The Indianapolis Colts aren’t sure yet who their 2025 starting quarterback will be. But their front office knows they want a safe weapon for either Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones to throw to this year.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard said the team is hoping to land a tight end in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday. But he also acknowledged that landing a tight end that fits what Indy is looking for will not be easy.
“To be able to play on all three downs; to be able to be functional in the run game to where you don’t necessarily know it’s always a pass when he’s in the game, and then to be able to finish and make plays at critical times and have him give the quarterback an option in the middle of the field,” Ballard said, according to Colts.com, of the kind of tight end he’d be looking to pick. “That’s, to me, the hard one to find.”
But it’s not impossible for the Colts to potentially land with their first-round pick, No. 14 overall. Indianapolis has been linked to Penn State tight end Tyler Warren as well as Colston Loveland of Michigan in mock drafts.
Warren had more than 1,200 yards as the Nittany Lions’ top receiving option in 2024, and Loveland is 6-5, 245 pounds and averaged 13.7 yards per catch over his three seasons in Ann Arbor.
Either would be a fit for the Colts at No. 14 — for what it’s worth, Dane Brugler of The Athletic and Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN each have Loveland landing in Indy. But Ballard also acknowledged they don’t necessarily need to reach for either to land a world-class tight end.
“It’s a really good [tight end] class,” Ballard said. “The one thing, if you look at some of the better tight ends in this league, they come from everywhere. (Travis) Kelce was a (third-round pick), (Mark) Andrews was a (third-round pick),, (George) Kittle was a (fifth-round pick), like they come from every – (Brock) Bowers was a (first-round pick) last year. They come from everywhere.”
But Ballard’s hope to land a tight end that can block also shines light on his plans to target an offensive lineman too. Brugler and Kiper also agreed on Indy’s second-round selection, guard Jonah Savaiinaea of Arizona, and Ballard acknowledged he values drafting offensive, and defensive linemen, since each is a hard commodity to pick up later.
“You can never have enough O-line, D-line,” Ballard said. “Over the course of a season – they’re just not hanging out on the street corner. Those guys are very difficult to find.”
The Colts only allowed 32 sacks — the seventh-fewest in football in 2024 — and ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (137.1), a testament to Ballard’s focus on drafting offensive linemen. But they will also have to plug some holes since they lost starting center Ryan Kelly and starting guard Will Fries to the Minnesota Vikings in free agency.
Whoever the Colts take in the first round, and wherever that player is selected, Ballard is sure he will be happy to have him.
“Whether we’re at 14, whether we’re at 10, whether we’re at 25, we will have a player we like that will be good for the Colts that we will take,” Ballard said.
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