Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -1/31- Gaining A Background On Ballard W/@RyanTracyNFL; Seeing The Colts Future W/@gmbremer

Episode Date: January 31, 2017

Ryan Tracy from Locked on Chiefs joins Matt to give us more of an inside scoop on #ChrisBallard and what he's meant to the Kansas City Chiefs. Also George Bremer drops by to discuss what Ballard's approach means for the future of the #Colts, as well as Chuck Pagano. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Fearless is just one tap away. With the new FEP Blue app from Blue Cross and Blue Shield, you can access your health benefits on the go. Download it now at fepblue.org. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I am your host, Matt Dainley. We have brought in Ryan Tracy today from Locked

On Chiefs, and we're going to talk to him a little bit about the new Colts GM, Chris Ballard. We want to see a little bit more of a background than what we know. We're getting a lot of outside stuff coming in. Everything sounds fantastic, but let's go to the source and let's go to Ryan and hear exactly what he's been witnessing in Ballard's tenure there in Kansas City. Ryan, thanks for coming on, man. Sure thing. Thanks for having me.

We all want to talk about him. He's a guy that, for those of us who have covered the team for quite a while, we didn't want to see him go. Chiefs Nation doesn't want to see him go. Out there, he is the guy that is relied upon to be a key cog within the player evaluation and roster building phase of this team. And John Dorsey is a quality GM himself, but Chris Ballard was definitely his right hand. Now, there's been some talk about Dorsey possibly going to Green Bay or something like that, or just the thought of it. And now that Ballard is in Indianapolis, that itself I think is what you're maybe referring to is that it kind of cuts deep a little bit and that Dorsey's somebody you guys want to keep there

in Kansas City for the long haul for sure now, right? He is. In fact, Chris and I talked about Unlocked on Chiefs show today that Ballard was a guy who's been with the organization a touch longer. He's got a more recent history of being a scout himself. So he's a little bit closer to the age that they're looking to bring in. And he was a guy that for all intents and purposes, if John Dorsey were to get offered a job in Green Bay as the general manager, that's something that I think most people would feel like that's tough to walk away from. Although his wife is from Kansas,

and when he came to Kansas City, Dorsey did say that the Chiefs were one of his dream jobs. So we can all cross our fingers. But for Chiefs Kingdom, it's one of those things where Chris Ballard is so good at what he does that he was kind of the safety net. Should something go wrong and Dorsey does leave, he was the guy the safety net. Should something go wrong and Dorsey does leave, he was the guy that we were all just trying to keep everybody else away from. I mean, the collective sigh that was heard across Kansas City when he decided not to interview for the 49ers was very audible and a whole lot of relief for that town. And probably not just so you wouldn't have to see him possibly fail in a garbage organization. I mean, if nothing else, you know.

What did he do? What was, I mean, there in Kansas City, he didn't have the GM role, but what was the dynamic between him and Dorsey, and how did they kind of work through everything that went on with picks and free agency and so on? You know, my favorite thing about the way John Dorsey does his job is he treats it as a panel, as a group. It's pretty well known that he and Andy Reid make a lot of personnel decisions together.

They really do come down to the final decisions as kind of a duo and bounce it off of each other. But the way they get to that decision is by listening to Chris Ballard. He's been instrumental in a number of key acquisitions for this franchise since Reed and Dorsey have been here over the last four seasons. And what it comes down to is they do their film work, the scouts do their work, and you'll take a look. And when they're really interested in somebody, that's when you start talking about personal interviews,

getting into their life, vetting them. Because Chris Ballard has always been a franchise first person, loyal to a fault. Had he interviewed in San Francisco, he wouldn't have taken that because it's not an organization that is going to give him that back. So Colts Nation should feel good about the fact that he chose to go there because that's indicative of what kind of quality franchise he believes they are. Through his press conference today, that was basically the tone that he was leaving out there for everybody is that everything's team first, everything's organization first, nothing will ever be one person, you know, about one guy, so to speak. And that was something that if he was to take the GM role, one of his exciting points about getting the opportunity to do that is to be in a loyal

organization, he said. So that definitely rings true for sure. And it's a common theme. Probably the most critical thing that he's done over the last few years is when it came down to making those personal relationships and those personal checks, especially on draft picks, Dorsey and Reed really relied on him for his ability to get the feel for somebody. And I'll tell you the two best examples that have really worked for the Kansas City Chiefs in the last few years are both because of him. First, when they were looking to get an all-star cornerback and the guy that they liked had had a history of problems with his college team. Marks Peters was released from the University of Washington football team. And as much vetting as they had done with his film and his on-field play,

they needed to get to know who that was. John Dorsey didn't go meet his family. Andy Reid didn't go. They sent Chris Ballard. Chris sat down with them, spent time with his family in his home, in his neighborhood, where he's from to get a feel for that player. And then he came back to Kansas City and reported to Reid and Dorsey and really was the final vetting for Marcus Peters to become a Kansas City Chief, knowing that his storied past was not going to continue into the future in Kansas City. And then the really interesting one was last season, after a very lengthy, from my understanding, scouting report from Ryan Nutt, who is the Southeast scout for the Chiefs, it came down to Ballard vetting Tyreek Hill as well. And Tyreek's got a very, very difficult past to deal with.

One of those things that when he was drafted, I was not for it. Right. I kind of called out the franchise because I think it's a step too far. I still do. I will give them credit. He hasn't made any missteps and they're supporting him,

but that came down to Chris Ballard's decision to take a look at who he is as a person and see whether he was truthful in seeking redemption and looking to turn his life around. You know, it's kind of funny that you bring that up. I'm going to talk about this later on the show with George Bremer. But that specific type of situation right there is something that the Colts absolutely need. Not so much bringing in these high-risk players, but the fact that the players that they brought in that were high-risk in the past were washed out quickly. And I don't know.

I mean, it's hard to say whether that was GM-related, coach-related, whether it was just the players were just unwilling to change their lifestyles or whatever. But that has been an issue, and it seems like Ballard's gotten those kind of guys. Either he's gotten deeper into who they are and figured out that they're worth the risk because they're unlikely to make those mistakes again, but he's been able to get the very most out of those guys, and the Colts have not been able to do that in the past.

Is that a skill you think that is his personality can bring that out, or is that just his overall ability to evaluate not only the talent of the player, but the person? I think it's a bit of both. I think it does rest on his ability to evaluate, but it also hinges on his ability to be personable in a way that puts a prospect, especially a young kid who's a draft prospect, at ease enough so that you can get to the truth and get a real feel for who that person is. And Ballard has had, for a guy who was director of pro personnel and then was elevated to director of football operations. He keeps a very, very low

profile in Kansas City, and he doesn't seek the spotlight. He doesn't reinforce his work through it at all. He's a very down-to-earth, get-the-job-done kind of guy, and I think his personality plays into that quite a bit. That's interesting because I think the Colts definitely need a guy who can make those kind of decisions. Like I said, the Colts have not had luck with it in the past. And if the Colts are going to be finding that rare talent in the draft, free agency and so on, there may be eventually a couple guys that are a little risky. But it's something that I think myself included with a lot of Colts fans, I would assume, are in that position where they want to feel good about somebody that comes in who may have a bit of a checkered past, maybe a past with

drugs or a past with something or other. Hopefully nothing too crazy, domestic abuse or anything like that, because as far as I'm concerned, that's something that we just can't have. It's nice to have a guy in there like Ballard, who's dealt with this stuff in the past and feels like he can evaluate the person and get them in and have them be a productive player and a person in the community. So he definitely impressed a lot of people at his press conference. What would you say as far as how he runs the organization, aside from him bringing all personnel in and basically having everybody have their own voice at the roundtable? What would be the most valuable part of who he is to the organization? I've heard through the grapevine about how these things go on, especially with the scouts as they present their findings.

He is a guy from everything that I understand that if he hires you and you work for him and you're his area scout or have a region for him, he trusts your evaluations. He doesn't second guess. He doesn't really manage or anything. Right, right. He'll take it a step beyond. I'm sure as Ryan went through some of those evaluations in the southeast, when they were interested in guys, I'm sure he went a step further and did his own digging as well. But not to contradict his scout. He puts people in positions that he feels he can trust, and he lets them run with it from everything that I've heard.

Now, again, no firsthand knowledge there, but that's what I understand. It seems like the Colts got a real good one. And there's a definite excitement around Indianapolis right now with Chris Ballard coming in. So, Ryan, thank you for joining me, man. I really appreciate your time. Yeah, thanks for having me. Absolutely. Well, certainly nice to get a little bit of that insight from Ryan. You know, it's, it's kind of hard to gauge what, uh, what we should think about Chris Ballard at this point, you know, cause we don't know a whole lot about him other than what we've been, uh, reading and stuff, you know, over, over the last, uh, 48 hours, more or less, you know, to get that inside view, uh, of what, how,

how much he means to the Kansas City Chiefs organization. It can't be anything other than exciting for the Colts moving forward because we really desperately need a far better roster than what we've been putting forth the past two years. So, you know what, now let's go over to George Bremer and we'll get a little more in-depth about what he saw at the press conference. George, thanks for joining us, man. So how was the press conference today?

What did you gather from the little bit that we saw today from the new GM, Chris Ballard? You know, I think coming in, Chris Ballard had really a reputation of being a people person, being somebody who makes relationships, strong relationships on and off the field and uses that in his work. And I think he was as advertised there. I thought it was really impressive that he took the time to get everybody's name before they asked the question and referred to those people by their names. It's just showing, you know, that little bit of an extra personal touch. Now, ultimately, is that going to mean anything on the field? We'll have to see. But it's certainly reports coming in before the guy got here suggested that

this is the kind of person he was. And I think his first interaction, his first introduction here in Indianapolis certainly lived up to that billing. I mean, everything that we've seen, you know, from whether it be national guys, local guys, and I just actually got off with Ryan Tracy of Locked On Chiefs, and we were talking about him a little bit, and all the stories are the same. Everybody loves this guy.

Everything that he preached in his press conference was exactly what Ryan had said, basically that the guy is a complete teamer and expects everybody that works with him to be the same way. I've used the word exciting probably six times already on this show, but it is exciting, especially for the Colts, because everybody with this stop of five years with Ryan Grigson, there's a couple years there where he kind of escaped a lot of backlash. But ultimately, the past three years has been nothing but backlash. And I think that people in Indianapolis and all Colts fans are so eager to get back to where the Colts were with Pullian as GM. I think that a lot of people think Bauer is the guy to take us back there.

Yeah, that's obviously a really, really high bar. He's going to have to go out and do the job now to live up to the billing on that end as well. But he absolutely won the press conference today, which is the first step and really all he could do today. I think there were really two things that really struck me today. The first one was, as he was talking about his team mentality and the fact that it's never about one guy and it's always about all 63, including the practice squad,

one of the first thoughts I had is the quarterback's going to love this guy because it's the same mentality that Andrew Luck has, is, the quarterback's going to love this guy. Because it's the same mentality that Andrew Luck has, and I think he's going to absolutely buy into that kind of a thought process. The other thing I thought that was really impressive was the Pagano question. He knew it was coming. He had to know it was coming. It was the overriding elephant in the room. But he was so often, I think, in the past couple of years,

when there's been a touchy subject, when it's been asked to Chuck Pagano, when it's been asked to Ryan Grixen, when it's been asked to Jim Irsay, you get an answer that's not quite convincing, if you know what I mean. Exactly. They hesitate a little bit, or they're equivocal in the answer. And I thought his answer, read into it what you want, we'll see what it means in 2018, all these other things, but I thought his answer for today was perfect.

He just said, Chuck Pagano's a great football coach, I didn't look anywhere else, hard to win in this league, he's a winner in this league, and we're moving forward. To me, that should put that issue to bed. We all know it could be reevaluated again in 2018, but that's the way you answer that question. Yeah, he did absolutely answer the question perfectly. I totally agree with you. But let's dive into that a little bit more. Do you believe that? Do you

believe that there was no, I mean, not saying that he didn't want to search for anybody, but do you believe that Chris Ballard himself chose Chuck Pagano, plain and simple, just like he said? No. I think he agreed to those terms. I think he agreed to those conditions. And I think he understands that when he did that, you've got to be all in. And I think that's the part of it to me that I like.

You can't come in with the idea of, well, I'm not sure about this guy. Once you sign on the dotted line, you agree that Chuck Pagano is going to be the head coach, you've got to back him. You've got to be there for him or else none of this works. And so I think, to me, that's the way it goes. And now I'm sure that, you know, I heard Rick Venturi earlier today on the radio, and obviously, you know, we both dealt with him a lot in person. He's a guy with a lot of respect around here for a lot of good reason.

And he basically said from a coaching standpoint, it's no different. Every coach is on a one-year contract every year. No matter what the deal they sign says, in their mind they're on a one-year deal because that's the way this league is. And so I think from Pagano's standpoint, he has to feel comfortable in knowing this guy's going to give him a chance. And that's all you can ask. I do believe that Chris Ballard's going to give him a chance.

And at the end of the year, he's going to reevaluate everything and make a decision for 2018. I totally agree. Not only that, but what you spoke about, Venturi. He is such a great guy just to pick his brain, even for five minutes. If you get five minutes with that guy just to talk football or anything for that matter, he is so, not only is he interesting, but he's so just brutally honest and everything is so matter of fact with him. I absolutely love talking with him, especially at camp and stuff like that. He is such a wise guy and just very interesting all the way around. I never, ever pass up on an opportunity to get a few minutes with him.

But the thing about the press conference that I loved the most was, like you said, he could see the questions coming. He knew there was a few of them that were going to get asked. And maybe it was him being a little nervous for his open press conference with the Colts, but you could see the smile before the question was even done being asked of him. And he would go on and he would answer it very matter-of-factly. And like you said, he absolutely won the press conference just by feeling like he was all in on everything he answered. He didn't waver. He didn't waffle at all. He definitely showed how much he respects the organization,

how much he respects the opportunity to get that GM position. And, you know, the fact that he would even consider the Colts, like he said, he felt the Colts were one of the most loyal organizations in the NFL. I think that says everything that we need to know. Despite how much crap Ursae and the Colts get, you know, for whatever different reasons, they are a very loyal organization for the most part, uh, save for all the Peyton Manning and John Gruden rumors that were going around. Yeah, absolutely. And I think at the end of the day that goes on everywhere. And I think not to excuse it or not to, you know, not to say that 32 wrongs make a right, but

the point is everybody's looking to upgrade, and every owner who wants to win is going to explore every avenue. Now, you can argue about the way it's done, the timing that it's done, those kind of things, but everybody out there that has a chance to bring in people who they think are going to improve their franchise, they're going to take that opportunity. If they don't, you wonder why they're in this business, honestly.

And I think, I know that locally sometimes there's some question. A lot of fans are definitely behind him. Some people still have some scars for various reasons when it comes to Ursae. But when you look around the league, and I'm talking not so much about the media, but the decision makers, the coaches, the front office people, the players, Jim Ursae is a really respected owner in this league because he knows football. He's a football guy. He came up through the game.

He's not a guy who made his money somewhere else and came in as a side business. He's a football lifer. He's been in his family. And I think the other football people in the league really respect that. Right. And, you know, we were messaging back and forth the other day about kind of what we thought it might mean that all the GM candidates were meeting with Chuck Pagano.

And I think that now we have our answer, that it was absolutely that – well, let me say absolutely. It was more than likely that Ursae was definitely thinking that Pagano is actually going to be the coach in 2017, and he wants any prospective general manager and the coach to get on the same page and probably get some feedback from Pagano on his thoughts on each of them. And, I mean, when you get a guy like Chris Bauer, like Ursa gave him not only one of the best, but one of the craziest compliments that I've ever heard from an owner to a brand new hire about the best candidate in the 21st century. I mean, he has everything to live up to now. I mean,

I don't know if that's more or less than if he had to live up to Pullian, you know, or just whatever. But man, he's got a long ladder to climb. But there isn't any doubt that Indianapolis Colts fans are 100% excited about this guy coming in. And see, you know, I put out a poll today on Twitter, and I wanted to kind of see not only do you think that despite the fact that you know Pagano's coming back, you know, after we saw Ballard and Pagano both say how happy they were to going to be working together, but I wanted to see from Colts fans why they didn't want Pagano. You know, the I just don't want him or just whatever.

I wanted to see here's your poll, yes or no, keep him or get rid of him, but I want you to tell me why, whatever your answer is. And there was so many people that I've seen in the past just cutting Pagano, no slack whatsoever, and I'm one of them, don't get me wrong, but I thought it was so telling that with the acquisition of Ballard coming into the mix, that people, a lot more people, are more apt to give Pagano a little more leeway now, because they feel like this is going to be just a much better process all the way through, I think. Well, I feel like the chains, to whatever extent that they existed, the chains are off

now. And so there's no excuse, I guess, for lack of a better word. This is Chuck Pagano's season to work with things the way he wants to on the field. If Chris Ballard made anything clear, it's that he is not going to get in the way of the people who make decisions. He wants this to be a team. They're going to come to a decision as a team, and once a decision is made, they're going to go for it. I don't think there's going to be waffling back and forth, changing their

mind from week to week. So I think Chuck Lugano has that opportunity now to work the way he wants to work, to do what he wants to do, and we'll see at the end of the year where that leads. It should be interesting. I mean, there were so many, you know, from the Tom Cable to the Dave Tube or Taub. I still cannot figure out how to pronounce that guy's name. But we didn't really know what was going on previous to that. But this marriage here between Ballard and Pagano is going to be an interesting one, and I think that a lot of people, me included,

are assuming that possibly Ballard's expertise in drafting, evaluating talent, bringing guys in free agency, he's got a lot of money to spend right now. And that has to be a pull as well. But I think that they think this marriage is going to be a lot more palatable right now just because they trust this guy. We've not known this guy for more than 24 hours as a fan base all the way through, but we already have more trust in him than we did in Grigson for five years.

One thing that I've heard about Chris Ballard, and he kind of alluded to it a little bit during the press conference, and afterwards we got a little sidebar with Jim Irsay. He sort of elaborated on it a little bit more too. But one of the biggest strengths that I have heard is that this is a guy who's not worried about drafting for his ego or drafting so that he can get credit for the pick. He's worried about drafting to fit the coach's scheme. And I know that that maybe sounds simple, but it's really important.

And the really successful teams in the NFL, that's the way it works. And so I think with Ballard, when he talks about it being bigger than one person and when he talks about team-oriented, that's a big part of it. He's going to draft to Chuck Pagano's style. He's going to draft the guys that will fit what Chuck Pagano wants to do. And I'm not saying that that didn't always happen under Ryan Grigson, but obviously the results on the field didn't reflect it. So I think that that, to me, if you're a Colts fan,

that's one of the biggest things to be excited about. You've got a guy with a clear plan. I never felt like, even when things were going well in the Grixen era, I never felt like there was a real clear plan. It seemed to change from year to year. They seemed to react to how things were going. All of a sudden, bringing in veteran free agents became a thing that they really wanted to do. Then it wasn't, then it was.

You know what I mean? There never seemed to be a real clear focus on how they wanted to build the team, what type of player they were looking for. I think that's one thing that Chris Ballard brings over, a real definitive plan on this is what an Indianapolis Colt looks like. Right. And, you know, he did get into that free agency talk and how to build the team and said you can't buy a locker room.

You know, you want to raise your own. But, you know, let's be realistic. I don't know if there's a team – I mean, I can't imagine, let me put it that way, that there is a team in the NFL that doesn't want their draft picks to develop. I mean, everybody wants their draft picks to develop. But the best part about this free agency, in my opinion, is if they can get two to three of these guys who are out there

that are absolutely high-quality guys, they're young. There's a lot of young guys that are out there in desperately needed positions on defense, especially for the Colts. He says he can't buy it, but they've got to get to the floor, and they've got a ton of money. So he's going to have to spend some money on somebody. And if he can get some of these 26-year-old guys to come in, I wouldn't necessarily call that buying a locker room, but I'm calling that making a uh some uh a real investment towards a team

when you don't have to draft those guys and you've seen that a little bit with kansas city and the approach and again i know it's dangerous to kind of put too much on on what happened with kansas city on ballard's shoulders we don't know how much of that's john dorsey we don't know how much of that's John Dorsey. We don't know how much of that Chris Ballard was involved in hands-on directly. But when you look at how they have treated free agency the last few years, when they've had a really big need and there's a guy like you're talking about,

a young, talented guy that fits that, they've been aggressive. They've gone out and got him. They needed a wide receiver a couple of years ago. They went out and got Jeremy Macklin, who fit into that kind of style that you're talking about. He was 25, 26 at that time. They spent the money in that spot

to go get a guy to fill a position they needed. I think that's the way free agency is going to be treated here. I don't think he meant there won't be any free agent signings or it won't be a priority. I think he wants to use that to complement the draft, which obviously everybody wants to do.

I will say this. In the later little sidebar, Jim Irsay was pretty clear that it was the older, the 30-plus free agents that he thought hadn't really worked out as well. And that's probably where they're going to steer more away than necessarily free agency in general. Yeah, and that's absolutely accurate. I mean, that's what you should plan to do.

Unless you've got a guy who's playing at a Pro Bowl level at 30, 31 years old and has for a couple years previous to that. You just don't. I mean, Mike Adams is an outlier. Am I wrong? I mean, that guy's 35 years old right now, and nobody thought he'd be playing this long. You can't argue he's still getting better.

He's a freak. He's definitely not the general rule of thumb. But I think you go back to guys like Todd Harriman. He was brought in here. The bill rolling off his line lasted, I think, three weeks. Andre Johnson, you Johnson, another example. If they had gotten him 10 years earlier, it would have been a whole different situation, obviously.

But I think that's what they're going to steer away from a little bit more. But I think you're right. This year in particular, there's some young guys who could hit the market. I think when that happens, I think Chris Ballard will be aggressive and will try to go and find guys that fulfill needs. But ultimately, the way to build, and you know this, to sustain success in the NFL is to hit on your draft picks and get that cheap labor.

Have those guys who can be soft on your salary cap for four or five years. Oh, absolutely. And I think that Ballard's pull and his reputation throughout the league be soft on your salary cap for four or five years. Oh, absolutely. And I think that Ballard's poll and his reputation throughout the league can do nothing but good for the Colts in free agency. I mean, you know, whereas if Ryan Grigson was there, you know, not to pile on, but I think it's reality. If Ryan Grigson was still in Indianapolis, a lot of those guys that would possibly be willing to come for Ballard would not have come for Grigson was still in Indianapolis, a lot of those guys that would possibly be willing to come

for Ballard would not have come for Grigson, I think. I mean, I think that's at least fair to assume. Yeah, I think he's definitely changed the way that the franchise is viewed. I think there's going to be some interesting conversations, just as there had to be with him, about Chuck Lugano and his future. If you're a 3-4 defensive player, player for instance you're going to want some kind of assurances that you're going to stay in a 3-4 scheme before you come into this situation you know i think any free agent would want to do that make sure that they're going to be in a situation a little bit longer term uh and it'll be interesting to see if the Colts are able to offer those kind of assurances that's the only thing that i can see is kind of a trip up the free agency this year

that kind of a situation where people might be a little bit concerned about whether or not the coaching staff is here for the long term. But somebody mentioned, I don't even remember where or who said it, somebody mentioned earlier today, how many spots in the NFL can you really look at and say that guy is on more than a one-year deal and feel confident? Bill Belichick, obviously, Pete Carroll, maybe a couple of others. How many coaches are really, are you certain, are going to be there the length of your contract if you sign with that team?

Right. And you alluded to it, the GM pulling guys in to fit a scheme. But I think something that's also starting to break out in that, you know, quality coaches, quality GMs and quality teams in general, what they're doing is they're finding elite talent that they can plug in and that can fit any scheme or then you fit the scheme around your your talent, you know, and I think that that's important as well. One of those things that still to this day worries me about Pagano is can he and will he be able to design some things around the talent that he has on the field? And that's what I truly

hope that he finds he makes himself. You know, they constantly are talking about we need guys being versatile within teams. But you know, I think that Pagano needs to add a little bit of versatility to himself and his coaching style to really take this team to the next level. And if he can do that, then I think that Pagano is definitely going to land himself a longer career with Indianapolis. And he and Ballard may be able to keep this thing going. You know, I don't think that you'll find anybody who is personally against Pagano. I think that they just simply haven't gotten the results they want from their team, and this is very much a snap reaction league,

especially with fan bases and everything else. But over the past couple years, he's worn some fans down. But one of the things that I wanted to ask you about real quick, before we get out of here uh george his ability to bring in uh some high-risk guys and be able to turn them into quality not only quality players but you know guys who haven't been in the media and haven't been an issue within the organization or in the community uh both tyreek hill and marcus peters i talked to ryan Ryan about this earlier have had some you know issues there in Kansas City before they came to Kansas City actually but you know he was

able to bring those kind of guys in where whereas the Colts some let's go to Luchis Purifoy, Derrick Rogers, Levon Brazil guys like that I, there's a host of them, really, when you think about it in the past. And none of those guys have really worked out for very long. This is an exciting thing, I think, for Ballard, a guy who's kind of got some not only experience, but he's gotten a past with bringing guys like that in and having success with them. Absolutely. It's a calculated risk. I think every time you deal in those situations and you have to be able to

find that guy who has put that past behind him and now maybe is undervalued. And I think that's one of the things that you look around, whether it's Peters, whether it's Hill, whether it's Travis Kelsey, he, that group over in Kansas city has found some guys beyond the first round who didn't maybe have more value than the rest of the league was giving to them while at the same time hitting on those first rounders, which I think is a really big deal because that has not happened here.

You go back, Eric Fisher took a little while, but he's been a productive starter for the Chiefs. Dee Ford had a tremendous year for a productive starter for the Chiefs. Dee Ford had a tremendous year for him this year on the defensive line. And Peters is developing into one of the better corners in the league. So, you know, there's three of the four first-round picks. They didn't have one in 2016 because of a trade. So the three first-round picks while he was in Kansas City, those are the three guys. And if you can hit on those guys and find values later in the draft,

that's how you build a roster. Yep, absolutely. I have been outspoken about Dee Ford ever since that game. Give me a guy with that kind of length and that kind of ability as an outside pass rusher for the Colts. I mean, that would be, you know, there's not too many. You very rarely see a mirror that would be, you know, there's not too many, you very rarely see a mirror effect of guys, you know, comparisons tend to fall by the wayside after they actually

get some time in the NFL. But man, give me a guy with his measurables and who has some quality tape and I want that guy on the Colts, that's for sure. You know, I think that's the thing about all three of those first-round picks. You look at those positions, corner, offensive line, pass rush, that's what they're looking for in Indianapolis. So the resume is there. Oh, it absolutely is. Like I said, it's exciting.

There's a seventh time I've said it. It really is, though. It's a whole new era. It's a lot of excitement for Colts fans in general. I think a lot of people were so put off by the way the team had downtrodden the past couple years that this is the boost that the organization needed, and I think Jim Irsay knocked it completely out of the park. Yeah, he hit home run here on paper,

and now we're going to get to see how it plays out. And the great thing is, right around the corner, the Combine's coming up. Free agency's right on the heels of that. The draft will be here before you know it. We're going to get to see what it is that Chris Ballard can do in action. Absolutely. A very exciting next few months for the Indianapolis Colts. George, thank you so much, man, for joining us.

Always appreciate your time. Excellent stuff. Thank you guys for listening., for joining us. Always appreciate your time. Excellent stuff. Thank you guys for listening. Continue to give those ratings and reviews on iTunes. Check out Locked On Colts on Twitter. You can get myself at mdanley underscore NFL. George, where can they find you on Twitter? At GM Brimmer. Go follow George. George is fantastic. Always very good, especially on Twitter. And he's just a great guy. So if you guys have heard him enough on here, you know that. So thank you again, George, and we'll talk to you guys later right here on Locked on Colts.

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