ESPN has been handing out their NFL offseason grades over the past week, and no one was given more praise than the Indianapolis Colts.

ESPN writer Bill Barnwell authored a lengthy recap for each of NFL teams and at the end assigned each team a grade. The Colts were given an A-minus, which was the highest grade of any team.

Barnwell liked the first big move the Colts made over the offseason, which was to bring in Chris Ballard as general manager after firing Ryan Grigson.

"It's hard to think of an NFL general manager who did less with more than Grigson," wrote Barnwell, "who had Andrew Luck fall into his lap with the first pick in his first draft and spent most of the next five years putting obstacles in the QB's way... Ballard's first offseason with the team has been very promising, both in terms of attacking weaknesses and identifying value within the market."

On that note, Barnwell liked what Ballard did in free agency. Not only did Ballard go heavy on defense in free agency, he did so without tying up much guaranteed money in the long-term.

"The Colts have brought in a ton of young, short-term defensive help with upside in what will be an evaluation year," wrote Barnewell. "Grigson made some moves like this early in his tenure with Indy, targeting players like Greg Toler and Ricky Jean-Francois, but they were on far larger deals and expected to be long-term starters at their positions. With the sort of contracts Ballard is handing out, the guys who stick will be under contract for a couple of more seasons, while the ones who don't will be giving way to a more sustainable defensive model."

Barnwell also liked the decision to go heavy on defense in the draft.

"No draft strategy is foolproof," Barnwell wrote. "These guys may not work out. Chuck Pagano hasn't done a great job of bringing along young defensive talent in Indy, and this new batch of defenders could fall victim to the same fate. As a coherent plan, though, what Indianapolis did this offseason made a ton of sense."

If there was a flaw in the Colts offseason for Barnwell, it's the same that several other analysts have mentioned -- the lack of help added on the offensive line. Even if the offensive line showed some improvement towards the end of the 2016 season, Barnwell would have liked to have seen them spend some money on more right side help.

"This wasn't a great draft for offensive linemen, and the cost of signing linemen in free agency was exorbitant this offseason, but the Colts may regret not making one big splash to upgrade the right side in front of Luck," wrote Barnwell.

Ultimately Ballard will be judged by how his offseason efforts translate to the field, of course. If the defensive acquisitions wind up being disappointing and the offensive line turns out to be a problem, there will probably be some criticism thrown his way. On paper though, the Colts got a lot right this offseason. The defense may not prove to be where they want it to be, but the first step in rebuilding the unit was completed, and that was to get younger, deeper and more athletic. If the free agent signings don't work out, the contracts the Colts handed out will allow them to move on fairly easily. And Ballard stuck to his mantra of competition on the offensive side of the ball as well, adding players who could at least turn out to be key depth pieces in WR Kamar Aiken, OL Brian Schwenke, OT Zach Banner, and RB Marlon Mack.

The Colts made some big steps this offseason, and the team looks much different as a result. We'll find out soon enough if those steps lead to success on the field in 2017, but for now, the team is decidedly moving in a new direction that is widely perceived to be positive.

Click here to read Barnwell's full analysis at ESPN.