Stampede Blue
The Colts need other ways to punish teams selling out to stop the run and Tyler Warren might be that answer.
The Colts selected the player that was most popularly mocked to them in this year’s NFL Draft— Tyler Warren.
It was a such an obvious move, and no surprise to the entire NFL. They got lackluster production in the pass game from that room, and it finally caught up to them. In 2023 they were able to make do. Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree proved themselves to be some of the best blocking TE’s in football. That helped them jumpstart the run game, which was one of the better in the league in 2024. But defenses get paid too, and in passing situations, they were not bothered by the TE’s routes in the pattern.
We’ve talked ad nauseam about the tight end position and why Tyler Warren is such a good fit— so I won’t do that. This will likely be less of a film-centric breakdown and more of a big-picture discussion of how the Colts can schematically evolve from their 2024 offense.
The Colts had evolved into a 2 TE gap scheme rushing attack that focused on vertical penetration and downhill run schemes that got Anthony Richardson going north and south— where he’s at his best as a runner.
As they got into condensed formations to run the ball downhill, teams started to sell out to stop the run. Teams played with heavier boxes, and would aggressively bring pressure on run downs to get extra guys in the box whenever possible.
When linebackers are going to chase on the backside of runs or when there’s a weak link in coverage, the Colts have to be able to punish those looks and those matchups.
The core philosophy of this offensive system is attack space and numbers in both the Run and Pass game.
I thought last year they deviated from the 2023 offense that followed those principles to a tee in order to lean into Richardson’s strengths.
I think with the addition of Tyler Warren and Daniel Jones— or ideally improvement from Richardson in 2025— the Colts will get back to that 2022 Eagles style of offense.
Tyler Warren is likely to be an off-ball TE in this offense, while he is certainly capable of holding up as a blocker on the ball, he is going to serve as a key cog in creating conflict for the defense. If Tyler is off the ball that means he’s a threat to motion anywhere on the football field, it also gives more opportunities to make runs look like passes and vise-versa.
That’s a lot of what the 2022 Eagles were predicated on. A heavy dose of RPO’s, QB runs, and a passing game that focused on generating explosive plays deep down the field.
Adding Tyler Warren gives them the ability to not just put linebackers in run/pass conflict schematically, but truly make them pick their poison. When 84 is leaking...
