How GM Chris Ballard Reconstructed Indianapolis Colts Roster

Colts general manager Chris Ballard has taken significant steps to add younger talent and depth through the NFL draft. The March trade for All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner showed Ballard’s willingness to part with a pick to make a bold move that reiterated the team’s intent to win now.

INDIANAPOLIS — Since his hiring in 2017, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has focused on infusing his roster with young talent by stockpiling selections in the NFL draft.

On the verge of the Colts reporting for training camp at the team facility next Tuesday, the average roster age of the 90-player roster is 24.8 years. Looking at his four drafts, Ballard has selected 38 players, and 32 are still on the roster. Of the 29 selections in the previous three years before 2020, 19 have either started or played significant snaps on offense and defense.

That’s why March’s trade of the Colts’ 2020 first-round choice to acquire All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was a surprising but necessary move. Coupled with the free-agency signing of 38-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers to a one-year, $25-million deal, Ballard sent a message that reiterates the team’s intent to win now, that a gradual rebuild to develop a young roster must eventually coincide with success.

The Colts have failed to make the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, and the last AFC South Division title was in 2014. This is a franchise still trying to recover from quarterback Andrew Luck’s retirement in the 2019 preseason.

The Colts showed flashes of potential in starting 5-2 last season before mounting injuries and continual inconsistency in close games translated to losses in seven of nine games. The team was 5-6 in one-score games.

That’s why Ballard couldn’t stand pat and just rely on the draft to continue to build. He had the salary cap space to spend, but was mindful he had to be smart because several key players are entering contract years in 2020 and are looking to get paid next offseason.

Buckner was seen as a perfect fit because he plays the three-technique on the defensive line, a key spot in the scheme, and is entering his prime at 26 and in his fifth season. The Colts gave him a four-year, $84-million extension because they see him as a defensive cornerstone.

Head coach Frank Reich was asked in late May about Ballard pulling the trigger on the big offseason splash in shipping the 20th overall selection to San Francisco to land Buckner. He mentioned texting Ballard after that trade.

“I won’t go into all the detail, but I just think as you look at how Chris has managed this roster over the time that he has been here, it’s been very measured, very calculated,” Reich said. “It’s just been really good, and that’s just what I was saying (in the text). I was sitting there and I was looking at our depth chart and just going through some scenarios in my mind and personnel groupings and stuff like that – looking on both sides of the ball and looking at our specialist group. I was just – a quick note to Chris just acknowledging, ‘Man, just everything has been measured, calculated, poised, in reach. Let the game come to us.’

“I just think he pulled it off really well. With DeForest (Buckner) – and it’s just progressed. I think it was a smart move for Chris to come in, learn the organization, learn the team, learn where the needs are, and learn your coaches. What’s important to us as coaches? Him just not wielding the power of a general manager and making moves just because he can do that, but really involving everybody in the process – scouts, coaches – to really formulate a plan of how to build a team and how to build a roster. I just think he’s done a masterful job of doing that.”

Ballard has surrounded himself with a staff that is expected to give him input on decisions. He mentioned after April’s NFL draft how scouts often talk him out of players that he’s excited about.

Whereas some team bosses have their minds made up about what to do next and don't listen to others, Ballard counts on his support system to give differing opinions to ensure every option receives proper consideration.

He referred to the Buckner trade as “a no-brainer.” His coaches, especially defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, were ecstatic.

Reich reiterated how the Colts were getting a special player who had established himself as a leader in every way.

“It was the key need for our defense,” Reich said. “It’s the pivotal position at (the) three-technique. He has Colts character on and off the field and we have our ways of getting all that information and vetting that out. In the case of DeForest, it’s easy because he’s always been the same guy. He’s always been top-notch everywhere he’s gone. (I) couldn’t be more excited about – and not just that piece, but there are a number of little moves, lesser moves if you say, that Chris has made that I really think have filled in our roster.”

The Colts and Ballard have received continual offseason praise on how the roster has improved for 2020. Granted, the bottom line is wins and losses, but there’s a sense that the franchise is moving in the right direction. Optimism abounds, especially if listening to Reich.

“I think Colts fans should be really excited right now,” he said. “I know you don’t want to get over-hyped and get – you rather under promise and over deliver and all that stuff, but I’m excited. I think Colts Nation should be excited. This roster is a good roster, good players, good talent, and equally as important to Colts nation, these are good men. These are good men who will represent us well on the field.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)