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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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Snow lovers were out and about Friday evening to enjoy the snow while running errands.

It was no surprise that the few people willing to brave the storm would stop to talk about how they actually love the snow.

It’s no surprise that the few people willing to stand outside in the snow to do an interview about the snow actually loved the snow.

Fely Tapia is a travel nurse from Atlanta. She loves getting a chance to experience this winter weather. “We don’t have snow in Atlanta that much, and I’m a cold person. I prefer cold weather.”

Harry Singh was doing a photo shoot outside of a gas station because he loves the snow so much. “(The) last few years we didn’t get that much, but this year is good. We enjoy the snow.”

Keyona Ruth is a snow lover and a ride-share driver. She was out braving the snowy conditions to take passengers around the city during the snow on Friday night. “I actually like it right now. It’s just a little slushy, if they clean the streets a little better it would be a little bit better.”

Despite loving snowy weather, these drivers were not loving the road conditions in Indianapolis.

“It’s a new adventure for me, learning how to drive in the snow. I just approach it in a curious way,” Tapia said. “They did not clean those roads, so it’s hard for my car, even though the car is a little higher, it was hard for the car to drive through.”

The Indianapolis Department of Public Works says its crews were working 12-hour shifts around the clock to keep the roads clear.

Strom Track 8’s meteorologist say the weather will slow down this weekend before chances for snow return Sunday night.

Latest forecast from Storm Track 8 | | Indy Snow Force Map | Indiana travel advisory map

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Colts general manager Chris Ballard had a clear message to the Colts fan base.

He said he understands where the frustration comes from. He doesn’t blame the fans for being mad.

But, he isn’t going to hide.

“I don’t run from the criticism,” Ballard said.

Ballard decided after the 2023 season to run it back with a similar roster in 2024. He regrets that decision now.

“Instead of really creating competition throughout and throwing new blood into the locker room, new players in the locker room, I said you know what? We’re going to run it back,” Ballard said. “That was a mistake.”

“That’s probably the biggest miscalculation I made is you know, my vision since I’ve been here has been to take care of our own guys,” Ballard said.

Ballard said that he did not create enough competition on the roster. He added that there has to be real stress within the locker room.

Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner brought up issues with complacency and ego, specifically within the defense. Ballard said that Buckner was right about those things.

“Ultimately, what I’ve done is created an atmosphere that wasn’t competitive enough,” Ballard said.

Ballard said there was an entitlement among the players that returned. Ballard noted they deserved to be back, but there’s also an expectation and a standard that needs to be upheld.

At the quarterback position, Ballard said they will be bringing in competition. He gave two reasons for that, saying competition makes everybody better and that Anthony Richardson has not proven that he can play 17 games.

He did give any details on where they would be looking though.

“We’ll bring who we think is the best guy we can bring in,” Ballard said.

He also went into more depth on why Richardson was benched in the middle of the season. He said Richardson was “drowning.”

“I thought he needed to take a step back and breathe a little bit,” Ballard said.

Ballard said they had a meeting with leadership, which Richardson was a part of. The meeting was about an hour and a half long, and there were honest conversations about where they were and what they needed to do. Ballard noted that the players let it be known what the expectations were for Richardson.

As for Colts owner Jim Irsay’s message to Ballard, it was clear: “fix it.”

Ballard said that Irsay said that he needs to get it going back in the right direction, and they need to win.

Ballard was clear that he is still confident in his abilities as a general manager. He was also clear about where he thinks the Colts are right now.

“Right now, we’re not close, Ballard said. “I’m going to make this really clear. Close is losing on the last play of the Super Bowl. That’s close. Going 8-9, that’s not close.”

Ballard has been the general manager for the Colts for eight seasons. In those eight years, the Colts have never won the AFC South. The other three teams in the division have all won the division multiple times. He has two playoff appearances and just one playoff win.

Colts owner Jim Irsay decided to keep Ballard around for a ninth season, writing on a post to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday that he believes in Ballard and the collective ability to make improvements for the 2025 season.

The Colts missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year in 2024, the longest drought in 30 years for the franchise.

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