Bill Polian out in Indianapolis Is The Right Move

Renown General Manager Bill Polian is out as the Indianapolis Colts general manager according to Michael Lombardi. Is this the right move?

I for one think it is. In the summer I wrote an article titled Peyton Manning to miss significant time is Bill Polain Still a Top )Draft) Talent evaluator?

In which I looked at the recent record of Polian and was not impressed

I’ve heard that argument (the one about a consistent playoff team), but I’ve been wavering on that for awhile now and watching the Colts this preseason (or any preseason, or any game Peyton sat after the first series has only piqued my interest in this topic. Is Bill Polian one of the league’s top General Managers because he has a great eye for talent? Or is he one of the leagues luckiest general managers having been blessed with not one, but two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in his tenure as general manager for the Bills and Colts.

I’m more specifically wondering if Bill Polian STILL is one of the top general managers in the league and in order to do that I’m going to look over what he’s done (mostly through the draft, this is NFLmocks.com after all) to find out whether or not my inklings of doubt will be substantiated or whether or not I’ll get the ketchup out so I can at least enjoy eating crow.

The thing you have to absolutely love about Polian, though, is that he believes in himself and doesn’t adhere strictly to the value put on players by draftniks and will take the players he thinks fit the system right. I like his moxy to do what he feels is right and not give into the beat writers, even if he turns out to be wrong.

, though I concluded by writing:

Bill Polian receives much priase as a top talent evaluator in the N.F.L. and rightfully so. Results are King in the N.F.L. and few have been as successful as Polian. But this year he faces a true test. There have been grumblings about the lack of talent on the Colts roster the past couple of seasons, but that has been overcome by the excellency of Future First Ballot Hall of Famer Peyton Manning. This year is a big test for the Colts and Polian. Just how good is Polian as a general manager. It’s tough losing your quarterback (possibly for the season, though it seems more like he’ll be back in November or December), but teams have overcome that before. The Patriots went 11-5 without Tom Brady. Teams like the Packers and Chargers had contingency plans for their quarterback and haven’t missed much of a beat.

What happens with the Colts this year, and does this year speak more about Polian’s value or do the year of success with Hall of Fame Quarterbacks say more (that’s an open-ended question I’m posing to you, the readers).

Well this year he didn’t have the hall of fame QB (like he had with Jim Kelly and now Peyton Manning) and you saw what kind of talent the Colts have had.

This is also the man who cost the Colts a perfect season because he was too stubborn to play through with the division wrapped up.

If you look at his recent first round picks it gets even uglier. Anthony Gonzalez, Donald Brown, Jerry Hughes. Players like Mike Pollack, Fili Mijola, Pat Angerer, Tony Ugoh.

And you see a lot more misses than hits.

I think finally the Colts can scrap this defensive system predicated on getting an early lead and get a real tough defense one that I think can actually one games instead of one that is reliant on holding onto leads.

I think Polian might still be a good general manager, but it was time for a new direction in Indianapolis. For nearly a decade this team has been cumbersomed by large veteran contracts, terrible special teams play, and philosophies adhered to strict “Polian ways”.

The other question is how much longer Jim Caldwell have as the Colts head coach? My guess is not long.

I have no actual investment in the Colts so I’m wondering what all you Colts fans think?

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