Stampede Blue
The second Tyler Warren declared for the 2025 NFL Draft, the Colts were immediately on the short list of teams that not just wanted—but desperately needed him.
The second Tyler Warren declared for the 2025 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts were immediately on the short list of teams that not just wanted—but desperately needed—his talent in their offense.
It’s no secret the Colts were looking to upgrade at tight end. It’s been discussed ad nauseam for the past 365 days or so, and for good reason. The Colts tight end room had two quality blockers, but were essentially non-existent in the passing game. Defenses knew this and took advantage. They could predict whether a run or pass was coming based on which tight end was in the game, and could even push coverage on passing downs away from the tight ends and toward the receivers.
For the past two years, defenses aggressively allocated resources elsewhere. With Tyler Warren, they’re now going to pay for it.
Let’s start with Shane Steichen’s offense and how he ideally wants to play. The way the Colts are constructed, I would describe them as a “power spread” offense. What I mean by that, is that they want to play with lighter personnel (11P) and spread you out, then make your lighter personnel have to go tackle Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson in space.
The Colts for the first time in the Chris Ballard era, are four WR’s deep. You couldn’t say that last year at this time, but after drafting AD Mitchell and getting a breakout year from Alec Pierce, this the deepest they’ve been at the position in quite some time. That also means they don’t want to take these guys off the field if they don’t have to.
The Colts did play more two tight end sets that took Josh Downs off the field in 2024, but they still finished in the top 10 in 11 personnel usage. Having two TE’s that were stout run blockers allowed them to better lean into the downhill QB run game that gave them some success. But with Tyler Warren, I expect that number to potentially trend back toward the top of the league like they were in 2023.
Tyler Warren is one of the more complete tight ends that have come out in college in quite some time. While that doesn’t mean he’s the “best” or that he doesn’t have things to improve in his game, there isn’t much that he can't do. He can block from various alignments, he plays with elite competitive toughness, has an elite contested catch rate, and is one of the best YAC players in the entire draft. Not to mention he lined up at center, wildcat QB, and completed multiple passes last year.
While he got a lot of well-deserved hype throughout the process, he isn’t Brock Bowers or even George Kittle from day one. The Top 10 hype was a bit much, even in a weaker class, and...
