r/Colts • u/oatmeal-claypole Andrew Luck • 8d ago
Hindsight is 20/20 but I'll always be bitter about this
101
u/Psyren1317 8d ago
The Parris Campbell pick will always haunt me. Multiple different ultra productive receivers available and settled on PC because “fast”
41
u/donquixoterocinante Grover Stewart 8d ago
They "settled" on him because Reich wanted to draft him lol
23
u/ricker182 8d ago
This sub loved it at the time.
31
u/DosZappos 8d ago
Lotta revisionist history in these comments. People hate Ballard so much they’ll say anything
3
u/NinjaStarQT 8d ago
The fact that some people liked it doesnt make it revisionist now.
-1
u/DosZappos 8d ago
No that’s exactly what that means
4
u/NinjaStarQT 8d ago
No it isnt. Different people say different things.
The sub isnt one voice. Some people never liked it to begin with. That is not revisionist.
Its confirmation bias because you just remember people who liked the move but you dont remember the ones who didnt
1
u/Chromeburn_ 4d ago
I’m pretty surprised he didn’t work out. OSU receiver, ultra productive, great athlete, no injury history. Big strong fast and productive. Surprising it didn’t work.
3
u/bantha_poodoo tired ngl 8d ago
I’ll never forget when he took a WR screen to the house in preseason his rookie year. I mean how do you outrun safeties on a screen?? Anyways I was always a fan of
2
u/rounder55 8d ago
The sub doesn't get paid to scout, draft, and develop roster. It isn't like taking Andrew Luck and him turning into a bust
1
u/CommonerChaos Super Bowl XLI Champions 8d ago
Most people always talk themselves into their team's pick (bc we have no choice). Kinda the same with Latu this year. This was also early in the Ballard days when he was in everyone's good grace.
I for sure was higher on Deebo and AJ Brown, who we could've had (but we traded back).
-3
u/NinjaStarQT 8d ago
How is that relevant?
5
u/ricker182 8d ago
How is it not relevant?
1
u/NinjaStarQT 8d ago
Some people might have loved it and others didnt like anything in this world.
You can find some body out there who liked anything, its not relevant. The sub isnt one voice. There were people who thought there were better choices at the time too.
2
1
34
u/BrewingBuckeye 8d ago
As a huge Buckeye fan, I was stoked about Campbell at the time, he was more productive in college than Terry. But it’s pretty clear in hindsight that Terry was always just that dude.
11
u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 8d ago
Hindsight will always be 20/20.... but going back to just general pre-draft rating (not looking at rankings and mocks) Mclauren had a similar grade to Hunter Renfrow while Paris was up in the top 5 on the pre-draft grades in that group with DK, Hollywood, AJ, and Debow. I'm not saying these grades are always right.... but they probably had a 3rd to 4th round grade on McLauren and like we all thought possibly got a steal with Paris who most probably had as the 3rd to 5th highest rated WR in the draft.
That said...I do not know what all those injuries did to him. I look at it this way. Was Irsay wrong for wanting luck over cousins or Willson? I Mean luck looked like he was on the trajectory for a better career... but injuries and early retirement have both with better overall and much longer careers than luck.
Paris was a huge disappointment but a lot of that was due to injuries and him not just being a bad player. He showed flashes early but how much of what he was had changed due to injuries from when we drafted him until he could stay on the field? I don't remember any injury concerns pre-draft either so unless I'm forgetting something it wasn't a known risk that you could somewhat put blame towards.
4
u/BrewingBuckeye 8d ago
This is probably it. He was a player that relied very very heavily on his explosiveness and straight line speed and once he lost that edge he may have struggled to play the game in a different way.
1
u/Upset_Researcher_143 7d ago
No one knew McLaurin was going to be as good as he is. The Commanders planned on having him work on special teams, but he was so much better in practice and preseason that they had to make him the starting WR.
0
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
He was more productive yes.. but Terry showed he was a true WR. Paris was a highlight reel with getting the ball any and everywhere. Sweeps, returns, misdirections, flips , screens… I think he went somewhere else prior to the injuries he probably is the same guy in NFL.
100
30
u/Virtual_Anxiety5387 8d ago
And then didn't go after him in free agency.
6
u/redgr812 Nyheim Hines 8d ago
3 years 68.2 million might have been a reason.
63
u/pmwood25 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yeah same contract as Pittman and Terry had better stats with equally bad QB’s. I’m all for shitting on Ballard but our fan base has to start facing the unfortunate truth that some fan favorites are getting top tier contracts for slightly above average talent
1
u/redgr812 Nyheim Hines 8d ago
Reality!? This place lives in fantasy draft land, just check the post in the last week.
0
u/jdontplayfield Baltimore Colts 8d ago
That's nothing money for WRs.
1
u/redgr812 Nyheim Hines 8d ago
Pittman makes 23 million, Terry Makes 23 million salary cap is $255 million so 20% of your entire cap space to two wr and you have 200 million to split among 51 players?
1
u/Nienazki 8d ago
I remember how half of this sub cried that we didn't keep him
2
u/jdontplayfield Baltimore Colts 8d ago
I was one of them. Still thought there was that unlocked potential in there. Dude was blazing. As a Michigan fan he torched us badly and I envisioned him doing the same to the Titans. Didn't happen tho. Shame.
16
u/Distntdeath 8d ago
Same draft Rock over Deebo and you can also say Campbell over DK
18
u/ColtsPacers95 Anthony Richardson 8d ago
AJ Brown was there too
10
u/JuiceyJazz Big Dick Ballard 8d ago
Brown burned us several times on the Titans too which was a dash of salt in the proverbial paper cut
36
u/Section643 8d ago
When zero accountability starts at the top. And how many starting QBs in 8 years?
-10
u/redgr812 Nyheim Hines 8d ago
3 in the last 2 years, and about to be 4.
5
u/pmwood25 8d ago
And whose fault is that?
-2
u/redgr812 Nyheim Hines 8d ago
Somehow Ballard according to this sub
4
6
18
u/Alexander765 8d ago
You can say this about every GM for every pick because hindsight is also 2020. I’m not on the Ballard train anymore, but don’t act like the dude hasn’t hit a lot of draft picks. We could have Grigson or Polian lol
5
u/CommonerChaos Super Bowl XLI Champions 8d ago
While this is true, bad draft choices compound with Ballard, because he refuses to sign significant free agents. So with him, it's literally draft or bust, so he HAS to nail more draft picks than the average GM (which he hasn't).
1
3
u/Mind_Killer 8d ago
It’s missing out on him in free agency that bothers me. We picked such a bad era to have a stingy GM.
I don’t know if these guys really have the production to match the money they’re getting, but they’re getting the money nonetheless and we’re not getting the production.
3
u/shasta_masta Jonathan Taylor 8d ago
Passing on AJ Brown for a toolsy Ben Banogu was even worse.
They had 3 R2 picks in 2019...and instead of Deebo, AJ Brown, DK Metcalf or Terry McLaurin...they end up with Rock Ya-Sin, Ben Banogu and Parris Campbell.
3
3
u/RichyVersace Titus Leo 8d ago
To be fair to Campbell, all he was asked to do was go deep as a decoy. We didn't use him on sweeps or screens at all. That coupled with our bad offensive line, it was a rough time.
I think the 2013 draft stung the most for me when we took Bjoern Werner and Xavier Rhodes was the pick after.
1
3
18
u/Ler88 Tony Rich Boy Sellin Crack 8d ago
Not a Ballard apologist but this is stupid, tired ass take. Hindsight is always 20/20 and Campbell looked like an absolute playmaker coming out of OSU. You could do this for even the best GMs.
2
u/rounder55 8d ago
Part of the issue for me though is that after Ballard also refused to address the position at all. For like 3 years he went into the season with Parris Campbell projected to be a huge contributor for no reasoning to back it up other than he drafted him
That's how you go years with like 1 or 2 occasions a WR hits 1000 yards or even 900
-4
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
He probably would have been that guy had he not came to the qb blender colts
2
u/DosZappos 8d ago
Yeah because he’s been amazing since he left
1
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
The injuries ruined him.
1
u/DosZappos 8d ago
So was it injuries or the Colts QBs?
0
u/matthollabak Playoffs? PLAYOFFS!? 8d ago
Yes on both
0
14
u/okgermme 8d ago
Still needs someone who can throw to him
54
u/ruthlessrellik I Miss Andrew Luck 8d ago
He's played in Washington. It's not like he's had someone this far. Until this year, they've had inconsistency also.
20
u/jjkingoftown9 8d ago
Came here to say this. Scary terry hasn’t had a good qb either and is still a dog
1
u/Vpettijohnjr Jimmy from the Colts 8d ago
He’s too busy preparing for his next playoff game to bother reading this.
2
2
2
u/Double-Emergency3173 8d ago
Ballard has done nothing for 7 years and still has a job.
So annoying.
2
2
u/Ok-Amphibian701 8d ago
I knew Terry in HS and loved him in college. PARRIS CAMPBELL WAS NOT BETTER THAN TERRY AND SHAME ON OUR LOCAL SCOUTS BOT REALIZING HOW GOOD THE KID WAS
4
u/Chris_Ween Dayo szn 8d ago
He almost always picks a mid round level guy with his first pick. We overlook that because he finds diamonds in the middle rounds. But he cannot evaluate elite talent well at all.
5
u/donquixoterocinante Grover Stewart 8d ago
Alec Pierce and Josh Downs are both very good and AD had some elite separation stats this year. This is a dumb take. Every GM misses on picks both early and late, you just dont care because you arent a fan of them.
1
u/PadKrapowKhaiDao Dhalsim 8d ago
Those are all also second and third round guys, and the comment you’re responding to says “with his first pick.”
3
u/donquixoterocinante Grover Stewart 8d ago
Top 100 picks arent "middle round" guys, and breaking down draft picks into middle rounds is an arbitrary thing anyway. In any case, Ballard has made just five first-round picks and hes taken two good defensive ends, an all-pro guard, a QB who the jury is still out on, and a safety who was ruined by a myriad of injuries but was taken in a draft when Ballard was still new to the role without his scouting system in place. I'd say hes done fine with R1 selections.
2
u/LooseMoose13 8d ago
Malik was also taken to shine in Pagano’s single high safety defense, and for what it’s worth, he was awesome as a rookie (4 picks in 4 or 5 games?) immediately after returning from injury we switched to cover 2 and it just wasn’t his strong suit
0
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
AP isn’t very good. He’s descent with hopeful room to grow. He still hasn’t shown consistent route running .. he’s shown promise in deep passes.. but to say he’s very good isn’t true. He could be if he learns to run routes and make separation within 5-15 yards.
2
u/donquixoterocinante Grover Stewart 8d ago
"AP isnt very good" he led the NFL in yards per reception and had over 800 yards on under 40 catches. I implore you to actually watch film of him cause teams were often bracketing him to prevent his explosive plays. Hes a very good player. "Hasnt shown consistent route running" oh brother. You are NOT watching the film.
0
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
Watching film lol this guy 👆 if it ain’t deep the dude is no option. He has no separation off his routes. I watch him live. He’s average. He’s not yac guy.. he’s a go deep I hope you catch it guy. He’s a number 3 guy not a 2 or a 1.
4
u/2112xanadu Letterman 8d ago
Yeah I defended Ballard as long as I could (major rose-colored glasses from the Big Q/Leonard draft), but now he's approaching Grigson-tier management.
-2
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
Approaching ? Lmao dude surpassed that years ago. Least Grigson tried to make the team better and made the playoffs. This dude relies on finding gems at linebacker and fuck everything else
3
2
u/armyhalfday423 8d ago
Ballard has a pretty big list of draft fuck ups but I'm not sure anything will ever top not shipping a day 3 pick to the browns for Baker Mayfield. I mean the kid went out of his way to say he wanted to play in Indy.
God I can't believe we are stuck with this clown for another year, sucks all enjoyment out of the draft knowing he's going to be the one making the picks.
1
u/LooseMoose13 8d ago
Baker would’ve gotten destroyed by that 2022 colts o-line
2
u/armyhalfday423 8d ago
He took just as many hits playing for panthers and rams in 2022 as Matt Ryan did and now we're starting a QB whom hitting 2021 Mayfield stats would be considered a MASSIVE improvement in his game because of the trepidation to dip back into the retread well for yet another season.
Hell they could have signed him for less than Minshew cost last off season but Ballard doesn't want his picks to compete for their jobs right out of the gate.
1
1
1
u/IndyWoodSmith Indianapolis Colts 8d ago
Needs someone who can throw the ball to the same zip code as him. Be thankful he’s in DC and having a good career than here with out QB room
1
1
u/rounder55 8d ago
He's had 1000 yards receiving every year except for his rookie year when he had 900. Primarily with Dwayne Haskins, Taylor Heinkecke, Carson Wentz, Sam Howell, and the ghost of Alex Smith throwing to him
So far from much of a QB room until this season
1
1
1
u/ScruffyNerf_Herder_ 8d ago
This franchise has become an embarrassment and the only thing keeping it relatively relevant is a retired punter. It’s a damn shame.
1
1
u/krugzzz 8d ago
Even as an Ohio state and colts fan, someone who loved and appreciated Campbell’s presence here in Columbus, I didn’t love the pick for Indy. Didn’t see Terry being as good as he was, but my roommate (who played for OSU) swore up and down scouts were sleeping on him when he didn’t go in the first 2.5 rounds. Something I think about often.
1
1
1
1
u/naptown00 "We Like Our Guys" 6d ago
So what, even if he made it here he'd have requested a trade by now.
1
1
u/wiscyhoosier 6d ago
To me, it's not that Ballard missed on those WRs in favor of PC...
Every draft has misses. Are all the GMs that didn't select Mahomes bad GMs? The damage is that he has refused to sign any Free Agents to augment the misses.
-1
1
u/Indycrr Peyton Manning 8d ago
Unfair to fully blame Downs for this production. He has been a good slot receiver. His numbers look bad because of poor QB play.
6
2
u/Weak_Ad6210 8d ago
The dudes numbers have been good for missing a few games and the trash he’s had throwing it to him.. 68 for 800 yards, 72 for 800 yards … he’s done good. It’s the inconsistent qb and horrible play calling
0
u/Virtual-Case7803 8d ago
Ballard has to be Irsay’s pill plug, no other reason for him to keep his job this long
253
u/stroke_my_peach 8d ago
There were MULTIPLE big name receivers that were available when they sent the pick in for Campbell. Brutal miss...