INDIANAPOLIS – Chris Ballard stepped away from the lectern Wednesday at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine, muttering happily to himself as he enjoyed a subtle reminder of how far the Indianapolis Colts have come since he arrived two years ago.

“Not one (Andrew) Luck question,” Ballard said. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

Nope, not a single question about the franchise quarterback. Because the Colts aren’t where they were two years ago, wondering about Luck’s shoulder, the solar eclipse overshadowing what Ballard already knew, what many of us suspected and what everyone found out soon enough: The Colts were a condemned building, old and falling apart after back-to-back 8-8 seasons. And it was Ballard who issued the order to demolish.

You saw what happened during that 2017 season: 4-12 happened. Rock bottom happened.

But then 2018 happened. Ten wins and a spot in the postseason. A playoff victory at Houston. The arrivals of guard Quenton Nelson and linebacker Darius Leonard as anchors, the NFL’s first pair of All-Pro rookie teammates since Sayers and Butkus – You need their first names? Really? – in Chicago in 1965.

Two years after knocking down the whole house – one of the NFL’s oldest rosters became one of its youngest – the Colts have a concrete foundation. They are in tweak mode now, looking to paint the shutters and plant some shrubbery and maybe find a receiver and a pass-rusher during this 2019 offseason.

That’s what it meant when Ballard walked away from the podium on Wednesday without having to answer a single question about Luck: It meant the Colts are in a much better place than they were two years ago. This location, however, comes with an asterisk: The jump they are trying to make now, from good to great, is the most difficult jump in the NFL.

Remember what happened the last time the Colts tried it? It was the 2014 offseason, which looks a lot like this offseason, come to think of it. A postseason breakthrough – the 2014 Colts reached the AFC title game; the 2018 Colts reached the playoffs for the first time since 2014, and won a game – followed by an embarrassing blowout loss. In 2014 it was 45-7 to the New England Patriots. In 2018 it was 31-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

What happened to the Colts four years ago will not happen this time. The men in charge now, Ballard and coach Frank Reich, are confident in how they got here and won’t do anything out of character – won’t do anything stupid – to find a shortcut from good to great.

Four years ago, the Colts went for a shortcut. They threw money and old people at their holes on the roster, bringing in Frank Gore and Andre Johnson and Trent Cole and others whose best days were behind them. Failed spectacularly.

Ballard isn't trading up

Four years later, in similar tweak mode, Ballard and Reich will stay the course. Ballard has a surplus of picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, same as 2018, and is of no mind to package those picks to move up for one player.

“I like them picks,” Ballard said, smiling as he butchered the grammar for effect. And then he explained.

“I’ve always been under this premise,” he said. “The more picks you have, the more darts you have to throw at the dartboard, the better chance you have to hit on players. Is our roster to the point where I think we can just go draft three players? No. We need to continue to add young talent. We like having draft picks.”

And the Colts believe in their scouting system. A year ago they drafted a linebacker out of South Carolina State, Leonard, No. 36 overall. It looked like a reach. One pick later, having already selected Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson in the first round, they chose another guard, Auburn’s Braden Smith, at No. 37. Looked like a mistake.

Leonard led the NFL in tackles. Smith moved to right tackle and was dominant. That’s a reminder that the Colts might do something similarly, um, weird when it’s their turn with the No. 26 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. It’s a reminder to have some faith.

“I don’t worry about what everyone else does,” Ballard said. “We worry about what we think about players and how we line them up, and once we get (our draft board) stacked the way we want it, whoever’s there at 26, that’s who we’re taking.”

Do you wonder, Ballard was asked, if you can do it again? Maybe top that haul from the 2018 NFL Draft?

“Well it was ‘us,’ first thing. Wasn’t just me,” Ballard said. “A lot of people had a big say in that draft. No, every year they know where the bar is – we have a high bar every year. Do I hope we reach it? Absolutely I do. Do I expect to draft two all-pros every year? No.”

Draft goal: Two game-changers

The tweaks this offseason won’t all be subtle, of course. Nothing subtle about a game-breaking receiver, which is what the Colts hope to add opposite their current game-breaker, T.Y. Hilton. Nothing subtle about a game-wrecking pass-rusher, which the Colts haven’t had since Robert Mathis in 2013. But last year the Colts won 10 games and beat the Texans in the playoffs. They didn't arrive, no, but they are not that far away.

“This team’s pretty good,” Ballard said, then repeated himself because the truth feels good. “Pretty good football team.

“Are we where we need to be yet from a talent perspective? No, we’re not, and I’m not going sit here and try to blow smoke up you all. We still have work to do, but we are better and we are a good football team. Absolutely we are.”

Last offseason was chaos, in Ballard’s words – “chaos and dysfunction” – that started with Josh McDaniels weaseling out of the coaching position, leading to the relatively late hiring of Reich, who scrambled for two weeks to put together his staff and study his roster and prepare for the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.

This offseason? Different. Reich has fine-tuned his staff, most notably bringing in a new offensive line coach. He is comfortable with his roster. And of course: Andrew.

“I can’t even tell you how much better this feels,” Reich said, comparing this February to 2018. “And then with the whole Andrew situation, it didn’t seem like there was anything normal about it last year. This year it just feels very different. It feels very good.

“We don’t have to rush. Nobody has to panic. We don’t have to grasp for straws. ... As far as I’m concerned, we can come back with those same guys and be better this year than last year. We would be better. But the way this league works, you do get the opportunity to add people, and we’ll follow Chris’ lead.”

Chris Ballard is out front, same as a year ago, but he’s not swinging a wrecking ball anymore. He has spackle and a paint brush now. There are holes on this roster. There are imperfections.

Questions? Yes, that’s another word for it. There are questions.

“I’m pretty confident,” the Colts’ GM was saying Wednesday, “in our ability to go find answers.”

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.