KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 22: Mecole Hardman Jr. #12 of the Kansas City Chiefs warms up prior to a game Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 22, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
The Colts are in desperate need of a new-look tight end room.
Indy’s offense yearns for a tight end with a reliable receiving prowess.
The Indianapolis Colts have trotted out an inconsistent product on offense for the majority of the 2024 season, but no position has struggled more than its tight end room.
Even with the lackluster play from Indy’s offensive line in recent weeks, the injury bug that room has been hit with suggests that it will return to form once its starters return. Since 2023, the Colts offensive line has been universally deemed a Top-5 unit in the NFL, that is, until its starting five began to trickle out of the lineup while the aforementioned injury bug set them, and the Colts offense, back.
When it comes to Indy’s tight end group, however, therein lies a heap of uninspired performance(s). Particularly that of the receiving game, the often referred to ‘security blanket’ that most tight ends take on has more or less been relegated to Josh Downs at the slot receiver position.
Downs being a quick winner off the line certainly bodes well for Anthony Richardson and this offense in high-leverage gotta-have-it scenarios, but when that becomes the status quo, or you lose that altogether due to injury, that reliability begins to fade.
This Colts offense desperately needs a second security blanket of sorts coming from the tight end room, someone that its young quarterback can depend on. It’s why everyone (including myself) who follows and/or covers the NFL Draft said, ad nauseam, that the Colts needed to grab now-rookie phenom Brock Bowers.
The Colts were seen attempting a trade-up with the New York Giants in HBO’s Hardknocks Offseason, offering No. 15, No. 46, and a 2025 2nd to move up to No. 6, but Giants GM Joe Schoen declined. With how much hype there was surrounding the Colts and Bowers, this very much feels like it could’ve been an all-in effort to pair him with Anthony Richardson.
Given that didn’t happen, the Colts are now left with the same need that they entered the 2024 NFL Draft with: a pass-catching tight end.
To add to the Colts’ passing lows from its tight end room, per Statmuse, they are 22nd in receiving yardage by tight ends (1,985 yards) leaguewide since longtime Colt Jack Doyle retired and passed the torch to Mo Alie-Cox.
Where Indy’s tight ends haven’t dropped off, however, is that of its run-blocking production. Colts TEs Coach Tom Manning returning to the mix in 2023 has seemingly remedied their past woes in that area, but that is not enough to continue with the same unit year in and year out.
Through twelve weeks in the 2024 season, Colts’ tight ends Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree are among the NFL’s best run-blockers at the position. According to Pro Football Focus, Ogletree is the 3rd-best graded run-blocker (69.3) while Alie-Cox is 5th (67.9) leaguewide.
These developments alone should save Ogletree and Alie-Cox spots on the team’s 53-man roster next year, though the need for a reliable passcatcher at the position remains. A popular NFL Draft crush among draftniks and fans alike is Penn State’s Tyler Warren, and while he deservingly takes the throne from Brock Bowers as a must-have talent for the Colts, Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr. and Michigan’s Colston Loveland are also great options if remedying this situation through the draft is how Indy attacks it.
