INDIANAPOLIS – Two of the main takeaways Chris Ballard will bring to Indianapolis after working under Chiefs GM John Dorsey are vital for success as a top NFL personnel man.
The first involves not reading too much into the press clippings on what people on the outside will think of a player acquisition. *
You did the homework, this is your decision.*
"I've learned from John that there's always a player out there and you've always got to continue to dig and look, and you can't be scared to bring that guy on your team," Ballard told Chiefs.com last year. "You've got to be aggressive. If you think this guy's better than somebody that you have, you've got to be willing to make the move. We're not drafting for our egos. We are drafting for the Chiefs and I've learned that from John.
"It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. It only matters what we think in that room because at the end of the day it's the Chiefs' pick."
The other is knowing when to say 'when.' That day will come when a signee/draftee isn't going to work out. *
Know when to put your ego aside.*
"We might make a decision that we'll back away and have to move on from because it's not the best thing for the team in the long run, and that stings every once in a while, all of us," Ballard said to Chiefs.com.
"I mean, we're going to have players that we don't get right, but at the end of the day, we're going to find the right players…"
One element of scouting that Ballard has seen evolve over his 16 seasons in the NFL is the use of analytics.
NFL teams around the league have made analytic specific hires in recent years, including the Colts in 2016, trying to add one more layer to the evaluation process.
Ballard is going to tap into that as well.
"I'm into analytics," Ballard says. "There's some stuff we'll do with analytics just to kind of help bring our decision making into focus, but the tape tells you everything.
"I'm telling you, the really good one's pop off that tape fast and then they do it consistently."
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