Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Warren's IMPACT | How Tyler Warren Can Lift The Colts Passing Game in Second Year

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

Our Returnee Reviews for the Colts shifts to second-year tight end Tyler Warren. He was as good as advertised as a rookie, but can Warren rise even higher in the Colts' offense, especially after the departure of Michael Pittman Jr.? The Squad discuss their expectations for No. 84's second year and take a look at the rest of the TE room.  Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/  📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ  Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram!  Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncolts  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Square If you’re starting a business, or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage, and grow without slowing down. Right now, you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://square.com/go/LockedOnNFL. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnhl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm your host, Derek Schultz, and it's officially summer, which means that it's officially closer to fall, which means that it's almost officially football season. And I'm Zach Hicks, and I am ready for OTAs to kick off this week. I'm Jake Arthur, and tonight we discuss the greatest Warren since Warren G. I'm Alan Pinkett, two-time oiler, and the greatest Warren I knew I played with, his name was Warren Moon. But this Warren could be just. just as good. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colt Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week.

Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Circle City, the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squad Joe starts now. Squad Show mount up. I'm Derek Schultz, longtime indie sports talker and columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by NERNAM legend and long time NFL running back Alan Pinkett, along

with our dynamic locked-on Colts duo of Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks, your first listen every day as we enter the final week of May and now past Memorial Day weekend. We continue our series of returning reviews here on the show. On every Colts Squad show episode for the next few weeks, we take an in-depth look at a key returnee whose role may have changed with some of the off-season shifts. And I think both Jake and Alan alluded to it tonight's going to be Tyler Warren,

the soon-to-be second-year tight end for the Colts. He'll be our returny review. We'll talk about what could be in store for him in year number two. And segment number two, we'll talk about how Warren can help replace Michael Bidman Jr's production in his role. Look, I know he's a tight end, right? And Michael Bidman Jr. is a receiver. And they had two different roles in the offense.

But at the same time, they're all part of that passing attack. And we'll discuss how that's going to look while Warren is simultaneously sort of growing into his own as a front-line Colts player. In segment three, we'll take a look at the rest of the tight-end room, which, you know, for the most part, has remained mostly unchanged, right? Some veterans, some familiar faces, some familiar names that are in that room. But we'll talk about that in segment number three. And then segment number four, I'm looking forward to this because 75% of the squad can't really speak to this.

But if you've been watching what's been happening in New York with the Jackson Dart, Abdul Carter, Giants locker room dynamic, and look, they say that it's all well and it's all good. but you get a bunch of guys into a locker room. They're not all going to have the same background. They're not all going to have the same worldview. There are things to navigate in there, right? They're not just talking about football in the locker room. And Alan's going to speak to this coming up in segment four,

but we'll share our thoughts as well, you know, especially in today's day and age because this stuff is, you know, while in 1986 it may have felt like it was more avoidable in 2026. It's just not, not in the world of social media and all of that. So we'll talk about that in segment number four. But guys, let's start with Tyler Warren. a really good rookie season and a guy that strangely seemed to be

I don't want to say polarizing Zach but there were some people that I think during the draft process didn't want the Colts to take a tight end so they kind of took it out on Warren when he had a little bit of a slower second half and part of that you can blame on the injury to Daniel Jones

and just everything just kind of turning to ash for the 2025 Colts but I think overall most people felt like Tyra Warren had a good rookie season. What do you expect for the transition from year one to year two, especially now that the offense looks a little bit different without Michael Pittman Jr. in the mix. Yeah, I mean, Tyler Warren had a fantastic rookie season. And this is traditionally at a position where we see the early parts of their careers for tight ends traditionally be like a bit slower than other

positions, right? Receivers historically have always hit the ground running, right? Receivers come out of college and they can put up a thousand yards if you're a top 10 pick. But even if you're not a top tent pick. We see these guys putting up some big time yardage where tight ends, it really has become like this, this recent trend of seeing tight ends be productive as receivers early in their career. And Warren is just part of that recent trend, right? Where he was hyperproductive last year. Yeah, it was a bit slower down the stretch for him, but the whole entire Colts offense really struggled down the stretch as they navigated their, you know, fourth string quarterback starting games for them, a guy who wasn't on their roster all all season.

starting games for them. So I actually want to commend Tyler Warren, though, for I think he hit a bit of that rookie bump in the middle of the season. Right after the by week, we saw a little bit of that slump is what I should say, not bump, rookie slump where he looked a little bit slower, he looked a little bit worn down. He had just come off a very long college season in state where they went deep into the college football playoff.

And then you're getting your body ready for the combine. Then you're getting ready for a rookie season. So the rookie season is very tough. on these types of players that are like very rugged players like him. And he did hit that slump. But I thought he rebounded really well the last couple games of the year from that slump. I most notably think of like that Jaguars game late in the year. I thought he had a really solid showing in that one.

And a couple other really good showings down the stretch where I thought his route running in particular looked even better than what it did early in the season. So Tyler Warren is just a gamer. He's one of those guys where you just want him on Sundays. I don't think there's any reason to think that he's not going to be, a top 10 tight end in football next year because that's kind of what he was as a rookie already last year. And I think he's going to continue being a focal point of this offense.

So we'll talk more about how his role expands going forward. But this was one of the best seasons we've ever seen from a rookie tight end in terms of production was, you know, he was an all pro the first half of the season. He's a very, very good player. So I think that we should expect big things from him. maybe not like a 1,000-yard season, but probably close to it, right? As long as he gets the targets, I think it's not unrealistic. I think he can get to like a thousand yards.

So, yeah, he's going to be one of the biggest focal points in this offense next year. And we'll talk about how that can expand a little bit, but I expect pretty big things from the former 15th overall pick for the Colts. Yeah, I think obviously he got up to a really hot start last year. And I think wound up being under the radar. Now, statistically, he did slow a little bit. As Zach mentioned, kind of everyone petered off a little bit. But at the same time, tight ends do take a little while to acclimate.

And he put up really good numbers. He was like the best Colts rookie titan there's been, has had one of the better statistical NFL rookie titan seasons in recent memory. But he just so happened to come in with a stacked group of fellow rookies because Colston Loveland had a great year. Harold Fanon had a great year. Orronda Gadsden. So he actually wound up getting a little bit brushed under the rug.

He didn't get to stand out, really, because of coming in with three, four other dudes who did just as well, statistically. But around here, I mean, I think he should be pretty well appreciated because, I mean, we, even like Jack Doyle was productive, but he was very capped as to what he could do. Jack was going to get you to the sticks and no more. He might get you a nice little diving catch up the seam every now and then, but like Jack Doyle was like the best tied in the Colts had overall in quite some time.

Dallas Clark, the days of Dallas Clark were a while ago. You got that flash in the pan from Eric Ebron, but it finally feels like there is like a real multifaceted, never has to leave the field type of tied in on the on the team again. And that can prove to be very, very valuable, I think moving forward. And he's just kind of scratching the surface. I mean, you never want to put too much on the plate of a rookie. But we, I don't think, saw near the degree of what Shane Steckin wants to do.

When you look at what he did in his final year at Penn State and then what he did as a rookie, I think there's still a lot more to come, which we'll talk about in the next segment. But I think it's all arrows up for Tyler Warren. Finally, it's a full offseason to just be a football player. And, you know, another season in this system with Shane Stuyck. And, you know, the Colts still have Shane. So he's not transitioning to a new coordinator and a new system. So there's no reason not to be, I think, over the moon about what his impact could be moving forward.

Well, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be potentially at all pro next year at tight end based on the experience he had as a rookie. And I kind of liken it to if you get a chance in college to play as a freshman, you're so much better as a sophomore because the game slowed down for you. you can just anticipate things better. Because he played so much as a rookie and had success, he can now go back and refine those things that, you know, will allow him to be better. And this rookie wall is a real thing. And it's, I think one of the things,

it's a maturation process because you're going full speed every weekend. and that wears on you because you did it for four years in college, and at some point it was over. Even though he had an extended season with the playoff, it was still college. In the pros, you have to learn how to pace yourself and know that you want to be ascending as the season goes along. So you don't want to, I guess, throw all your best stuff out

in week two and three, you want to be gradually growing. And he will learn how to pace himself. But like I said, the fact that he played so much, you know, he will now be able to go and master his craft, you know, be a lot sharper on route running. He's had some experience seeing some of these guys, especially the guys in their division. So he will have, he'll know the little,

you know, idiosyncrasies of the defense that he'll be able to take advantage of now. Not to mention, you know, when you're in the NFL, you have more time to watch film, as opposed to being in college and have to go to class, although I don't know how many student athletes go to class anymore, especially with this online thing you can do. But there is no doubt in my mind. The arrow points up for Tyler Warren. And I think it allows Shane Siking to be a lot more creative.

Now, will he take the place of Michael Pittman? I don't think so because he had a defined role. But he could play a larger role because of the skill set that he has. He can do some things. a wide receiver should be doing at the tight-end position with a lot more force and a lot more umph. But I guess there's only so many superlatives I can give in only so many ways I can say, hell yeah, he's going to be better coming into the year. And I think that all pro is not out of the question. Yeah. And one thing I think people just forget so much with rookies is that

that quick turnaround from getting into combine shape, which is drastically different from NFL shape and going from, again, a long college season like you had, right into combine shape. And then you have to rework your body to be ready for the NFL season. And this is all new for you. But you're also, you're like, you're learning on the fly, but you're still trying to get into the right body shape. That's why we see a lot of rookies sometimes come in, just not looking the way they do in year two, year three, year four. I always remember Baron Hart Riemann, coming in his first season with the Colts and being

like 305 at best probably probably honestly he was probably like 295 that rookie season and we saw and we saw late in the year he was getting run over when he was get out there as an offensive tackle. Comes into camp coming into year two expected to be the left tackle starter

lo and behold he's 315, 320 he's a big body left tackle and he's been a fringe pro bowler ever since and he's locked up long term for the Colts. So it's always big to see what these guys look like going into their second year if they took what the exit interviews were like saying, hey, we want you to hit this weight. Hey, we want you to work on this.

Hey, we want you to look like this coming at the next camp. If they follow that advice, look like that coming into year two. And then you really see their careers take off. That's where, again, we've seen it with Berenhard Riemann. We've seen it with Alec Pierce. We've seen that with a lot of players where coming into that second camp, they look like the NFL version of themselves. So to see what we got out of Warren in year one as a rookie again with all that context. I think, yeah, like you said, Alan, the arrow's pointing up. And to kind of also answer what Jake said, like, he was a great rookie tight end class last year, but he outproduced all of them. Like, you know, everyone's going crazy about Colson

Loveland, his like 400 yards last year. Warren was nearly 800 yards last season. Harold Fanon was a very good tight end last year. Warren was more productive than all these guys. So yes, it was a very good tight end class. But Warren was the most productive in the biggest focal point of his respective offense. So if they expect that to grow going forward, it's not crazy to think Warren could be an all pro this upcoming season. Yeah, I'm really excited about kind of like the mental rolodex he was able to acquire. Like regardless of how he performed down the stretch,

like everything he was doing was a new experience mentally or like at least at the NFL level. I talked to Drew Aller really quick at the combine about Warren. And just in our very short conversation, he just told me about, like, how smart of a player Warren was. And, like, the things he took off of Aller's play as a quarterback and, like, different calls and things that he shouted out. And I was like, okay, wow. All right. So going into year two, that, like, not only will the game have slowed down, but the guy has already got so much upstairs that he's able to kind of put moving forward. Yeah, I mean, Drew Aller should thank Tyler Warren every day because part of the reason that we were talking about.

Drew Hour for being more than what he probably ended up being. But it's just nice, too, when you have somebody, you know, Alan, you kind of spoke to it with the college guys now and the differences, you know, to have somebody come in and be exactly what you wanted to be right away. And the Colts have done that a couple of times. Like Ryan Kelly, I felt like was that where, you know, center. So, so what? But still, he was a 16 game starter his first year.

And you plugged him in and you played him and he was exactly what he was supposed to be. And that was kind of the beauty of Tyler Warren. There didn't seem to be any learning curve. He just got on the field and he started producing almost right away. And it's exciting to think if that is the baseline expectation last year, what Warren was then what he can be here moving forward for still a young player. We come back here on the locked on Colts squad show. How big of a focal point will Tyler Warren be in his second year in this Colts offense?

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Go to Lockedonpodcast.com slash Everydayer Club to join today. So, Zach, you sort of alluded to it and teased it that you thought that Tyler Warren was going to be even more of a focal point in this Colts office. and especially when you just kind of look at the way that the receiver room sort of shakes out and how this passing attack will be. And not just that, but also just how Tyler Warren in a way was a little bit of a Swiss Army knife, right? And, you know, go-go-gadget Tyler Warren.

I mean, you know, the old inspector gadget, that's what it felt like was Shane Steichen with how he was using him in this offense. But what are your sort of firm expectations for what you are expecting to see from Tyler Warren specifically as he fits in now with Michael Pittman Jr. out of the equation and just the parts and pieces that the Colts do have at Shane Seichen's disposal on that unit. Yeah, I mean, the Colts have a lot of vacant targets that they have to divvy out among their top three wide receivers in Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, and Tyler Warren. And I think that's where a majority of those targets are going to go. You know, I don't expect an Ashton Doolin or Nick Westbrook Aquina to jump up and be like a 40 catch guy for the Colts.

I think a lot of those targets are going to be dispersed. Obviously, a lot of them are going to go to Ale Pierce. You're paying him like a wide receiver one. You have to use them like a wide receiver one next year. But there are plenty more targets that can go to Tyler Warren. And when it comes to like expanding his role, one thing I really want to talk about is like he is, he was very bare bones last year in the way that they used him, right? Like he was able to be productive and they were able to get the football to him last year.

But a lot of it was in throwing the ball to the flats, right? getting getting him some running catch opportunities in the flats, getting him an occasional drag route here or there, some hitches over the middle. But they didn't really use him outside of these couple like gadgety things. And then every now and then we saw him break free down the sideline or break free vertically. Last year of his 76 receptions, 60 of them came under 10 yards down the field. And 16 were past 10 yards.

Only three targets overall in the whole season past 20 yards. And I'm not saying that he's going to be a guy that you get. him involved in the vertical game, right? Like, there's not many tight ends that are vertical past catching tight ends, right? So I'm not calling for him to get 20 plus targets, 20 yards down the field. But I do think there are, there is a potential to open up that role a little bit more, expand the route tree a bit more, get him out of only running in the flats, only running drags, only running hitches. So I do expect him to be used a little bit more down the football field. And I know Jake's already going to talk about it as well, where they're going to get him

involved in more like gadgety stuff in the backfield, right? Getting him more involved in some kind of trick play type stuff and just getting the football into his hands. Maybe not as like the design QB sneak guy because that was kind of a disaster last season. But I do think that they're going to get him more involved in some unique ways. And I'm really excited to see what Shane Steichen studies this offseason. They get Warren's route tree expanded a bit more. One thing we know about Shane Steiking going into every season is he watches a lot of

college football and a lot of other pro football teams to add things to his playbook. like going into last year, there obviously was watching a lot of Shanahan-type stuff to add Shanahan elements to his offense. I'm curious to see where he goes with this next year's offense, especially if Daniel Jones is limited in the play-action rollout game because then you take away a big element of where Tyler Warren was successful last year. So where does he find new answers to incorporate Tyler Warren into this offense?

I'm really excited to see what he does with that. But yeah, overall, I do expect them to push the ball down the field a little bit more with Tyler Warren this year. I don't expect it to be that big of a disparity where it's 60 receptions under 10 yards to only 16 past it. I do think they're going to push him a little bit down the field and get him more involved in different elements of the game. So excited to see what Shane Steichen can roll out with that because Shane is always good

at adjusting his offense. And I know Tyler Warren is one of his favorite toys to maneuver around with in the offense. So now that he's going into year two, I fully expect that route tree to open up with these vacant targets coming his way. that is a good point it feels like you know josh downs is another guy who we've seen he's more capable of doing stuff downfield than what he's been given in recent days so that's that's a good point you know tyler warren and josh downs i think both can stretch the field a little bit more than we've seen uh and they were doing such interesting things with him like what was that uh that route as a fullback that wound up being like a 41 yard catch early in the years act yeah they ran they ran a sail route yeah backfield so a sale route is when you have your outside receiver clearing out, and you usually have your slot receiver running a deep corner route underneath that, right? So to clear out the corner and then you run a corner route underneath that into that vacant zone. And the Colts hit it really well by leaking

Warren off of play action out of this fullback position into that deep corner route. And the linebackers didn't carry it whatsoever. One of my favorite play designs from last year, they actually tried to call it two other times in the season, and it didn't work out. But the one time against Denver, where it did work out. Excellent, excellent play call. I just absolutely love that design. Yeah, we know they're going to do plenty of that stuff. But when I think of how he can directly replace Pittman or what of Pitman's he can

absorb, they did do some of the same stuff. You know, you think about like the play action rollouts where you get it to Pittman, you know, running with yards after catch opportunities right there. They like that with Tyler already as well. So you might see an uptick in that kind of stuff. just like the quick you know, comebacks and the slants and like those

five yard ones where you have the big body tough guy who can come down with the easy catch and move the chains. Like we see Tyler probably do a little bit more of that. But really, I think I don't know as much of it's like replacing Michael Pittman

as much as it is allowing other guys to just kind of blossom them into what they can be individually. You know what I mean? Like Alec Pierce, I think there's a lot of stuff they've probably always wanted to be able to do with him that they're going to broaden now.

And Josh Downs, obviously, and with Tyler Warren, I know there's a lot of stuff they left on the table for him last year, but certain endgame situations just don't kind of allow for everything to be used. I don't know that they're going to be thinking about Michael Pittman and replacing what he was doing. I think everyone's just going to kind of have new roles for themselves personally, if that makes sense. But just an expanded version of it.

It may even be like Doolin does some of the specific Pittman stuff, just in his abridged role that he gets. But I think really when it comes to Pierce, when it comes to Downs and Warren, they just want to probably get weird with what they do with those guys because all three of them are capable. doing more than what we've seen them do. So, you know, I think Tyler will get more of the shorter rollout stuff that both him and Pittman have been pretty good at executing. But overall, I just, I kind of want to see them get a little more exotic with all three of those guys and how they decide to use them.

I think I'm on the same page in terms of taking advantage of his athleticism. and Zach and Jake, that sail route where he came out of the backfield was one of my favorite plays all year long. I would love to see him in the backfield even more, and it doesn't have to be a sail route that he runs. Sometimes he's back there to block. But I'm hoping that, Zach, you said that Shane Seichen likes to watch a lot of film. I hope he watches a lot of Baltimore Ravens.

they utilize their tight ends. And I hope he looks at, you know, how San Francisco utilizes Kittle. Yeah. And all the different routes that he has because, you know, this dude, Tyler, has that kind of skill that he can, you know, in the open field, just take over a game. And I think it would be good to put him into backfield that quarterback a few times, not so much to run plays, but to mess with the defensive coordinators across the league,

them having to actually game plan if he gets, you know, in the backfield at quarterback. But other than improving his route running and, like I say, he's going to be better just because he had the experience as a rookie. Now he's going to have more things in his toolbox. but I hope that they, and I know they will utilize him more because he is one hell of a weapon. And, you know, he just, I've always enjoyed having a big tight end on offense because the safeties and corners and linebackers, you know, get so many kill shots on the receivers. They can't get those same kill shots on the tight end. And the tight end can be the one that is the enforcer in the defensive. backfield kind of set a tone a little bit of physicality.

And so when, you know, the Colts start running downhill, you know, when they combine his past catching and running downhill with Jonathan Taylor's running downhill, it can really be a nice physical piece of the offense that's just going to add to the overall package because this is going to be an offensive team next year. And I fully expect them to, you know, make most of their hay on offense and outscore a lot of folks. Not to say the defense is going to be bad. I think the defense will be surprisingly good. But I think it's one of those offenses where they're going to work every Sunday.

And their job is to put up 40. And they can't be satisfied with 28 or 35. They've got to be of the mindset that how do we get to 40? And getting to 40 is going to be using a lot of Tyler Warren. Yeah, when you look at what he did last year as far as just purely scoring four touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns, one rushing touchdown as well. And using him as a goal line threat, I think can be something that can be utilized for time moving forward as well, just because he offers that sort of unique skill set when you see him kind of lined up back there.

and just, I don't know, there's something, the intimidation factor, the long hair, the fact that it looks like he's very difficult to bring down. You know, that's what jumped out to me when he was a college player, just how much of a bear he was just to tackle. And he showed a little bit of that in the NFL too. But I'm excited to see what could be next for Tyler Warren. And maybe the bells and whistles and the athleticism, you know, you watch somebody like Loveland and I can see why you fall in love with something like that. but just sort of the meat and potatoes of Tyler Warren, I think screams Colts to me and is a throwback in a way. And I think fans really appreciate that too. We come back on the show.

We will look at the rest of the tight end room behind Warren and what they bring to the table. A lot of familiar names there, but a much maligned room, really until last year. And then I think it became a lot more appreciated. We'll describe what we mean next when the Colts Squad Show returns next. We're back on the locked on Colts Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us about halfway through here this Tuesday edition alongside Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur, who make up the locked on Colts Daily team and former NFL running back at Nour name legend Alan Pinkett. I'm Derek Schultz.

So when you talk about the rooms that change the least, at the very least, the Colts tight end room has to be tied for change the least because it's exactly the same, essentially, with where we sit today, at least when you look at, you know, projecting forward. and maybe things could change with camp and things like that. But as of right now, you've got Tyler Warren as that tight end won and then, you know, the rest of the cast of characters that we're used to, Moe Alley Cox, who I believe is entering now his 21st season as an Indianapolis Colts, Drew Ogletree and Will Mallory. But, you know, as much as we joke about Moa Lee Cox or even some of these other names because, you know, Drew Ogletree has been around for a minute.

Will Mallory's been here for a couple of years now. Those guys have gone through the ringer at times. notably when I think the Colts were putting them in a position where they were being asked to be something that they weren't, right? Like none of those guys were starting level tight ends. Very few of them were even TE2 type tight ends. But now they've sort of settled into their roles. And Zach, I remember you writing it.

I think it was right in the wake of the regular season about how good of a year you thought Moe Allie Cox had. I think, you know, when you go around to position rooms, I know we were talking about cornerback on the other show about being the best position room. I wouldn't say that tight end is the best position group on the Colts, but what I would say is it's the one that I'm least concerned about, if that makes sense. Yeah, no, I get it.

Now, I think they'd be in a bit of danger, if anything were to happen to Tyler Warren. But he's kind of a gamer. I think you could say that about pretty much any position, though, right? If they lose their star at the very top, then obviously there's going to be some issues. Because the tight end room is defined by how good Tyler Warren is, right? he makes that entire tight-in room what it is because Moe-A-Cox is an excellent second tight-end for a team that wants to be like a run out of 12 personnel, run out of 13 personnel type of team. He's a versatile player that can be like an in-line blocker.

He can be your guy coming back across the formation and blocking the backside on split zone stuff. He can move into the backfield if you need him to. He can block out on the edge and kick out defensive ends and block, you know, linebackers at the second level. He's a very, very good blocking tight end that has been doing this for a very long time. He was never going to be a tight end one. You know, like we tried it once after Jack Doyle retired. It didn't work that time. So then they kind of had to move on to him being more of a tight end too.

And now they found that perfect guy to be at the top of the depth chart. We got to see Moley Cox be the unsung hero of the team again. Like he was back when Jack Doyle was here, a very, very good tight end two that can make some high leverage receptions and can just block his butt off 24-7. So I think he's excellent to pair with a player like Tyler Warren. And like you said, Derek, where Warren is very much this meat and potatoes, like old-school tight end, pairing him with a player like Moe, who is also very old-school.

Anytime Moe gets the football, I mean, he's putting his head down and he's carrying 10 guys for like eight extra yards. Like, he was called like the Moose here by Beat Reporters for years because every time he got the football, he was just dragging dudes down the field because he is just that strong. It's crazy to think he was a basketball player coming in here, looking this strong against NFL players. So I think Moe O'Ley Cox is an excellent backup to have for Tyler Warren.

Now, if Warren were to go down, you want someone else to be the main receiver because that's just not what Mo is. But as long as Warren is healthy, Mo is an excellent tight end to have. And I think Drew Ogletree fills his role very well as that third tight end, too. Like he is a good blocker. I think a lot of the Colts like play action shots. they did. They kept both tight ends into block and it would be Ogletree and Mo. And they would actually sometimes be on assignment with the defensive end, those two tight ends versus the defensive end.

And I think they would operate pretty well in that capacity. They did a really good job of taking on those blocks. And Ogletree was just a really good blocker and a good backup player to have for a player like Ali Cox. So if you're looking one through three, I don't think it's like the most stacked tight end room in the league. It really is dependent on Warren being healthy at all times. But when Warren is healthy, you have two guys behind him that compliment him really well and compliment what the Colts want to do with Daniel Jones as their quarterback. So I agree with you, Derek. Like, it's not the best in the league by any means, but I do think it is a good tight end room that fits what the Colts want to do. It fits their identity for this next season. And as we saw

with all these teams, right, they're overdrafting these 12 and 13 personnel tight ends who can't really catch, but they blocked a little bit at the college level. And they're taking him in like round two and round three while the Colts got Ogletree in round six and they've had Moe Alley Cox for a decade at this point they don't need to overdraft that position because they have those guys that fit what they want I mean look I love Bochrecher right that Jake Jake was a big fan of but watch it if you're if you're saying vet minimum for Mo Ali Cox versus second round pick on board on boor catcher whatever the heck you say his name is I'm sorry I'm taking the vet minimum tight end that gives me the exact same thing you know so i think the colts get massive surplus value in a player like alley cox and i think he's going

to be um you know he's going to be one of those guys where we're talking colts football like 10 20 years from now and you're at like a bar talking colts football and you're like you remember that moali cox guy he made a couple big that one-handed catch against the raiders like he was awesome for all his years with the like that's the kind of player he's going to be it's like one of those like franchise legends that's not really a legend but just more so in the way you talk about him um and i think that just he kind of won over fans again last year with how well he played so always a big moly cox fan i think he's a great backup tight end to have uh he just blocked really well as well with so you have to

love him at tight end yeah Zach i think i'm going to spend all my lot of time talking about will mallory now if i may have those two tight ends so you can talk will mallory no but i mean mo is absolutely perfect for the role that he is now comfortably in uh we did see that him being jacked oil's replacement. It wasn't very suitable. But him being the second tight in where he can focus on blocking and there's not this pressure to get him the ball, you know, in passing situations, other than as a surprise, because like the guy can catch 10 to 15 balls per year now, and they come at times where the defense isn't always necessarily seeing it coming. And somehow, despite not being a burner, Mo could average 20 yards per catch. And I would believe,

leave it because somehow he just finds ways to pick up extra yardage. But he's in a very appropriate position now that you have a guy like Tyler Warren at the top, who is not a niche player. He doesn't really ever have to leave the field. So now that means you can bring these other guys along as compliments. And the Colts do feel very, very confident in Moe Alley Cox and Drew O'Ree's abilities as blockers. They feel both of them are among the best blockers in the league, and they use them in that way. And I'm personally surprised that Ogletree became that, you know, because he came in and he's supposed to be this basically really thick bodied freak pass catcher from Youngstown.

I mean, that's how he was kind of sold to us right after they drafted him, at least. And then lo and behold, he's really not much of a pass catcher, but he's a really good blocker. And he can move around and do some of those really cool things. So I do like the tight-in room a lot more now that you have a very well-fitting star at the top of it. We don't have to try and talk ourselves into, well, if they do this with this guy and then this guy can kind of do this, then it'll be great. Because they had the worst tight-in room in the NFL before they drafted Warren. So, yeah, it looks a lot better now. And then to the point where my poor guy, Will Mallory, just has to wait on somebody to be injured in order to see any playing time whatsoever.

But the biggest mystery at the tied-in position now is whether Will Mallory will even make it. Because everybody else is so secure in what their roles are that you have to go down to who the fourth tied-in is before you get to any question. Well, Will Mallory will be entering his fourth year. That's that crucial year where, you know, he gets on a roster this year. He qualifies for a pension. So that will be interesting. But prior to Tyler Warren getting on this team, and I know I've mentioned this a few times, the four tight ends that the Colts had for the 2024 season amassed a total of 467 receiving yards. And that was between four guys.

So there was definitely a need. but for all the ways you wanted to utilize the tight ends that you had, you couldn't do it because you didn't have a bona fide star at the position. And so I think what Tyler Warren does is illuminates their ability to go do their job. I think it gives the cults more of a black and blue personality to throw in a Moe Alley-Cox or Drew Ogletree, you know, just to beat up another team and occasionally catch a pass, you know. And let's face it, you don't need to send five receivers out all the time. You can send two or three, you know, depending on coverage.

But if you can have tight ends that can block and give that quarterback time, that's another way of continuing to make first downs. So I like the room the way it is where you have one guy who's just all world and other guys that, you know, they have their different roles and they fill them to perfection. And occasionally they do show that they are the athletes that they should be in their pros. They'll snag a pass every now and then. and you want to, you know, hit him a couple of times a game just so you can keep the defensive coordinator thinking that, oh, well, if I see this tight end, then they're not going to throw to him and then you throw to him. It's like, oh, damn, I got to, you know, we got to account for that guy some kind of way.

You know, so thumbs up on the current tight-in room. And like you said, Jake, there may be. be trouble with Will Mallory, even making a team just because the numbers in the NFL, you can only carry so many. Or Will could be a good practice squad. I know that's not what he is looking to do. He feels like he can make some plays too. But sometimes you got to face the facts that that dude that's at the top is legit.

and he's going to get the ball. Yeah, I mean, the best thing that that is there for Will Mallory is the fact that there's no other pass catcher at tight end on this roster behind, you know, behind what we have at the very top of Tyler Warren. So that's why he was around all last year. It was like, hey, if Warren has any kind of injury, Mallory's going to slide in and probably get the most snaps that next week, unless we're just going to run the ball over and over again

because they just don't, you know, they don't feel like those other guys can be those past catchers. So Mallory does still kind of have a place on this team. It's just more so as like an insurance player. That's going to be his biggest role. And we'll see if again, the whole, the big thing with Will Mallory is like we just got to see you block a little bit. It's not like it's like it's not the craziest ask. You just have to be a little bit better at blocking if you want to surpass a player like Drew Ogletree.

But he hasn't been able to make up that ground. And that's why every single off season I get texts from Jake being like Mallory is catching everything. But it's in the developmental period again. at the very end of practice. No. Too good for the developmental period. That's the problem. He is a startering training camp and then

the light just completely shuts out when the regular season comes because they don't use. There's just no role for it. Yeah, there's just no role for it. Like you got to be able to block. No block, no rocket running back. No block, no rocket, tight end as well. But one thing that I did think of when Alan was talking there, just because we have a couple more minutes at the end of the segment, when Alan was saying that every now and then you got to throw it to these other

tight end just to keep defenses honest. I will still never forget. This is something again, like we're talking like talking Colts in the future. I'll never forget that Drew Ogletree, I believe his first career touchdown came this last season and it came against the chiefs where he crossed the face of Trent McDuffie and man coverage and caught a beautiful catch over one of the best corners in all of football for a touchdown reception when he had dropped easy ones in the past. It's just so random that that was like, I think it was his first career touchdown reception,

and I believe. That's first of the year. Oh, it was the first of the year. Okay, it wasn't his career one. Okay, but it was his first one of the year. One of his only catches of the season was a toe dragged touchdown the back of the end zone crossing the face of Trent McDuffie. It was crazy.

So, I mean, look, if he could show more of that, that was really the only glimpse we ever saw of that training camp hype he had as a rookie, then maybe he can be more than a tight end three. But, you know, I still like the tight end room for what it is, as long as Tyler Warren can be that guy at the top. he can allow me to forget about will mallory if he just becomes a little bit more of what he was supposed to be as a past catcher right then i can leave it i can leave it alone but yeah i mean i just think where we are today where we're talking about well yeah the fourth guy doesn't really block that well i know the tight end room can get better but it's a much better place to be than waiting on jelani woods who has one catch over the last three years or waiting on something to click with with Kylin Branson, who just, he's no good, right? I just think Tyler Warren eliminated a lot of those headaches,

those post-Jack Doyle headaches that I think we had in this town and just kind of waiting and longing and hoping and seeing some of the guys that they were trotting out there, either they were healthy or they weren't able to get healthy or whatever it was. It just felt like it was always an issue. And now it's just kind of a set-it-and-it-and-it-and-a-tide-type thing, at tight end. And I think that's a good thing to have because the Colts don't have a lot

of set it and forget it positions on this team. We come back on the show. We'll talk about locker room dynamics. And again, full disclosure, three quarters of us don't really know what that's like outside of, I don't know, like youth league sports. There's one person

that does, and he's going to talk plenty about that when we return next for a final time here on the Locked on Colts Squad. We'll go back last time, Locked on Colts squad show as we round out this Tuesday edition of the show. And when we're in the offseason like this and there's not a ton of news that's happening, I'm usually kind of looking around the league and thinking of things that can be

Colts that either are somewhat connected to the Colts even loosely, but even if they aren't something that the Colts have to navigate. And that's what, something that all 32 teams in the NFL have to navigate is locker room dynamics, right? You have these big groups of men at very, at varying ages between what 22, 23 and 34, 35, in some cases, even older than that, who come from different backgrounds in different regions of the country and different upbringings and some of them come from money, some of them don't, some of them were heralded

recruits, some of them weren't, some of them were juco players, some of them played at Alabama, you know, and any number of different things that these guys go through. And I think we're seeing the Giants go through it a little bit. And I want to be careful here, guys, because look, the last thing that we want to do is get into like an all-out political discussion and things like that. But in today's day and age, when it comes to sports, there are certain things that are unavoidable, right? And if you think that these guys, you know, I've been lucky enough, and I know Jake you have as well. And Zach, you at times too have been in NFL locker rooms and you hear what these guys talk about in conversations you're not involved with. I'm not trying to eavesdrop or anything like that, but these are these are guys being dudes, right?

They're not just talking about football. Sometimes they're talking about video games. Sometimes they're talking about girls. Sometimes they're talking about a stake that they had last night. And sometimes even I've heard politics come up or the news of the day that may or may not be political. Now, the Giants are going through it right now with Jackson Dart and Abdul Carter and they say everything's cool. And I think some fans are looking at this on the outside looking in thinking, well, you know, how can we get all of these guys? aligned. And I think the answer is, Alan, you can't possibly get an entire NFL locker room aligned on

something, right? Because that's just not possible. But for 60 minutes on the field on Sundays, you want to all be kind of mentally aligned by what's going on between the lines. But how do you navigate those things from spending a decade plus in NFL, not only NFL locker rooms, but even the locker room at Notre Dame because there were a lot of high profile players that you played with there, too? Well, I will say that I had one coach when I was in Houston, Jerry Glanville, that we reigns from choir boys to gangsters on that team. But we all got along. We all understood what was at stake.

And I think the one thing he did that made us realize we were playing for something bigger than ourselves was we would have a walk-through. on Saturdays, you know, before a Sunday game. And the walkthrough should take about 15 minutes. We would end up taking about 45 minutes because the coach would allow all the families to come out to the practice. And a lot of times we have trouble getting through a drill because there's kids running in between all the players and everything.

But I think it was brilliant on his part because it made us realize that, hey, I can't miss that block because that offensive tackles got four kids. He needs to feed. So I got to make sure I'll hold up my end of the bargain. And it would be kind of tough for me to comment on what goes on today compared to what went on in, although there are some things that are the same. I will say that what's different is social media. We didn't have social media back then. You couldn't go on and put out a tweet. And, you know, it's a different age now where guys are trying to build their brand, you know, and get however many clicks or likes or things so they can have maybe a profitable venture once they're done playing.

And it seems like the more opinionated you are, the more clicks and lights and things you get. But most players, and they learn this early on, if there are, like I said, we had choir boys to gangsters. And Lord knows there were guys that didn't get along. There were plenty of fights in our locker room. But we kept it in the locker room. If there were anything, and look, shoot, I got punched an eye one time in practice from a tight end. But the media never knew about it. And fortunately, my eye was already black, so you couldn't tell that I had a black eye.

But, you know, that happened early in the week, and there was tension there. But by the time we got to Sunday, that same dude was holding me up in the end zone after I scored a touchdown. You know, so most, most guys understand that you got to all be on the same page when it comes to Sunday. You don't have to like your teammates, you know, but it'd be good if you could respect them. And one of the things that's different about today compared to when I played is politics has divided everybody. You know, you're either in one camp or the other. And this may be the period of time where I've seen the most independence that I've ever seen. Because unfortunately, what we have now is not someone that's uniting everyone.

And there are plenty of families that can't stand being around each other because of the politics. hell, I was at a picnic yesterday, and a father and a son are sitting there arguing. I'm like, can we just sit here and enjoy the cheeseburger without having to talk about this mess? You know, but that's where society is now. And, you know, I think what has to happen is before just sending out that tweet, you got to probably think first what kind of effect will this have. and unfortunately that's not the society we live in now because the more offensive to tweet,

the more attention you're going to get. But I think the perfect example of how most locker rooms operate, I'm going to take you back in time just a little bit. You remember when Michael Vick was the quarterback of the Eagles? Mm-hmm. And you had that one receiver who got videotaped at a concert. Oh, Riley Cooper.

Yeah, using the N-word. Now, you didn't hear a single eagle come out and say anything bad about him because they knew that they had a judge and jury on the practice field that could handle it. But Michael Vic, to me, that was the greatest example of leadership. You know, he said he is our brother and we care for him and we're going to take care of him. And I'm sure on that practice field, when the media wasn't watching, all, you know, there was some brothers trying to take his legs out or, you know, hit him upside to head some kind of way. But when they got to Sunday, he was a part of the team. And, you know, you needed to have one person keep it all together.

And Michael Vic to me was the one who made sure that, look, whether he thinks this way or not, he is our brother. and we're going to need him when we go to war. You know, so get all that, you know, peddily stuff out of the way so that when we go into a game, we can count on each other. So I would just say that's the one thing that, to me, hasn't changed, is guys know how to focus when it comes to game time. Because you only got so many shots, only so many games you can play. You know, and each game is important.

Each opportunity is important, especially in the NFL, because you're talking about the difference between being cut and going to sell insurance or creating generational wealth for your family. Yeah, no, I think that's just kind of the end goal of it all is like, yes, it's a lot easier in other lines of work where there's less of that brotherhood, I guess, is what I should say, when it comes to your job, right? Like if there's a guy at work that I don't like or I don't believe the same political opinion or I find him annoying. And he can work in his own center.

I'll work in my own center. I don't have to interact with him outside of occasional just, hey, what's up, you know? But in football, you have to rely on these other people. So I understand why there can be some division with that, why that, especially in this supercharged political environment that we're in, there can be some division with that brotherhood. But at the end, I think Allen said it right there at the end where it's like, look, these guys, it's a job for them. Right. Like, yes, they want to, they want to be around people. They want to be around and all that. But like, at the end of the day, you're not, this is not like your best man at your wedding, right? This is a guy who you work with that is in some way or some form going to be alongside you as you're trying to get generational wealth. Like, that's what this is. So you can have all the problems in the world you have, but I mean, you're not going to throw games or whatever for it. You're not going to ruin your own career prospects because of it. At the end of the day, you have to just kind of. I don't want to say get over it because it is a very important thing. You don't have the luxury to be ignorant with these things.

But I do think that that's where a lot of the tension gets put aside because you're after the same goal. If you win games, if you win championships, it leads to more wealth than your pocket. It leads to better things for you in the future. So you can put up with the person that you disagree with, with a person that you hate even. Like I'm not even trying to speculate that these two people hate each other, right? by all accounts they seem to have had a conversation off of the public sphere and talked it out again who knows that that's true or not but whatever it means for them they're going to be able to put this stuff aside to play football games because at the

end of the day your family matters the most here you know you can have a guy at work you don't like and I know it's a little bit tougher with the brotherhood again of football but if you have two people that share a common goal even if they absolutely hate each other they're still going to try to put that aside to share that common goal. So I don't truly know what the dynamic is like like Allen does because Alan's been around it. But at the end of the day, these guys have to look out for themselves. It's the same thing with contract negotiations, right? Like everyone says like, oh, you know, go with the hometown team, the team that believed in you and all that.

And I'm sure that matters for something, right? At the end of the day, it's about what's best for you personally. If another place is offering you a bigger role, if another place is offering you more money, that's more important for you personally. So you're going to put some of those emotional things aside and do what's best business-wise because this is a business at the end of the day. So not to take out like the heart of football here, but it's a business. And at the end of the day, if you're going to align with people who have a common goal, even if you don't like that person, love that person, whatever, because that's just the goal at the end. And you have so many different opinions and viewpoints in a locker room that sometimes you just do have to put some of that stuff aside and push forward.

Yeah. I think as Alan mentioned. this being kind of the day in age of social media, it calls for more awareness in all of your actions all the time. Like knowing that what you're doing and what you're saying, like not everybody shares that opinion. I've run into a lot of people who for some reason, they just spout their opinions and their feelings on stuff as if everyone around them shares the exact same feelings and it just could not be further from the truth. So you need to have awareness about what you're bringing to the table, what you're putting out there on both

ends of this situation, really, with the giants. But, you know, at the end of the day, I agree, you kind of keep it in-house, even just for, for optic purposes, you know, like, you make things look messy when you bring it out in public. But yeah, it's, it's hard to say, you know, then you don't have to go back and Abdul Carter. making a bunch of new tweets saying, you know, we got it swept under the rug. And then everybody who's ever played for the Giants and everybody in the sports sphere having to comment on it. So like, yeah, this stuff is always going to happen. It's, I guess, just about doing it in a more private situation when you're part of a team like this. Because again, their goals are all

bigger than them individually and what they feel. is right in what they're doing personally. They're all trying to get to the Super Bowl. There are millions and millions of dollars on the line for themselves individually and for everybody on their team and, you know, career glory, really, for them as well. So you don't want stuff like this to derail the common goal. But yeah, again, at the end of the day, I think everybody on earth just needs to be a little more self-aware.

Yeah. with what they're putting out there. Look, I'll give you another example. Look, there were a lot of guys on the Patriots that hated Tom Brady's ass because he talked so much junk. And there were some defensive players like, oh, if I get a chance, I'm going to hit him. I don't care if he has a red jersey on or not.

But then some more knowledgeable defensive players saying, you hit him, you're going to have to deal with me too, because that dude's going to take us to the promised land. Well, look at the Legion of, boom, though, with Russell Wilson and all of them coming out in recent years, how much they did not like Russell Wilson, partly because of how Pete Carroll treated him, put him on a pedestal above everybody else. But they still came together and went to two Super Bowls, one at Super Bowl, with Russell Wilson as their quarterback and those guys altogether. I mean, yeah, you don't

have to like the guy. I mean, quarterback especially, right? Quarterback's a big one. Like, obviously you prefer to like the guy, but like at the end of the day, it's about just getting the job done. So I'm not saying ignore politics because I do think it's a very important thing to have. You don't have the luxury to just ignore this stuff. But, you know, when it comes to the common goal of winning, these guys do put that stuff aside. At least temporarily until they do the tell all podcasts after their careers. That's after the fact, right? That's after the fact. Yeah, yeah, because you only got so many shots as a player. So you're not going to let something like that spoil a chance of you having a great career.

I'm excited to write Locked on Colts exposed coming up here in 2032 in my book deal. Thanks so much for joining us on the latest edition of the Locked on Colts Squad Show. I would never do that to my friends and colleagues here. We'll be back with you this Thursday at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. As always, the Colts news cycle never ends. So keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day on Locked on Colts. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.