The 2025 NFL Draft is finally behind the Indianapolis Colts, and with that chapter of the offseason now closed, the various reviews, both good and bad, have swirled around as to how each team performed during the three days of action in Green Bay, WI.
For the Colts, it wasn’t as splashy of a draft as others around the board made it, especially within their own AFC South division, but they still managed to come out of this year’s class with an assortment of appealing prospects on both sides of the ball, bringing in eight new names on their roster.
However, in the eyes of ESPN draft expert Field Yates, the Colts were able to come out of the draft with one of his favorite picks within a batch of over 250 picks through the entire seven rounds.
When outlining the Colts’ best pick from this year’s draft, Yates kept it simple in his evaluation, commending Indianapolis for taking the easy selection of Penn State’s Tyler Warren at pick 14.
“Warren was my top tight end in this class and the seventh player on my board. I was uncertain he would make it to Indianapolis at No. 14, but the Colts got their chance when the Bears opted for Michigan’s Colston Loveland four picks earlier.,” Yates wrote. “The best picks are drafting for value at a need, which certainly is the case here. Eric Ebron was the last Colts tight end to eclipse 500 receiving yards in a single season (2018). They are still sorting out their QB position, but whoever is under center will have a wrecking ball to throw to in Warren.”
Turning in the draft card for Warren was far from an unexpected outcome for the Colts if the Penn State product was on the board, but the fact that Indianapolis was able to luck out in their ability to pick him up not only as the 14th player off the board, but the second tight end entirely, was an impressive feat on the first night.
Warren will undoubtedly play a major factor in this Colts offense for the future, and should even be primed for a large role and target share during his rookie season due to the current state of the team’s tight end room, which looks largely similar to recent seasons when removing the rookie from the equation.
During his final season at Penn State, Warren was a huge force in their offense, leading the team in receptions (104), yards (1,233), and reception touchdowns (8) to make his way into becoming one of this draft’s top talents at the tight end position.
Now, fortunately for the Colts, they’ll have him in the fold for 2025 and beyond, and it was all able to be done without a trade up or giving up extra assets to get him onboard.
Overall, a major success for Indianapolis to kick off their incoming draft class, and could be a huge playmaker for this offense, and inevitably, whichever quarterback emerges as the starter come Week One of the season.
