As the NFL Trade Deadline came and went for the Indianapolis Colts, fans continue to see the ineptitude of Chris Ballard, as the Colts descend into Football Purgatory. With less than 30 minutes to go until the 4pm deadline, the Indianapolis Colts traded hybrid RB Nyheim Hines in exchange for Bills RB Zack Moss and a conditional 6th round pick, that can become a 5th round pick if certain criteria are met.
The criteria and whether Hines asked for the trade, as of this moment, is not known or confirmed. To the average observer this trade seems normal, however, Chris Ballard essentially donated Hines to the Buffalo Bills. The normally very transparent Chris Ballard has gone completely silent since making the deal with no press conference or press release on the subject.
Trade Analysis
Zack Moss was the 86th pick in the 3rd round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He played his college football at the University of Utah and was named the PAC-12 Offensive Player of the Year his senior season. He was a steady rotation player up until this season with the breakout of current Bills rookie RB James Cook. In fact, Moss has been a healthy scratch for the past two weeks.
Moss is a fantastic pass blocker, which the Colts desperately need help with this season. Hines, on the other hand, has been a staple and leader of the Colts locker room since his arrival in 2018 after his time at NC State. Hines has been reliable and healthy, only missing 1 game in 5 seasons in Indianapolis.
While not a staple in the rushing attack like Johnathon Taylor, Hines has made his name known as a hybrid/pass catching back. His breakout season was in 2020, where he caught 63 passes and was later given a 3-year contract extension that, to this day, keeps him in the top 15 paid RBs.
Football Purgatory: Ballard Training Camp Failures
This season truly been a failure for all IndianapolisColts fans but especially now for Chris Ballard. He started the year in training camp giving zero competition for a few key starters. He told end of the year starting left tackle, Matt Pryor that the job was his essentially without giving any real consideration to draft pick Bernard Raimann or bringing in a veteran.
He did the same with Danny Pinter at right guard and with Rodrigo Blankenship at kicker. Blankenship has since been released after missing a would be game winning kick against Houston in Week One. Blankenship got hurt last season and then stayed on the IR list even after being healthy because Micheal Badgley was kicking so well to end the season.
Ballard never brought him (Badgley) back and instead brought in a rookie with an inaccurate leg. Don’t get me wrong, Pinter has shown some great flashes, but he was never challenged in camp. And lastly, he convinced us all that Matt Ryan was the missing piece to get us back to the Super Bowl. We all know that this has turned out to be a catastrophe.
Football Purgatory: Trade Deadline Failure
Ballard should have been a seller at the deadline but instead he held onto some assets. Felt he would have moved some of the following players: CB Stephon Gilmore, Center Ryan Kelly, FS Julian Blackmon, LB Shaquille Leonard and TE Mo Alie-Cox. With a strong QB draft class incoming for the 2023 draft we believed that Ballard would be acquiring picks to move up and grab a franchise QB.
Instead, he gave up the one player that is not only a great locker room guy (which is paramount to Ballard) but also a player that could have thrived with a young QB as Ehlinger may have relied on him for making plays in space on dump off passes. Eliminating core players to a young QB is never a formula for success along with keeping
Lost Season
So now the Indianapolis Colts are most certainly headed to purgatory in the NFL. This is the worst place for any fan of their NFL team to be. Fans want their team to be in only two places, and that’s contending or rebuilding. This is the absolute worst place for a team with no guaranteed QB of the future on the roster.
The Colts also fired OC Marcus Brady on Tuesday, even though its Frank Reich that calls the plays on offense. The silence from Ballard this week have left many Colts fans to ponder…who is in charge right now? Is Jim Irsay calling the shots? Is Ballard a lame duck GM? Is Reich a lame duck coach? Safe to say that all Colts fans can agree that the franchise has no direction and no plan.
Which legendary NFL defense would love to resurrect?
1985 Chicago Bears
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers
2000 Baltimore Ravens
2002 Tampa Bay Bucs
1986 New York Giants
2013 Seattle Seahawks
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