Colts Training Camp Battles: Backup TE

The Colts may have added Tyler Warren as the clear new top Tight End, but the fight to be his top backup promises to be intense amongst the returning 2024 Colts Tight Ends.

Backup Tight Ends: Mo Alie-Cox VS Andrew Ogletree VS Jelani Woods VS Will Mallory VS Albert Okwuegbunam

Perhaps the most intense camp battle for a backup spot will be the 5 way battle royale to be Tyler Warren’s backup at Tight End. The 2024 TE room left a lot to be desired, and the entire room returns outside of Kylen Granson. The Colts will likely keep 4 Tight Ends max, so at least 2 of these players will not make the roster.

Mo Alie-Cox and Andrew Ogletree are the safest bets to keep their spots after being the top 2 Tight Ends last season, each playing over 40% of the offensive snaps in 2024.

While neither will have anywhere near the same role now that Warren is on the team, both will be frontrunners for the TE2 job, with their blocking prowesses helping out the run game in more heavy personnel groupings.

Ogletree was listed as the 3rd best run blocking TE in the NFL last season by PFF, and Mo Alie-Cox has long held a spot on the team as their power blocker.

For the other remaining spot, the Colts would like a Tight End with more receiving prowess should something happen to Warren’s availability.

Jelani Woods flashed some talent in this area as a rookie with freakish athleticism and size, but that was in 2022 and he has not played an NFL game since due to major injuries over the last 2 seasons, most concerning of which being both of his hamstrings.

As he enters the final year of his rookie contract with a very small sample size and major durability questions, his spot is far from a guarantee.

Will Mallory has been their reserve receiving Tight End for the last 2 years and has been in a low volume role during that time. He has just 30 career targets, showing some fast speed as a big slot on most of his snaps while also not having a drop in his NFL career.

However Mallory’s blocking leaves a lot to be desired to put it lightly and he has struggled in contested situations.

The other newcomer to the Colts Tight End Room is Albert Okwuegbunam, a 5th year player who at one point was the starting Tight End for the Denver Broncos. The former 4th round pick shot up draft boards with his 2020 combine performans where he ran the 40 in 4.49 seconds at 258 lbs.

In his first 2 seasons he had 55 targets for 44 receptions, 451 yards, and 3 TDs with 6 starts, showing some promise as a receiving Tight End despite porous QB play and 2 major injuries: a Week 9 ACL tear as a rookie that ended his season midway, and a hamstring injury in October of 2021 that caused him to miss 3 games.

But in 2022 Albert Okwuegbunam was replaced by Greg Dulcich in the starting lineup. He went to the Eagles for the 2023 season but suffered a core muscle injury that placed him on IR and eventually led to his release by the team in 2024. The Colts signed Okwuegbunam to the practice squad last December, and have kept him on a futures contract.

Pre Camp Favorite: Andrew Ogletree

Ogletree’s rapid development as a blocker over the last 2 years along with his prior experience as a Wide Receiver at Youngstown State in College could give him the edge over the rest of the Tight End room. He was the TE2 last season behind Mo Alie Cox in snap counts, but the difference was only 3.3% of snaps. Should he continue to develop further as a blocker while flashing some of his receiver roots, the top spot behind Warren isn’t a big stretch of the imagination.