Colts: Chris Ballard’s response to QB question indicates hesitation with 2021 draft class

With the 2020 season now in the books, everyone’s wondering who will be under center for the Indianapolis Colts in 2021. Is Philip Rivers going to return or will he retire? Is general manager Chris Ballard going to take a stab at one of the prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft? If River does leave, what about going after a guy like Dak Prescott?

It’s going to be the biggest unanswered question for months, but Ballard spoke to the media on Thursday and was at least open about his thought process regarding the franchise-altering decision.

Fans have to respect the honesty, but after hearing what he said, are we to assume that Ballard doesn’t think highly of the 2021 class of quarterbacks? Or maybe he just doesn’t like where Indy sits with the No. 21 overall selection?

You heard the man. You don’t just “take one” and your problems go away. The rational fan understands that. The Colts taught Jets fans that lesson that hard way for the millionth time in the history of their franchise when they traded New York the No. 3 overall pick, which was used to select Sam Darnold.

The fan base was thrilled with the prospect of having a potential franchise QB … but the lot of ’em have since soured on Darnold given how the last two years have gone.

Eh, maybe that’s a bad example. The Colts aren’t the Jets. The last two franchise QBs to call the shots for Indy were Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Though Ballard didn’t draft either of them, he knows what it takes to get his hands on the true answer for this team.

Some fans think that answer could come in the form of Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Mac Jones or Kyle Trask. Trevor Lawrence would be the clear solution, but he’s definitely not going to be available. To some degree, whether it requires a trade-up or their stocks falling, most or all of those quarterbacks could be available for Indy come draft day.

Maybe Ballard wants to try his luck again with Rivers and see what he has in Jacob Eason before making the move to draft a potential franchise QB with the Colts’ top pick? At this point, we’re unsure of the temperature, but based on his latest comments he doesn’t seem too thrilled about what the Colts might be working with on draft day.

Or, you know, he could totally be bluffing.

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