Tyler Warren's Immediate Impact with Colts in Question

Despite his potential fit, Bleacher Report analyst Alex Kay considered Warren's situation with the Colts as one of the five worst landing spots for rookies this season.

"Although [versatility is] a valuable piece for most teams, the Colts simply aren’t lacking skill-position talent at this juncture," Kay wrote. "They won’t be able to maximize the talents of a versatile player who can do everything quite well, but not much at a truly exceptional level. While some offenses would deploy Warren as their goal line back or even slot him in under center to add an athletic running option in specific packages, the Colts already have players who fill those roles far better than Warren can with Jonathan Taylor and Anthony Richardson, respectively."

"While Warren should have little issues beating out incumbent Mo Alie-Cox for the starting tight end job, his projected placement near the bottom of the pecking order will result in production that leaves much to be desired and won’t improve until Indy sorts out its signal-caller woes."

Kay argues that the Colts have too many mouths to feed on offense, which could diminish Warren's potential impact in year one. He raises some interesting points, especially considering the Colts had three receivers cross the 800-yard threshold last season.

The Colts are undoubtedly a run-first offense that prioritizes keeping the ball in the hands of star running back Jonathan Taylor. Adding Warren to the offense won't change that dynamic, but it will force teams to respect Warren's potential impact as a pass catcher and as a blocker.

Warren's immediate impact doesn't have to be on the stat sheet. He'll be valuable as a guy who draws defensive attention and someone who can open up parts of the field for his teammates to attack.

Regardless, the bar is on the floor for Warren's actual receiving numbers. Indianapolis did not have a single tight end reach the 200-yard mark last season, and their tight ends as a whole failed to combine for 500 yards. The last time an individual tight end reached 500 yards for the Colts was in 2018, when Eric Ebron was on the roster.

Taking into account the team's deep receiving group but weak tight end depth, Warren still offers improvement at an undervalued position. Though it may take some time for him to warm up at the professional level, he should be able to provide an instant impact for Steichen and the starting quarterback come Week 1.

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