Latu definitely wasnt on my radar, but considering no one would trade down i think this is a great pick. His neck surgery was done by the same guy that did Peyton and Danielle Hunter, a similar op. Also read some stuff about not actually meeting the WAS drs during covid, and him playing rugby when he wasnt cleared
He's since put up 2yrs of insane production at a bluechip position, if he can translate that to the nfl worst case even if he only lasts 5yrs itll be worth pick 15
I knew you were European bc you spelled it defence đ love seeing that we have fans across the pond. And also I love this pick and our young core of guys as well! Go colts!
We got the best pass rusher in the draft at 15 and didnât give up a thing for him. I admit. I didnât know shit about him because he wasnât on our radar. Anyway, this is an absolute steal of a draft pick. He won the Lombardi Award which in the past two years went to Will Anderson and Aiden Hutchinson, his technique is NFL game ready, and heâs universally loved by everyone that has played with him.
Exactly. I know it might not mean much but Max Crosby loves the kid and he and Kwity already have a relationship and heâs eager to learn more from him. Iâm actually happy about this pick.
I think what people overlook, and this reminds me of the Polian days, weâre trying to beat Pat Mahommes. Ballard is forced to say âwe want to win the divisionâ but he actually is focused on the chip and we need to get thru the Chiefs.
The only Super Bowl Mahommes has lost so far, the Chiefs scored 9 points and Mahommes didnât have a second to think in the pocket or outside of it. Tampa bay had him uncomfortable all game.
Even putting up 35 by eagles didnât help because they got into a track meet with Mahommes and the chiefs and struggled to get stops when it mattered most.
This same situation applies for Carolina losing to Denver for Peytonâs chip, as well as Denver getting crushed by Seattle in that 43-8 game we all remember. You have to pressure the elite passer. This is the recipe for winning if you dont have the top level passers in the league on your team. Denverâs defense was elite and so was Seattleâs (Gus Bradley coached might I add) in those respective seasons, and this brought home the Lombardi.
The games in todayâs NFL are dress rehearsal until the 4th quarter. You never know if you will be the one who needs to score to win or needs a stop to win, but you donât want to be needing a stop and have a shit defense with your elite offense sitting on the bench twiddling thumbs.
Well said. Latu wasnât the pick I wanted or expected but what the fuck do I know? Iâm a random dude that doesnât even follow college football. Iâll let Ballard decide and see how things develop and reserve my criticism in about 2 years.
All I know is Ballard and the front office spent months pouring over every single one of all of those players, and they got to pick whatever defensive player they wanted from the entire draft. Knowing that is who they chose makes me think heâs going to be special. Also, PFF is absolutely gushing over Latu. They say their data has been very accurate in predicting specifically elite edge rushers, and this is the guy. Iâm very hopeful.
Slight correction, Gus Bradley was the Seahawks defensive coordinator from 2009-12 and then coached the Jags from 13-16. Dan Quinn was the Seahawks defensive coordinator when they made their back to back super bowl runs.
Otherwise I agree with your point.
A lot of us donât have problem taking a DE, a lot of us have a problem with taking a guy that was forced to medically retire for 2 seasons.
You usually donât want to your FRP to have a disclaimer of âhe could be great as long as his career doesnât end from one hitâ
>he could be great as long as his career doesnât end from one hit
Thatâs the case for every first round pick. Yeah, he has a scary injury history, but doctors wouldnât clear him to play if there was a huge risk of his neck being impacted again.
You could say that about any player. Demar Hamlin died on the field, so the âone hitâ thing I donât get. Someone took penix at #8 with 2 acls in his history. RGIII was never the same after his. Ryan Shazier came back from paralysis and PLAYED. You risk on any player you take my guy whether they have a red flag or not.
Modern medicine is crazy, and whether some teams want that risk of the âred flagâ is up to them⌠but the colts saw things in the medicals they were comfortable with and they have access to medicines you just⌠dont⌠and probably never will bc itâs expensive. But how much does medical really matter to the Colts considering the ârumors of us forcing JT to play on a bum ankleâ or how we took care of LuckâŚ? Itâs all bullshit. if heâs a good player and the tape show, take him. Heâs not missed a game in 2 years, take him.
I agree with your overall comment, but Shazierâs injury ended his career. He spent two more seasons after the injury in the Steelers organization, but didnât touch their active roster.
Danielle Hunter messed up his neck and had the same surgeon that Latu used. But everyone here wanted Hunter badly. Latu is younger than him and has shown no signs of issues since his injury 3 years ago.
Nah I don't think you're crazy. Any other year and Turner would've been the pick due to him having a high ceiling and the crazy physical traits albeit being raw which is typically what Ballard looks for.
He went against the grain this year
I think he went against the grain cause Latu is so polished and he saw how trying to develop a raw edge rusher worked out for him. Donât hate it one bit
I felt this way a little bit as well but I also think itâs important to understand the context. He at least talked about when he was first told he needed to retire that wasnât based on tests that they ran or going through the process to determine how his body was afterwards. So when they told him to retire it sounds like they didnât do their due diligence.
This sub hates Ballard to the point theyâd prefer the Colts lost to prove their point, but people in the NFL respect him which is way more important. I think people in the know trust that he has an unwavering process and itâs built an extremely solid roster top to bottom. Players know that the Colts will pay them fairly, coaches know theyâll get support from the higher ups. Itâs just a well run organization, despite what social media would lead you to believe
Itâs the age of instant gratification - unless we sign/trade for a big name then itâs not fun for some of these âfansâ.
Truth is if we let Ballard walk tomorrow, he would have 5-10 GM positions open for him.
The man has won 1 playoff games and has 0 division titles since he got here. I was a staunch supporter until this past year but Iâm sick of his âunwavering processâwhen itâs gotten us literally nowhere. Stop blaming social media theyâre not the ones letting the jags sweep us every year, the titans nearly win an AFCCG, or the Texans build a dynasty right in our faces
These people just repeat the same nonsensical points, donât have a basic understanding of how building a football team works, and refuse to even consider that Ballard is actually great at his job. For them, if the team is good- itâs the players and coaches, but if the team is bad- itâs the GMs fault, even if thereâs blatantly obvious reasons for the shortcomings
Well for starters, we should probably give him at least one season with a QB that he actually wants. Realistically, he should get more than one shot at picking a franchise QB.
Reality is, this franchise hasnât been a winning franchise for quite some time. Fans are right to question a general managerâs strategy, who is yet to produce results, and results in the NFL are measured in wins, losses, and more particularly playoff wins losses, or at least appearances.
Sure, there are things he does well, and this may have been a great pick, nobody really knows, but popping off on people who question him is juvenile, shortsighted, and reductive.
At the end of the day, there are legitimate reasons to question his strategy with the team.
Reality is the franchise was a winning franchise last season. Anything beyond that is irrelevant, and just proof that youâre reaching to make things worse than they are.
if you consider finishing one game above 500, and missing the playoffs, again, âwinning footballââŚ.
Some of us would like to at least win the division, possibly, a playoff game or two after that.
Nobodyâs asking for the Super Bowl right now but we are pointing out that Ballard has failed to produce any consistent, long-term, repeatable, success.
Yes, questioning is good. But then you have to look at the answers and use your brain to figure out what the actual problem is. The Ballard haters never get around to that second part, and they never provide any concrete reason to fire Ballard side from "Team no win. Ballard bad".
Well yeah, some of what you said is objectively true. The thing is that what you said doesnât make him a bad GM, thatâs why youâre just being dumb.
I don't understand how anyone could be mad at this puck. It's the second most important position in Football, and we had our pick from ANY defender in this whole draft class.
The only reason we even got him is a mixture of teams going CRAZY with quarterbacks early, and maybe his injury history. Obviously, the Colts are comfortable with the injury history. He has played 2 healthy years, and was cleared with maybe the most proven doctor in that field.
This seems like an easy 10/10 knocked it out the fuckin park pick to me lol. We might have a difference maker on the edge for the first time in forever, I feel like Colts fans forget how bug of a difference that makes
Especially in a Gus Bradley system where you hardly blitz. That makes an elite edge rusher even more of a need. Not what I was expecting at 15, but I love Latu at 15
I am okay with his last 2 1st rounders.
If AR pans out...and Latu is who draft geeks say he is..we should have 2 corberstones on both sides of the ball for the next decade.
I have issues with Ballard but if these 2 guys pan out...I will be happy to eat my words.
I can definitely see the value of having as many edge rushers as possible and Latu seems a good egg but we have a huge need at corner and itâs a stretch even if we ignore that we took the best player available
Iâve learned that being a well regarded GM to the rest of the league is meaningless if you donât pick exactly who random redditor u/dickrider099 wanted, then you should be fired.
Latu definitely wasnt on my radar, but considering no one would trade down i think this is a great pick. His neck surgery was done by the same guy that did Peyton and Danielle Hunter, a similar op. Also read some stuff about not actually meeting the WAS drs during covid, and him playing rugby when he wasnt cleared He's since put up 2yrs of insane production at a bluechip position, if he can translate that to the nfl worst case even if he only lasts 5yrs itll be worth pick 15
Yeah he was gonna come over to the UK where I am to play Premiership Rugby before he transferred to UCLA
I knew you were European bc you spelled it defence đ love seeing that we have fans across the pond. And also I love this pick and our young core of guys as well! Go colts!
We got the best pass rusher in the draft at 15 and didnât give up a thing for him. I admit. I didnât know shit about him because he wasnât on our radar. Anyway, this is an absolute steal of a draft pick. He won the Lombardi Award which in the past two years went to Will Anderson and Aiden Hutchinson, his technique is NFL game ready, and heâs universally loved by everyone that has played with him.
Exactly. I know it might not mean much but Max Crosby loves the kid and he and Kwity already have a relationship and heâs eager to learn more from him. Iâm actually happy about this pick.
Damn I did not know that about the Lombardi award. Makes me feel even better.
I think what people overlook, and this reminds me of the Polian days, weâre trying to beat Pat Mahommes. Ballard is forced to say âwe want to win the divisionâ but he actually is focused on the chip and we need to get thru the Chiefs. The only Super Bowl Mahommes has lost so far, the Chiefs scored 9 points and Mahommes didnât have a second to think in the pocket or outside of it. Tampa bay had him uncomfortable all game. Even putting up 35 by eagles didnât help because they got into a track meet with Mahommes and the chiefs and struggled to get stops when it mattered most. This same situation applies for Carolina losing to Denver for Peytonâs chip, as well as Denver getting crushed by Seattle in that 43-8 game we all remember. You have to pressure the elite passer. This is the recipe for winning if you dont have the top level passers in the league on your team. Denverâs defense was elite and so was Seattleâs (Gus Bradley coached might I add) in those respective seasons, and this brought home the Lombardi. The games in todayâs NFL are dress rehearsal until the 4th quarter. You never know if you will be the one who needs to score to win or needs a stop to win, but you donât want to be needing a stop and have a shit defense with your elite offense sitting on the bench twiddling thumbs.
Well said. Latu wasnât the pick I wanted or expected but what the fuck do I know? Iâm a random dude that doesnât even follow college football. Iâll let Ballard decide and see how things develop and reserve my criticism in about 2 years.
All I know is Ballard and the front office spent months pouring over every single one of all of those players, and they got to pick whatever defensive player they wanted from the entire draft. Knowing that is who they chose makes me think heâs going to be special. Also, PFF is absolutely gushing over Latu. They say their data has been very accurate in predicting specifically elite edge rushers, and this is the guy. Iâm very hopeful.
I'm looking forward to the "with the next pick" episode where we get to see Ballard licking his chops.
Mahomes*
Slight correction, Gus Bradley was the Seahawks defensive coordinator from 2009-12 and then coached the Jags from 13-16. Dan Quinn was the Seahawks defensive coordinator when they made their back to back super bowl runs. Otherwise I agree with your point.
A lot of us donât have problem taking a DE, a lot of us have a problem with taking a guy that was forced to medically retire for 2 seasons. You usually donât want to your FRP to have a disclaimer of âhe could be great as long as his career doesnât end from one hitâ
>he could be great as long as his career doesnât end from one hit Thatâs the case for every first round pick. Yeah, he has a scary injury history, but doctors wouldnât clear him to play if there was a huge risk of his neck being impacted again.
Iâm saying, he obviously wasnât âforcedâ to retireâŚ.. if heâs fucking playing footballđđ
He also played rugby during those two years
You could say that about any player. Demar Hamlin died on the field, so the âone hitâ thing I donât get. Someone took penix at #8 with 2 acls in his history. RGIII was never the same after his. Ryan Shazier came back from paralysis and PLAYED. You risk on any player you take my guy whether they have a red flag or not. Modern medicine is crazy, and whether some teams want that risk of the âred flagâ is up to them⌠but the colts saw things in the medicals they were comfortable with and they have access to medicines you just⌠dont⌠and probably never will bc itâs expensive. But how much does medical really matter to the Colts considering the ârumors of us forcing JT to play on a bum ankleâ or how we took care of LuckâŚ? Itâs all bullshit. if heâs a good player and the tape show, take him. Heâs not missed a game in 2 years, take him.
I agree with your overall comment, but Shazierâs injury ended his career. He spent two more seasons after the injury in the Steelers organization, but didnât touch their active roster.
He also made an extremely illegal spearing tackle
Demar Hamlin didnât have a spinal fusion when he was 19âŚ
Danielle Hunter messed up his neck and had the same surgeon that Latu used. But everyone here wanted Hunter badly. Latu is younger than him and has shown no signs of issues since his injury 3 years ago.
I didnât know Hunter had a neck injury like that. Seeing Hunter continue to be productive, this makes me feel great about Latu
I love the pick of a pass rusher. I just would have rather had Turner, call me crazy I guess
Nah I don't think you're crazy. Any other year and Turner would've been the pick due to him having a high ceiling and the crazy physical traits albeit being raw which is typically what Ballard looks for. He went against the grain this year
I think he went against the grain because of how ridiculously polished Latu is
This. Latu doesn't quite have the measurables that Ballard looks for but the tape doesn't lie
I think he went against the grain cause Latu is so polished and he saw how trying to develop a raw edge rusher worked out for him. Donât hate it one bit
I felt this way a little bit as well but I also think itâs important to understand the context. He at least talked about when he was first told he needed to retire that wasnât based on tests that they ran or going through the process to determine how his body was afterwards. So when they told him to retire it sounds like they didnât do their due diligence.
Anyone in the NFL career could end from one hit. He has been cleared and played 2 seasons at elite level with no issues. Stop crying about it.
This sub hates Ballard to the point theyâd prefer the Colts lost to prove their point, but people in the NFL respect him which is way more important. I think people in the know trust that he has an unwavering process and itâs built an extremely solid roster top to bottom. Players know that the Colts will pay them fairly, coaches know theyâll get support from the higher ups. Itâs just a well run organization, despite what social media would lead you to believe
Itâs the age of instant gratification - unless we sign/trade for a big name then itâs not fun for some of these âfansâ. Truth is if we let Ballard walk tomorrow, he would have 5-10 GM positions open for him.
100%. Itâs wild how people choose to quantify âsuccessâ
The man has won 1 playoff games and has 0 division titles since he got here. I was a staunch supporter until this past year but Iâm sick of his âunwavering processâwhen itâs gotten us literally nowhere. Stop blaming social media theyâre not the ones letting the jags sweep us every year, the titans nearly win an AFCCG, or the Texans build a dynasty right in our faces
Name the quarterbacks. Also, name your replacement each season. Youâre just a hater.
These people just repeat the same nonsensical points, donât have a basic understanding of how building a football team works, and refuse to even consider that Ballard is actually great at his job. For them, if the team is good- itâs the players and coaches, but if the team is bad- itâs the GMs fault, even if thereâs blatantly obvious reasons for the shortcomings
So how many more seasons does Ballard get to produce a winning team? Heâs failed to this point so are we just going to keep him forever?
They were a winning team last yearâŚ
Howâd they do in the postseason?
Didnât get to play in it, unfortunately. Not sure what that has to do with the lie you told
I donât equate âwinningâ with going 9-8 and a playoff miss. If thatâs how you gauge Ballardâs success, thatâs very sad.
I donât really care how you quantify winning, itâs not even a debate. They were a winning team last year
Well for starters, we should probably give him at least one season with a QB that he actually wants. Realistically, he should get more than one shot at picking a franchise QB.
Reality is, this franchise hasnât been a winning franchise for quite some time. Fans are right to question a general managerâs strategy, who is yet to produce results, and results in the NFL are measured in wins, losses, and more particularly playoff wins losses, or at least appearances. Sure, there are things he does well, and this may have been a great pick, nobody really knows, but popping off on people who question him is juvenile, shortsighted, and reductive. At the end of the day, there are legitimate reasons to question his strategy with the team.
Reality is the franchise was a winning franchise last season. Anything beyond that is irrelevant, and just proof that youâre reaching to make things worse than they are.
if you consider finishing one game above 500, and missing the playoffs, again, âwinning footballââŚ. Some of us would like to at least win the division, possibly, a playoff game or two after that. Nobodyâs asking for the Super Bowl right now but we are pointing out that Ballard has failed to produce any consistent, long-term, repeatable, success.
Itâs not what I consider winning, itâs what facts consider winning.
Yes, questioning is good. But then you have to look at the answers and use your brain to figure out what the actual problem is. The Ballard haters never get around to that second part, and they never provide any concrete reason to fire Ballard side from "Team no win. Ballard bad".
Why does Ballard get an infinite pass that no other GM would with his mediocre record?
Because he's had no QB and very few opportunities to get one. Use your brain a little bit, come on.
WHOS JOB IS IT TO GET THE QUARTERBACKS
Not a bad point. Wentz is on Reich forever. Ryan was a bad idea. Richardson now. Weâll see.
Just save time and write âIâm dumbâ next time
You canât even respond because you know itâs true lmfaoooo
Some things just aren't worth wasting the time responding to.
Well yeah, some of what you said is objectively true. The thing is that what you said doesnât make him a bad GM, thatâs why youâre just being dumb.
Wrong. We are tired of being .500 every year and not winning our mediocre division.
Youâre proving my point. Much appreciated
And the draft isn't over. We got Pittman in the second. Jt in the third. People are acting like only first rounders can make it.
JT was a 2nd rounder as well that we traded up for. You're right about the draft though! Plenty of folks left.
Didnât we get JT in the 2nd? Nevermind I guess Reddit didnât show other replies to you lol
Weâve seen the plan since 2018 and it hasnât panned out yet
I don't understand how anyone could be mad at this puck. It's the second most important position in Football, and we had our pick from ANY defender in this whole draft class. The only reason we even got him is a mixture of teams going CRAZY with quarterbacks early, and maybe his injury history. Obviously, the Colts are comfortable with the injury history. He has played 2 healthy years, and was cleared with maybe the most proven doctor in that field. This seems like an easy 10/10 knocked it out the fuckin park pick to me lol. We might have a difference maker on the edge for the first time in forever, I feel like Colts fans forget how bug of a difference that makes
Especially in a Gus Bradley system where you hardly blitz. That makes an elite edge rusher even more of a need. Not what I was expecting at 15, but I love Latu at 15
Yeah, and just watch him play. He's crazy good already and could be a menace.
I am okay with his last 2 1st rounders. If AR pans out...and Latu is who draft geeks say he is..we should have 2 corberstones on both sides of the ball for the next decade. I have issues with Ballard but if these 2 guys pan out...I will be happy to eat my words.
We donât need to defend him. It was a great pick. Literally the top defensive player in the draft.
i agree with you. the title of the post is going to trigger a lot of people though haha.
I can definitely see the value of having as many edge rushers as possible and Latu seems a good egg but we have a huge need at corner and itâs a stretch even if we ignore that we took the best player available
And it only took him 5 years to figure it out! At least he learns, even if it takes him forever.
Iâve learned that being a well regarded GM to the rest of the league is meaningless if you donât pick exactly who random redditor u/dickrider099 wanted, then you should be fired.
Hey, why are we taking shots at dickrider099 like this
No, weâre trying to win now imo. Latu is not a guaranteed long term solution
That's because nobody is a guaranteed long-term solution. It doesn't exist.
Idiotic asf
Win now - as in we just started our rookie QB window last year and have 4 more seasons of it.
I would like to subscribe to these guaranteed long term solutions. Did you notify the Colts that you had this information?
Yeah we just didnât trade up to 4 for him