The Indianapolis Colts had a slightly sub-par season in 2024. The team was 8-9 and they have plenty of holes on the roster as they enter the 2025 NFL Draft. Front and center for this draft (and offseason as a whole) is general manager Chris Ballard.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report believes Ballard needs to get moving if he’d like to stay employed.
“Ballard has been in Indianapolis a while now, and there was a time it appeared the sky was the limit for the 55-year-old—in Ballard’s second season as the team’s general manager,” Davenport writes.
“In recent years, though, much of the shine has worn off Ballard.
“Last year’s 8-9 campaign marked the fourth straight season in which the Colts have missed the playoffs. Ballard’s selection of quarterback Anthony Richardson fourth overall in 2023 appears to have been a major miss. And since taking Quenton Nelson in 2018, Ballard’s record in Round 1 has been shaky.
“Another bad season could be the end of the line.”
Ballard was hired in 2017 and has been running the show every year since with the backing of owner Jim Irsay. In 2018, he was named Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America. That’s wonderful, but that was also a long time ago. General managers usually don’t have long leashes in the National Football League, and some think – depending what happens with the roster this offseason – Ballard could be coming to the end of his in Indianapolis. The Colts have missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons, and then there is the Anthony Richardson debacle (get to that later).
Jon Spradley of Stampede Blue believes this upcoming draft is crucial for Ballard and the Colts and he’s exactly right. Spradley isn’t focused on the offense though, he thinks Ballard needs to go heavy on the defensive side of the ball.
“Draft picks can hit in any round,” Spradley writes. “First rounders flame out while players selected in the seventh round can go on to the Hall of Fame. It can be a crapshoot. There do tend to be premium picks, however. Rounds one through four can produce some solid players, and it would behoove the Colts to use those picks to beef up the defense. Fans witnessed too many missed tackles and blown coverages last year. The amount of points given up and the overall defensive numbers are simply not going to win many games. Ballard needs to build something formidable that can last. A defense that can keep an offense within striking distance and create turnovers and wreak havoc is always of value, regardless of who is playing quarterback.”
The Anthony Richardson debacle
For those who have watched Anthony Richardson since he was drafted in the first round in 2023, it’s been a mixed bag, but mostly bad. He’s shown the ability to make superhuman plays, and also the ability to walk right off the field during a crucial drive because he was tired or something.
He started four games as a rookie, going 2-2 with 577 yards, three touchdowns and one pick. Not the end of the world, but he wasn’t the full-time starter. In his second year – his first as the starter – Richardson battled through a 6-5 record in 11 starts, with a paltry 47.7% completion rate to go with just eight touchdowns and a whopping 12 interceptions. Ballard has to wear this one, he has to own this draft pick. He also needs to decide how he’s going to handle Richardson moving forward.
The overall quarterback situation
There has been a lot of talk and speculation about what the Colts are going to do in this upcoming draft. Do they take a tight end that they really need? Do they fortify the defense? Add another wide receiver? The truth is, the team has a lot of holes and most teams do when they go 8-9.
But, the real question for Ballard (that will likely ultimately determine his fate) is how he handles his quarterback situation. The Colts added Daniel Jones and they also have Jason Bean on the roster to go with Richardson. In short, Ballard may be in trouble before the season starts if he thinks he can win anything with any of this trio. Jones has proven that he’s probably an excellent NFL backup, but has never done anything as a starter despite being a former high first-round pick.
Ballard may have to seriously consider a new quarterback in the draft. At No. 14, that doesn’t mean he has to use a first rounder on one, but he may want to look at a Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe at some point. Could they go the trade route and enter the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes? Aaron Rodgers is still out there, but he’s heavily linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team doesn’t seem to have confidence in Richardson and Ballard could be a dead man walking if he’s the Week 1 starter.
Regardless, the consensus is that Ballard needs to start winning and breathe some life into a franchise that has been rather milquetoast the last several years.
Experts think Colts GM Chris Ballard is on the Hot Seat