Colts' Chris Ballard Ranks Below Average on ‘Top NFL GMs’ List

Recently, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard ranked lower than he’d probably want to be on an NBC Sports NFL GM list.

The Indianapolis Colts made a serious haul in the 2023 NFL draft. A total of 12 rookies heard their names called to become members of the Colts franchise. This included notable players like quarterback Anthony Richardson, cornerback JuJu Brents, and wide receiver Josh Downs, among other young talents to build Indy’s future.

However, a list from NBC Sports’ own Patrick Daugherty, also known as “RotoPat,” ranked all 32 NFL general managers from first to worst. Where did Colts GM Chris Ballard notch in for the rankings?

On Daugherty’s “Rotopat’s 2023 NFL GM Rankings” list, Ballard falls to 17, putting him just outside of the top half of the league. However, Daugherty supports his reasoning behind this entry with a rundown of past occurrences that have led to this point:

Chris Ballard has lost control of this ride, but he doesn’t want off. At one point famous for assembling one of the league’s most complete rosters, Ballard is now better known as the general manager who loves elderly or washed-up quarterbacks, sometimes at the same time. Not anymore. Ballard took owner Jim Irsay’s not-so-subtle Jeff Saturday hint. No more thinking small. Ballard shattered his Philip Rivers mold with April’s selection of Florida QB Anthony Richardson. Quite literally everything Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan were not. Richardson arrives with the widest range of potential outcomes as any quarterback in recent memory. Thankfully, he won’t be working with Saturday. Ballard made a solid hire at head coach when he plucked Shane Steichen away from the Eagles. In his two short years under Nick Sirianni, Steichen gained invaluable experience with dual-threat quarterbacks, run-based offenses, and more pass-heavy schemes. He will be ready for whatever Richardson’s inexperience throws at him. That’s good because the rest of the roster has fallen from its 2019-20 heights. Now that he has finally settled his biggest question, Ballard can get back to work on rebuilding his offensive line and stockpiling defensive difference makers.

Too harsh? Not really. Similar to the below-average 17th spot that Ballard gets here, he’s also finished the same with his career record as the general manager for the Colts. Through a total of six full seasons, Ballard is sitting at an unenviable 45 wins to 52 losses and a tie. This comes out to a winning percentage of about 46%. He has also only grabbed a playoff berth twice, with one post-season win.

However, it likely didn’t help Ballard starting his tenure in 2017 with Jacoby Brissett as the primary passer, Andrew Luck’s retirement, and the awful QB carousel that followed with Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan. This couldn’t have been easy to handle, but Ballard was also behind that veteran-like front-office mentality that an experienced signal-caller was all Indy needed to get over the hump.

Fast track to 2023 and, as Daugherty eludes to, Ballard isn’t thinking this way any longer. Will this be the beginning of the best decision the Colts’ front-office leader has made? Shane Steichen and Anthony Richardson have a lot of work to do, but the sky is the limit with that head coach/quarterback pairing.

Outlook

When looking at what Ballard has dealt with during his six years in Indianapolis, especially at QB, it can be overlooked that he’s made great draft picks, trades, and instinctual signings that have worked out for the team in the past.

There is a new air in the Colts facility that everyone seems to be happy is present. Ballard is likely one of these individuals that are excited to have a rookie like Richardson at QB, a coach like Steichen at the helm to teach him, and a bevy of rookie talent to mold. Will it translate to a higher ranking in 2024? We’ll just have to wait.

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