Stephen HolderESPN3 minutes to read
Colts GM: The QB should be deserving of an uptick
Colts general manager Chris Ballard is discussing the possibility of trading the Colts to draft a quarterback.
Indianapolis – IN The Colts do little to deny the widely circulated notion that they are considering trading in the NFL Draft.
When asked Wednesday at the poll meeting about the idea of trading the No. 4 overall pick, Colts general manager Chris Ballard didn’t quite anticipate such a move, but he certainly left the door open.
in response to the question of what it would take for the Colts to make an aggressive move to get a quarterback like Alabama Bryce YoungBallard was emphatic.
“We have just been convicted that this does not arouse suspicion in the man,” he said.
Ballard made some attempts to muddy the waters.
“I know all the speculation out there,” he said. “To move up, there has to be a man who deserves it. … Everyone has automatically stamped that you have to move up.” [No.] 1 to get it right. I don’t know if I agree with that. But that will be the narrative, and that’s okay.”
But only moments later, Ballard went in there again, saying, “So, when we met as workers and said, ‘Well, that’s what we need to do. ‘” This is the guy for the next 10 to 15 years and we think he’s the right guy, we’ll do it. But who’s to say we’re not going to get one [No.] 4? “
The Colts have endured four seasons of quarterback turmoil in the post-Andrew Luck era, following the retirement of the franchise’s quarterback in 2019. The Colts haven’t been well-positioned to resolve the issue in the years since, and Ballard acknowledged that comes with some. Expect it to be aggressive.
“Let’s just say we stay at four, I can only see the headlines,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, we have to believe in who we take and we win with it. And I think I said this a few years ago, it would be easy for us to just take one to get you off our ass. Dude, we gotta be right and we want to be right. So We’ll do our due diligence and, at the end of the day, we’ll take whoever we think is the best player.”
Ballard added that the rare opportunity to resolve the quarterback problem did not come easily.
“It took an awful lot of pain to get there,” he said, referring to the Colts’ 4-12-1 record that earned them a high-draw slot. “But when you’re there, you need to take advantage of that.”
With regards to Young, the Colts have been candid about questions of size surrounding which player most see as their best quarterback and whether his selection would affect them.
“We’ve seen Hall of Famers that are 6-foot-6, and we’ve seen Hall of Famers that are 6-foot-5,” said coach Shane Steichen. “Again, that’s the ‘it’ factor, right? It’s not a deal breaker. We’ve seen it. Drew Brees is a great example. He’s exceptional.”
“He’s won a lot of matches on a big stage,” Ballard said. “It wasn’t a big deal for him.”