GM Chris Ballard has a philosophy and he is sticking to it. That philosophy is building his roster from the inside out. He is starting to reap the benefits.
The Colts were one of the best running teams at the end of the 2018 season. The biggest reason for that is because of the play of the offensive line. They all came together and played great. They did well in pass protection too. That was all made possible because of Ballard.
Ballard has decided to build the Colts from the inside out. He wants to fortify the interior lines of both the offense and the defense. He believes that toughness up front leads to great play on both sides of the ball. That philosophy seems to be working finally.
The biggest reason it didn’t work early in Ballard’s tenure is because of how little talent he had to work with on the offensive line. The line hadn’t been built up because of poor roster management of Ryan Grigson. He had to patch the lines he best he could until he could draft better players.
Now that he has the offensive line he wants, he has been working on the defensive line. That line is starting to look very formidable too. He has drafted well, and used free agency to get a difference maker in Justin Houston just recently to make it even better.
As long as both lines are strong, the Colts should be in a good position to contend. Ballard’s way of building his team is working, but hopefully will take this team to even further heights soon.