we need a WR3, sure, but freaking out over not getting an elite guy is such a misread.
i keep seeing the narrative that pierce just needs to play with AR more to unlock his potential but like, every game they played together pierce was dropping everything. plus, downs is most likely gonna stay in the slot which means we need another boundary WR
Delusional
Can’t wait to see him level Stroud
Ladd, Mitchell, Franklin, Wilson, Melton, DeJean all there. Lots of good guys on the board still. We can still move up.
It's the best wr draft in like 20 years.
Keon Coleman’s still on the board. He was FSU’s WR1 and one of the reason their offense was solid
I'd like to see the 6'6" kid from FSU. Dude has an insane ceiling. His biggest knocks are his technical skills and I strongly believe Reggie Wayne would be a great teacher.
I’d love Jonny in the 3rd/4th. He had some hands issues but he’s an amazing route runner for a 6’7” guy with LONG arms.
Doesn’t he play the same role as Pittman?
Downs played quite well last year with a substantially less talented quarterback throwing him the ball. We have a fairly high ceiling group of young receivers and tight ends who haven't really been given the opportunity to showcase their potential given the QB situation. I'm much more interested in defensive prospects in the draft.
Friendly reminder that the best rookie receiver last year went 177th overall in the 5th round on day 3. Chill out... No guarantee any of those guys that went tonight are going to be as good as they're hyped up to be
PUUUUUUUKAAAAAAA!
You do realize this is like an all time deep WR class right? We still have 6 picks
User deleted comment
1mo
Or we could get AD Mitchell who goes on for 700 yds and 6 TDs while he is sitting 4th behind Pierce, Downs, and Pittman.
If the Colts are relying on Pierce to be a top 3 receiver, I don’t think that’s saying much.
Why do we need 3 insanely reliable pass-catchers? Most teams are lucky to have 2.
Would be cool to have another, but the two teams: The Pats and Chiefs, that have won it the most haven't had more than 2 reliable receivers.
Using two of the greatest QBs in NFL history as proof you don't need reliable wrs isn't a good argument
400 yards and a TD more than you could produce
And the Colts would still be limited at WR
Either Deebo or Aiyuk is getting moved tomorrow. That's our chance to fix the WR1 problem, and give AR vet help so he can develop.
Will Ballard do it though? Almost certainly not.
Could you imagine the possibilities in our run game with Deebo. His skillset with AR and JT would be scary.
I'd be thrilled with either, but if I got to pick one, it would be Aiyuk.
Deebo is a YAC machine like no other, but JT and Downs can do some of what Deebo does.
We don't have anybody who can do what Aiyuk does, which is stretch defenses vertically. Plus he's younger and doesn't have Deebo's injury issues.
I’d much rather have aiyuk as well, I just love the idea of the threat with Deebo. Triple option would be fierce.
What a silly take holy cow lol
This is BS, we literally saw a trade down 4 picks before ours. Not addressing secondary or wideout is malpractice. I don’t care how it happened, it’s your job figure it out!
They traded down one spot to a team that absolutely, in no way was going to take their guy. If they trade down to 15 there’s a decent chance the Saints (who clearly needed a tackle because Penning hasn’t been good and Ramczyk is 30 and declining) would take Fashanu instead of Fuaga in front of them.
So take the slow injured d linemen
He's played every game the last 2 years and is anything but slow.
Half the people complaining don't even know what they're talking about lol
Look at all the people who immediately flipped to being excited about him in the post comparing him to other edge rushers in the past 5-6 years.
You don't watch too much football, do you?
What an awesome argument that in no way counters mine. I feel like me actually watching and actually paying attention is what allows me to say those things. Remind me when I’m wrong
dude runs a 4.6 40 nowhere close to being slow.
His game speed is slow, show me all the times an edge gets to run 40 yards at any point? Just another bad year of Ballard making picks.
Have you watched any of his tapes. By no means is his game speed slow. He is phenomenal at creating pressure and reacting/adjusting
Dude, I truly hope I’m wrong I’ve loved the colts since I was a kid. I just don’t like it man, I’m not a fan of the pick I really really hate the injury, especially at a position that hands and arms and whatever else is flying at your head and neck to try to stop you. I have watched his game man, I’ll also admit I’m not a fan of the pac or the talent that trickles out of it. I may be overreacting because when I seen we could get turner I was so ecstatic and then immediately let down, but it still just my opinion.
He played rugby right after the surgery. Then transferred to UCLA and didn’t miss a game and was one of the best defensive players if not THE best in the country. I’m not worried.
Listen, we're counting on you guys to represent the doomers right now, stop bringing your B game.
Falcons drafting Penix rlly messed up the entire draft, if any team was gonna trade down it was going to be them