Evaluating Chris Ballard’s Nine Seasons As Colts General Manager

Ballard's offensive draft picks have fueled Colts' impressive offense, despite QB injuries.
Ballard's trade for star CB Sauce Gardner is a rare defensive win, but team still lacks talent.
Colts' late-season collapses under Ballard raise questions about his personnel decisions.

Chris Ballard talks to Jim Irsay before a game. — Source: INDIANAPOLIS, IN – AUGUST 24: Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard on the field before the week 3 NFL preseason game between the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts on August 24, 2019 at Lucas Oil Stadium, in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

INDIANAPOLIS – The 9^th season under Chris Ballard’s construction has come and gone for the Colts with plenty of traffic cones still standing.

In Ballard’s 9 seasons, the Colts have compiled a record of 70-78-1. They’ve made 2 playoff appearances, won 1 postseason game and captured 0 division titles.

Let’s examine the 9^th year of Ballard as Colts general manager in our annual evaluation series:

Wins

-Drafted Offensive Hits: As Ballard mentioned in his season-ending press conference, his draft picks have their fingerprints all over a Colts offense that had an extremely impressive start to 2025. In the Colts producing a historic offensive first two months, and still finishing 8^th in scoring, despite needing three starting quarterbacks. Ballard drafted Jonathan Taylor, Tyler Warren, Alec Pierce, Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Bernhard Raimann, Quenton Nelson, Tanor Bortolini, Matt Goncalves and Braden Smith. The Colts have one of the most drafted offensive personnel makeups in entire league. Credit to Ballard for hitting on this.

-Getting Sauce: For me, the questions on the Sauce Gardner trade is more on the plate of Carlie Irsay-Gordon knowing the major long-term ramifications of such a move. But Ballard found a way, with some serious resources leaving the building, to acquire a player like Sauce Gardner, who is still in his prime, on a reasonable contract and at a premium position. When healthy, Gardner should give the Colts a really important piece. Hitting on successful cornerback draft picks has not been a forte of Ballard. Hence the urgency when such a trade became possible.

Losses/To Be Determined

-More Defensive Retooling: The top off-season priority for Chris Ballard is to get “younger and faster” on the defensive side of the ball. While necessary, it’s also a reminder of the struggles Ballard has had lately in drafting defensive talent. That has contributed to the Colts annually ranking in the 20s when it comes to points allowed. And no position group has underwhelmed more as the highly-invested defensive line, which appears to be a specific focus for Ballard this offseason.

-Collapsing Culture: A rather unfortunate, yet consistent, aspect to the Colts in this 5-year playoff drought has been issues in finishing off seasons. Ballard acknowledged this issue during his end of the season presser. Poor finishes have been there, no matter the head coach, throughout these 5 years without the postseason. Given the different coaches, are the persisting late-season problems more on the personnel assembled by the long-timer general manager?

-Resume Still Lacking: This probably sounds more like a recording. But as we pointed out above, the Chris Ballard resume continues to be one of the driest you’ll see for an NFL GM through 9 seasons: 70-78-1 record, 2 playoff appearances, 1 playoff win, 0 division titles. This year’s playoff elimination occurred in Week 17. The Colts missed winning the AFC South by 5 games, falling short of a Wild Card berth by 3 games. Those are the black and white team results under Ballard. And the precious commitment to the project that is Anthony Richardson is moving closer and closer to bust. Missing on a top-5 pick, coupled with the current playoff drought, is an ugly stain on the Ballard resume.