1 week Ago
The Indianapolis Colts entered the 2025 NFL Draft with seven picks, and it was a formality that one of them would be spent on a tight end. The question was simply: When? Indianapolis GM Chris Ballard didn’t wait long, selecting former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren with the No. 14 pick .
Warren is just the second tight end the Colts have selected in the first round since the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984 and the third in the common draft era. “He can do a lot. He can play multiple spots,” Ballard said.
“He’s got the quarterback background. He can play in the backfield. He’s a great 50-50 ball catcher.
He’s violent after the catch. He brings an element of toughness that I thought we needed to add offensively.” Obviously, most eyes will remain on who Warren will be catching passes from amid a QB competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.
But the Colts still had to fill some holes around them. Warren slots in as an immediate starter, while second-round pick and former Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau and fifth-round pick and former Kansas State running back DJ Giddens should garner meaningful snaps, too. Let’s take a deeper look at the rest of the Indy’s draft haul.
Best value pick Indianapolis needed more depth and variety at running back, and Giddens provides both as a Day 3 selection. The 21-year-old was a prolific ball carrier at Kansas State, totaling 3,087 rushing yards across three seasons, which is the third-most in school history. He’ll slot in behind two-time Pro Bowler Jonathan Taylor and free-agent signee Khalil Herbert.
If Taylor goes down, which is something to keep in mind since Taylor has missed at least three games due to injury in each of the last three years, Giddens could help keep the ground game afloat alongside Herbert. Advertisement The real value with Giddens, and how he’ll most likely see the field early on, is as a pass catcher. He racked up 58 catches for 679 yards (11.
7 yards per catch) and eight TDs while in college. Giddens’ reliable hands add an element to the Colts’ offense that it lacked last season, and the back is confident it can help turn him into a difference-maker at the next level. “Just getting on the JUGS (machine) every day at practice,” Giddens said, describing how he improved as a pass catcher.
“ ...
I’ve been catching my whole life. It ain’t no different (than) catching when I was in the backyard, playing backyard football. It was the same thing.
” Most surprising pick The Colts’ selection of Minnesota cornerback Justin Walley in the third round was a bit of a head-scratcher because they seemed to have more pressing needs. Walley was also graded as a sixth-round prospect by The Athletic ’s lead draft analyst Dane Brugler , but clearly the Colts thought a lot higher of him. “I don’t care where (anyone else) thinks they’re going to go,” Ballard said.
“We grade them, and we take them.” Walley acknowledged that he heard his draft range was anywhere between the second and sixth rounds. The 22-year-old is undersized for the cornerbacks Ballard typically covets, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 190 pounds, which makes him a bit of a tweener.
But as Walley pointed out, he has experience playing on the boundary and in the slot. He started 42 games at Minnesota, totaling 27 passes defensed and seven interceptions. Ballard said Walley has “a chance to be a really good starting corner in this league,” but when will that chance come? Charvarius Ward and Kenny Moore II are surefire starters, leaving Walley to compete with Jaylon Jones (27 career starts) and Sam Womack III (eight starts last year) to get on the field in 2025.
JuJu Brents, a second-round pick in 2023, is also in the mix, but he was limited to just two games last year due to a knee injury. Advertisement Biggest question mark What’s the plan at right guard? The Colts lost their starting right guard, Will Fries, to the Vikings in free agency and still don’t have a clear answer as to how they’ll replace them. Indianapolis drafted Iowa State offensive tackle Jalen Travis in the fourth-round, which could indicate the team’s willingness to move 2024 third-round pick Matt Goncalves inside from tackle to guard.
Goncalves started eight games combined last year at both tackle spots, but Brugler mentioned in his draft analysis last year that Goncalves could potentially be better at guard. After being coy for months on what could happen at right guard, Ballard finally cracked the door for Goncalves to possibly make a position change. However, nothing has been finalized.
“We like Goncalves, and he ended up playing pretty good football for us. We think he’s got a really bright future,” Ballard said Friday. “Whether it’s at tackle or guard, we’ll see.
But we’ll have a good offensive line when we start the season.” Remaining needs The Colts didn’t draft a linebacker until the seventh round ..
. kind of. Indianapolis selected Wisconsin safety Hunter Wohler with the No.
232 pick, with the intentions of converting him to linebacker. But is that enough? Last year’s starting weakside linebacker E.J.
Speed joined the Texans in free agency. It was expected that Indianapolis would move on from Speed since he struggled in pass coverage last year, but with each round that passed, it appeared the Colts were content with handing the keys to 2024 fifth-round pick Jaylon Carlies for the starting weakside linebacker job. Carlies showed some promise last year as he transitioned from playing safety at Missouri to playing linebacker in the NFL.
However, he missed seven games due to fibula and shoulder injuries, and he underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. Perhaps Wohler will have a chance to contend for the starting job, but as a seventh-round pick, that seems like a long shot. Advertisement The Colts also lost another linebacker and core special teamer Grant Stuard to the Lions in free agency.
As it stands now, Franklin is the only proven starting-caliber linebacker on the roster, and there’s not much depth behind him. Indianapolis is also thin at safety and needs to bring in another kicker to compete with second-year pro Spencer Shrader, who only attempted (and made) five field goals last year. None of those attempts came from 50-plus yards away.
Post-draft outlook Now that the draft is over, the Colts’ QB competition regains its spot as the team’s top offseason storyline. The 2025 campaign will hinge on Richardson and Jones, and both quarterbacks have had their struggles. Richardson had a 47.
7 percent completion rate in 2024, which was the lowest mark in the NFL. Jones went 2-8 as the Giants’ starter last year before being benched and released. He joined the Vikings for the rest of the season and signed with Indianapolis in free agency for a shot to start again.
Indianapolis has not made the playoffs since 2020 or won a playoff game since 2018. If that is going to change in 2025, then Richardson or Jones will have to take massive steps forward. This year is very likely a make-or-break year for Richardson, who was the Colts’ highest-drafted QB since Andrew Luck in 2012.
“You’ve just got to let things play out the way they should and compete. Who gives the team the best chance to win?” Ballard asked rhetorically before the draft. “If I’m a betting man, I mean at some point, both of them will help us.
” (Photo of Tyler Warren: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images).
