Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen benefitting from TE Tyler Warren so far.
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Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen benefitting from TE Tyler Warren so far.
The Indianapolis Colts laid the wood to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday to the tune of 33-8 at home. It was as thorough a beating as the score would indicate, but it still didn’t do much for the Colts in the power rankings.
ESPN had the Colts ranked No. 26 in its preseason rankings, but the win only moved them up three spots to No. 23. Ye of little faith?
Stephen Holder did point out a huge bright spot that many (me) saw coming. Their first-round draft pick Tyler Warren out of Penn State was moved round and used a lot, leading the team in receptions.
“The rookie, drafted 14th overall, had a debut that confirmed everything the Colts had projected,” Holder writes. “Warren led the team with seven receptions, even hauling in a deep ball from quarterback Daniel Jones. As expected, he was difficult to bring down, with 33 of his 76 yards coming after the catch. Warren also lined up at fullback and converted a first down on a short-yardage dive play, an element to his game he displayed at Penn State. His seven catches tied for the third most by a tight end in his debut.”
Tyler Warren nominated for Rookie of the Week honors
Warren’s impressive performance has earned him a nomination for NFL Rookie of the Week. Although, it might be tough to beat out Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ wide receiver Emeka Egbuka though; he had two touchdown catches.
“Warren also demonstrated his impressive physicality throughout the game, earning an 88.6 Pro Football Focus run blocking grade on 24 snaps,” writes Amanda Foster of Colts.com. “It was the highest PFF run block grade among tight ends with at least 10 blocking snaps in Week 1.”
Along with Egbuka, Warren will be up against Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey, Cleveland Browns running back Dylan Sampson and Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. The announcement on the winner will come on Thursday.
Fellow Colts players and coaches are noticing Tyler Warren
For those who have been around Warren since he was drafted, they aren’t surprised. Actually, anyone who watched Warren at Penn St. shouldn’t be surprised. If the Nittany Lions put him in at punter I wouldn’t have been surprised. He was an absolute animal in college and now the NFL is finding out why.
“He was impressive,” head coach Shane Steichen said after the game. “He’s an old-school throwback, a freaking baller is what he is.”
Michael Pittman, Jr. made a good point too. The Colts really do spread the ball around on offense. Last year, they were the only NFL team with three receivers over 800 yards. Imagine if Warren was all they had and they had to force it to him every down.
“How about that guy, right? Honestly it could’ve been even worse but we spread it out so much,” Pittman said. “We could’ve spammed him with targets — he could have 200 yards the way he plays.”
Quarterback Daniel Jones has never had a tight end target like this in his career no matter what he says. Evan Engram and Darren Waller don’t count.
“He’s a dangerous guy with the ball in his hands,” Jones said of Warren. “He’s going to make extra yards, he’s physical, he’s going to go up and make the tough catch…he does a lot for us.”
For his part, Warren is just taking it in and – like Jay-Z – moving on to the next one.
“Soak it in for the four or five seconds you get, but we’ve got a job to do,” Warren said. “We’re out there for a reason.”