When Chris Ballard was hired by the Indianapolis Colts earlier this offseason, the move was almost universally praised. One of the things that many people pointed out was that Ballard will likely put together a very good scouting staff in Indy, which is a big benefit.

That obviously hasn’t happened yet, but there’s already talk about who Ballard might bring in. CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora recently wrote a piece in which he updated some of the rumblings about the Colts’ scouting department.

The first thing that La Canfora noted in relation to the Colts was that it’s unclear whether these changes will happen right away:

The Bills and 49ers are both interested in bolstering their front offices following a regime change. It remains to be seen how many execs can be brought in, and leagues sources indicated the Colts may have to essentially stick with much of their scouting core for another year with that personnel still being under contract.

La Canfora then mentioned a few people of interest to keep an eye on for the Colts, guys who Chris Ballard apparantly could be looking to bring in:

But league sources indicated that new Colts GM Chris Ballard is very bullish on bringing in Seattle executive Ed Dodds. The Seahawks senior personnel consultant is an uber-scout who would be in line for a promotion with the Colts and industry sources would be surprised if that doesn’t go down. Ballard is also very high on Rex Hogan, the Jets’ director of college scouting, but he has time on his contract remaining and might not be as available. Ballard would be wise to reunite with several of the personnel men he was with back in his early days with the Chicago Bears, and one of them, Morocco Brown, could also be under consideration with the 49ers.

It sounds like the most certain of all of those possibilities could be Ed Dodds, as La Canfora says that people would be surprised if he doesn’t wind up with the Colts. He’s currently a national scout and senior personnel executive with the Seahawks, though it’s unclear what role he would take on with the Colts if he were hired. There are other names to keep an eye on too, such as Rex Hogan and Morocco Brown, and I’m sure there are other guys that Chris Ballard is interested in too.

It’s widely expected that Ballard will begin to make changes to his scouting and personnel department after the draft, and it’s entirely possible that some of the names mentioned by La Canfora are a part of that. But it’s also possible that some of the guys currently with the Colts will stick around, too.

Ballard hasn’t made changes yet because this isn’t the time of year to do so - since in January and February scouts are very much in the midst of the draft process changes aren’t typically made then but rather after the draft. So that’s why Ballard hasn’t made changes yet, but it also gives him the chance to get to know the scouts already with the Colts and evaluate them to see which ones are worth keeping around.

Regardless of how many of the team’s current scouts and personnel guys are kept around (the most notable personnel guy is Jimmy Raye, the team’s VP of Football Operations), there will still likely be at least some changes made as Ballard looks to retool his scouting department. That factor has been praised as a big plus for hiring the GM, and we’ll likely see that begin this offseason after the draft. We now have a few names to keep an eye on in connection to the Colts in this regard.