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Grading Colts GM Chris Ballard One Year In

By Ryan Stano

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 13: General manager Chris Ballard addresses the media during the press conference introducing head coach Frank Reich at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 13: General manager Chris Ballard addresses the media during the press conference introducing head coach Frank Reich at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 13, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Chris Ballard has now been the Colts GM for a full year. How has he done so far in Indianapolis?

The Colts fired former GM Ryan Grigson during last year’s playoffs. He had run the team into the ground and made a lot of bad decisions when it comes to personnel. He also had a lot of bad contracts that he put on the books.

Once they let him go, they hired Chris Ballard to take over. He has had a lot of work to do since he took over that job. He has had the job for over a year now. So how has he done in his first full year as the Colts General Manager?

Grade: B+

Ballard has already done a lot during his one year tenure. He has made mostly good moves so far in terms of getting new players. He got John Simon, Jabaal Sheard, and Johnathan Hankins all last season to help improve the defense. Ballard wants to institute a team of toughness.

Ballard has also done a good job of purging all of the bad players that Grigson signed. He got rid of oft injured DT Arthur Jones, linebacker Erik Walden, D’Qwell Jackson, and Patrick Robinson. All of those players had some sort of flaw. In Jones and Robinson’s case, it was the lack of games they were able to play due to injury. In Walden and Jackson’s case, it was their age and lack of versatility.

Last year’s draft was good in terms of addressing team needs. The Colts drafted players in the secondary, defensive line, offensive line, and running back. All of those positions were positions of need. Whether or not those players pan out remains to be seen.

However, Ballard has had some issues. He wasn’t able to keep Vontae Davis happy, and they ended up releasing him midway through the year. The major issue though, was that he hired Josh McDaniels who ended up backing out of the job. That is a huge mistake that could have cost the Colts. But he may have been able to fix it by hiring Frank Reich.

Next: Colts Draft Order Officially Set

All in all, Ballard has mostly done a good job. Hopefully for Colts fans, he continues to improve and make good organizational decisions.

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