Colts GM Chris Ballard deserves a lot of credit

A lot of people are giving credit to head coach Frank Reich for the Colts’ success, and rightfully so. But there is another man who deserves a lot of credit for the quick turn around.

11 months ago, Chris Ballard was flustered. He had just hired a head coach who was no longer coming to Indianapolis. He needed to find someone else to take the job. But then he found him. And this man was better than the last guy he tried to hire. That man was Frank Reich.

Ballard deserves a massive amount of credit for navigating that mess in the offseason. Having Josh McDaniels bail on him was a very tough situation. But he was able to hire someone else who ended up being a better guy for the job.

Besides handling the coaching issues, Ballard has done a great job building the Colts roster. He invested in both the offensive and defensive lines. Building the trenches up has given the Colts the ability to protect Andrew Luck and rush the passer on the other side.

Having those young building blocks now is great for the future. They will all grow together, and be a beast to deal with for the next 5-10 years. But the best part is, they are meshing now too. All of the new players are playing a role in the success this season.

Quenton Nelson, Braden Smith, and Darius Leonard were all draft picks from April that are contributing right away. Denico Autry, Dontrelle Inman, and Eric Ebron are all new acquisitions this year who are big contributors this year as well.

Everyone from top to bottom in the Colts organization deserves credit for the quick turnaround the team has had this season. It is a complete team effort. But Ballard deserves some special recognition for the role that he has played.