Tyler Warren is the Key to Opening Doors in the Colts Offense

The Colts need other ways to punish teams selling out to stop the run and Tyler Warren might be that answer.

The Colts selected the player that was most popularly mocked to them in this year’s NFL Draft— Tyler Warren.

It was a such an obvious move, and no surprise to the entire NFL. They got lackluster production in the pass game from that room, and it finally caught up to them. In 2023 they were able to make do. Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree proved themselves to be some of the best blocking TE’s in football. That helped them jumpstart the run game, which was one of the better in the league in 2024. But defenses get paid too, and in passing situations, they were not bothered by the TE’s routes in the pattern.

We’ve talked ad nauseam about the tight end position and why Tyler Warren is such a good fit— so I won’t do that. This will likely be less of a film-centric breakdown and more of a big-picture discussion of how the Colts can schematically evolve from their 2024 offense.

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The Colts had evolved into a 2 TE gap scheme rushing attack that focused on vertical penetration and downhill run schemes that got Anthony Richardson going north and south— where he’s at his best as a runner.

As they got into condensed formations to run the ball downhill, teams started to sell out to stop the run. Teams played with heavier boxes, and would aggressively bring pressure on run downs to get extra guys in the box whenever possible.

When linebackers are going to chase on the backside of runs or when there’s a weak link in coverage, the Colts have to be able to punish those looks and those matchups.

The core philosophy of this offensive system is attack space and numbers in both the Run and Pass game.

I thought last year they deviated from the 2023 offense that followed those principles to a tee in order to lean into Richardson’s strengths.

I think with the addition of Tyler Warren and Daniel Jones— or ideally improvement from Richardson in 2025— the Colts will get back to that 2022 Eagles style of offense.

Tyler Warren is likely to be an off-ball TE in this offense, while he is certainly capable of holding up as a blocker on the ball, he is going to serve as a key cog in creating conflict for the defense. If Tyler is off the ball that means he’s a threat to motion anywhere on the football field, it also gives more opportunities to make runs look like passes and vise-versa.

That’s a lot of what the 2022 Eagles were predicated on. A heavy dose of RPO’s, QB runs, and a passing game that focused on generating explosive plays deep down the field.

Adding Tyler Warren gives them the ability to not just put linebackers in run/pass conflict schematically, but truly make them pick their poison. When 84 is leaking out into the flat on a slide route, are you going to fill your gap aggressively or are you going to stay patient and force the handoff?

The mesh point will serve as a decoy to manipulate space and numbers and get the ball in 84’s hands. That way they can run the ball with their elite RB, and then punish teams through the air— just in a manner that is more likely to result in a completion.

Last year, I think that was the natural evolution of their scheme, they just didn’t have the TE’s in the room that could truly be a force in the pass game. There were so many instances of wide open space caused by aggressive linebackers coming downhill that the Colts didn’t really attack in a way they maybe could have. I think Tyler Warren has the key to open the door up for this offense to put teams in more of a run/pass conflict pre and post snap.

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The other element is some of the base dropback passing concepts that I think can get better. Tyler Warren is not known for his precise route running, but it’s an area you would expect would improve. That being said, they don’t need Tyler Warren to run a Travis Kelce or Brock Bowers route tree. Josh Downs will assume more of that role. What they need him to do first and foremost is be a great sail runner.

Sail is a basic passing concept involving a flat route, a corner (or a variation of a corner route) and a must outside release go.

The Colts love running this concept and Shane Steichen loved it even more when he had a TE who could run the sail route well.

Sail creates a three-level vertical stretch on the defense— essentially overloading the zones. You have one person in the flat, one person clearing out a player deep, and a third that’s running the sail in the intermediate level.

You end up creating a hi-lo on the curl flat defender. When you have a TE who can run that route well the stretch becomes larger. They have to make a decision in their drops faster. Am I going to stay low and cover the easy completion in the flat or am I going to get depth and play the potential Sail?

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The Colts— in an effort to lean into the strengths of their QB— adopted a downhill gap scheme style of offense in order to move the chains. Defenses began to catch on, selling out against the run and daring the Colts to throw the ball.

Alec Pierce was their go to answer vs. this look. Max Protect Shot plays were a popular answer when they were getting second level defenders selling out against the run. While that resulted in some explosive downhill plays, they also are not the most efficient way to punish these looks.

Adding Tyler Warren who can be both a blocker and a viable receiving option will help the Colts return to the core philosophy of their system which is to attack space and numbers in the run and pass game— primarily through the use of RPO’s and Option runs.