It’s hard to say people in this business are friends. Some of us are, but most of us are casual colleagues that run into each other every now and then. I have been doing this five questions feature for
four or five years now. Chris Shepard from Stampede Blue has been a constant throughout that time and is one of the nicest guys in the business. We traded questions again even though he undoubtedly is in the mood just to get this season over with.
There can be no doubt that the Colts finish to the season has been about as disastrous as one could imagine. The mortgaged the future for Sauce Gardner when they traded two first rounders for him at the trade deadline. He has been in and out of the lineup and the Colts haven’t won since the Texans defeated them the first time around. We saw a 44 year old quarterback come back from high school coaching and a comeback player of the year nominee go down with an Achilles tendon tear. As a fan of football in general, my heart goes out to any Colts fan. As unprecedented as these events were, the business of football moves on and we started on the business end of things in our conversation.
Battle Red Blog: The Colts got off to such a blistering start and faded down the stretch. Will there be in blowback for Shane Steichen or Chris Ballard?
Chris Shepard: It’s difficult to know what’s going to happen this off-season. Carlie Irsay-Gordon is making those decisions now and anyone who tells you they can get a read on her and what she intends to do, is lying.
In the past under Jim, at least one of them would be losing their job. In my opinion, as much as I respect Chris Ballard and the way he’s handled everything that’s come his way and the way he treats his people, his job is to assemble a team that wins games and he just hasn’t gotten the job done.
Steichen, with a healthy Daniel Jones (a quarterback he seemingly rehabilitated) had the best offense in the league for more than half the season. I personally don’t know what you gain by moving on from him when he has a chance to run that offense back with a hopefully healthy Jones.
I do see a possibility that Irsay-Gordon decides to move on from Ballard and Steichen and promote Lou Anarumo. Though I don’t think this one is likely, based on what CIG has said about Lou, it could happen.
BRB: What do you foresee the future being at quarterback? Have they completely given up on Richardson? Will they run it back with Jones or try to go in a different direction?
CS: When camp broke last year and Jones was named the starter, Chris Ballard had his annual pre-season press conference. Ballard is usually guarded but honest in his answers. When asked about Richardson he said they still believed he could be a great quarterback and that the competition was close.
So as of August, Indy believed in Richardson.
Then Daniel Jones played. Look, I get it. He’s “Danny Dimes” he is the guy that played for the Giants, but he was nothing short of very, very good for most of the first half of the season. You could argue he’s the best quarterback the Colts have had since Andrew Luck (I wouldn’t argue that, but it’s a fair conversation).
It all hinges on what Irsay-Gordon decides to do but if everyone is back, it’s because Jones is coming back and they’re hoping to recapture what they had in the first half of 2025.
BRB: Everyone focuses on the quarterback, but obviously there are other positions. Where would you like to see the Colts focus their attention in free agency and the draft?
CS: Here’s the thing about Ballard, he’s incredibly predictable. Each year (save for drafting a quarterback in the top 5) he has alternated his first three picks on offense or defense by year.
Last year he took an offensive player in the first and followed it with two defenders in rounds two and three – a defensive heavy draft. The year before he took a defender first and two offensive players in rounds two and three. It goes on like this back to 2017.
This is an offensive draft per the Ballard-order and they already used their first on a defender in Sauce Gardner.
Thing is, the defense badly needs more help. The secondary, when healthy, is very good. Their defensive tackles, when healthy are very good. Otherwise, there’s just not much. Laiatu Latu will make a play or two a game but he is hardly the impact player they hoped they would get when they drafted him.
They need help on defense and after re-signing their own guys, I don’t know that they’ll have the cap space to make it happen.
BRB: This game means more to the Texans in terms of playoff positioning but all players have pride and we are seeing another starting quarterback. What can we expect from him?
CS: Riley Leonard played much better than I expected him to after Jones went down. He moved the ball well and mostly played within the offense. He’s mobile too, so expect him to scramble a bit.
That said he’s still a sixth round rookie making his first start against an elite defense. So you know, hopes are low on our end.
BRB: Fanduel has the Texans favored by 10.5 points on Sunday. How do you see the game playing out? Are there any prop bets you feel comfortable recommending?
CS: I think 10.5 is a pretty good spread but this one could get completely out of hand. The defense didn’t lay down last week but the week before against the 49ers, with everything still to play for, they just didn’t show up. Given the fact that they can’t knock the Texans completely out of the playoffs, I don’t foresee a ton of motivation for the defense to step up.
I haven’t even looked at any prop bets but if the over/under for Riley Leonard rushing yards is around 20 yards, I’d feel good taking the over.
We want to thank Chris for taking the time to answer our questions and to do so professionally and promptly over the years. It has been a rough finish to the season for the Colts, but they have been a thorn in the Texans side since the Texans came into the NFL in 2002. They would love to do nothing less than end the Texans winning streak at the end of the season. We want to wish Chris and the Colts the best of luck following the season and look forward to more rivalry games in 2026.
