Colts’ Chris Ballard Criticizes Underwhelming Position Group

The Indianapolis Colts concluded 2024 with a lackluster 8-9 record, which isn’t good enough to instill confidence in the franchise’s future. Once the dust settled after the Week 18 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Colts general manager Chris Ballard spoke at his end-of-season presser for the local media.

Over about an hour, Ballard touched on nearly everything in the headlines regarding the Colts’ up-and-down 2024 season. However, one interesting area was his evaluation of the tight end group, which struggled mightily to be a receiving threat.

Ballard broke down the tight end group: “We didn’t get enough production from them. I will say this, they did a very good job blocking in the run game.” Ballard continued, “They’re excellent blockers, but our inability to control the middle of the field, which we’ve got to be able to do, I’ve got to be able to give Shane (Steichen) and them a guy that can really control the middle of the field that teams have to account for and defend.”

The tight end room consisted of Mo Alie-Cox, Kylen Granson, Drew Ogletree, and Will Mallory, but none excelled in any way as a receiver. Below are the receiving marks from each, along with the games played:

Mo Alie-Cox | 17 games – 12 catches – 147 receiving yards – 12.3 average – 1 Touchdown

Kylen Granson | 17 games – 14 catches – 182 receiving yards – 13.0 average – 0 Touchdowns

Drew Ogletree | 17 games – Nine catches – 109 receiving yards – 12.1 average – 1 Touchdown

Will Mallory | 10 games – Four catches – 29 receiving yards – 7.3 average – 0 Touchdowns

Indy’s four tight ends massed 39 catches for 467 receiving yards (12.0 average) and two touchdowns. Ballard acknowledging that Indy needs to get a tight end that can control the middle of the field is a good sign, especially given the injury setbacks of the 2022 draft pick Jelani Woods.

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Dynamic NFL offenses have solid pass-catching tight ends. Teams like the Buffalo Bills (Dalton Kincaid), Kansas City Chiefs (Travis Kelce), Baltimore Ravens (Mark Andrews), and Philadelphia Eagles (Dallas Goedert) use these weapons to elevate the entire offensive approach, helping set up the other pass-catchers and the running attack.

Indianapolis has nearly no resemblance of this on the roster outside of (possibly) the heavily injured Woods, but nobody can be confident in the former third-round selection due to missing two straight seasons (2023-2024). This situation, paired with Ballard’s evaluation of the tight ends, points to the Colts trying to draft a tight end in a little over three months.

Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr., Penn State’s Tyler Warren, and Michigan’s Colston Loveland are arguably the top three tight end candidates heading into the NFL draft, so fully expect Ballard, Shane Steichen, and the Colts’ front office to do whatever necessary to get Anthony Richardson the sure thing at the position for the future.

Discovering elite talent like Kelce, Andrews, and Goedert at tight end is difficult, as a player Brock Bowers (Las Vegas Raiders) doesn’t grow on trees. Indy can’t go another full season with four tight ends falling under 40 catches as a group; that isn’t helping the development of Richardson.

The Colts have plenty of time to look into the tight end options in the upcoming draft and free agency, so we’ll see what the organization wants to do for a spot on the roster that was invisible outside of blocking assignments. In the modern NFL, a tight end must be more to be a true offensive weapon.

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