Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has commanded plenty of respect around the league since taking over that front office role in 2017.
As Ballard tries to pull the organization back from missing the playoffs due to a colossal collapse in 2021, he was ranked outside the top-10 general managers entering the new season by NBC Sports.
Placing him at No. 11, here’s what they said about the Colts general manager:
“One problem with never being bad? You might lose your chance to be great. That has been Chris Ballard’s riddle at quarterback, where he is never in position to draft the true heir apparent to Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Instead it has been a series of veteran stopgaps, with 2021 option Carson Wentz going down in flames. This being Ballard, he still managed to put out the fire with a face-saving trade to the Commanders, who were strangely eager to surrender a pair of third-round picks for Wentz. Ballard then … flipped a third-rounder for Matt Ryan. It’s a serious upgrade, if yet another short-term solution. Ballard can afford to think in smaller windows with a defense, offensive line and running game designed to win now. But sooner or later he will have to stop kicking his most important can down the road. Until then, his canny drafting will keep the rest of the roster competitive.”
Ballard is still on the search for the long-term quarterback option following the retirement of Andrew Luck. They should have a solid short-term option with Matt Ryan now in town, but the search for the elusive franchise signal-caller still hasn’t come to fruition.
The Colts should be set up for a solid chance to make it into the playoffs after missing out in 2021 while Ballard will continue to search for his long-term quarterback.
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