In this weekly series, we’ll look at 3 draft prospects who would be great fits for the Colts in any round.
We’re back for another season of the “3 prospects to watch for” series. This season, every position will be evaluated as the Colts can justify using a high draft pick on pretty much any spot on the team. Here are the three candidates for this week’s series:
Tyler Warren — Tight End — Penn State
Warren has been the most discussed prospect for the Colts over the last two months and for good reason. Warren is one of the few prospects that looks like a man amongst boys. Every year, there’s always a couple of non-quarterbacks who look like they should already be playing in the NFL and Warren is one of them.
Warren is a versatile tight end, who is a good in-line blocker, can put out in space and no matter what Penn State loves to find ways to get the ball in his hand. Penn State will use him as a receiver, as a tight end, they even used him in the backfield as an H-Back and as a wildcat quarterback! They also like to use Warren on screen passes because they believe strongly in his ability to get yards after the catch, a trait not necessarily known with tight ends. To piggy back off that, I believe his best trait is his ability to stay up and break tackles; he is extremely difficult to tackle. He is a physical player and a physical blocker; when he is on the move, he’s looking to run someone over. This is the type of player the Colts desperately need. I personally couldn’t be much higher on Warren and believe he’s in the same class of tight end as Brock Bowers.
The Colts’ biggest need is the tight end spot, which has been a disaster over the past few seasons. Warren fills an immediate need and is truly one of the best players in this draft.
Dillon Gabriel — Quarterback — Oregon
There were 2 rookie quarterbacks this season that were heads and shoulders better than the rest and those two were: Jayden Daniels and Box Nix. What did both of them have in common: they were extremely experienced coming out of college. Quarterbacks who have seen early success in recent years were experienced in college, so if we look at experienced quarterbacks, the list starts with Dillon Gabriel who has amassed over 2000 passing attempts in his long college career. To put that in perspective, 2000 pass attempts is around 750 more pass attempts than Anthony Richardson has in his entire football career (high school to NFL). Experience is important as the jump to the NFL isn’t as steep for experienced quarterbacks and they can have an impact early on in their careers because of it
Gabriel is the opposite of Richardson in my my ways; he’s not big nor does he have a strong arm. He doesn’t like to push the ball down the field and usually tends to be safe or overly protective with the ball (hence his very high TD to INT ratio). He is, however, accurate with his passes, calm and collected in and around the pocket and productive against all types of defenses. He is also a more than capable runner when he needs to be. He is likely to be system dependent in the NFL, particular one that relies on short to intermediate timing passes like a West Coast offense.
Dillon Gabriel almost certainly won’t be a star in the NFL due to his physical restrictions, his conservative style of play and his scheme limitations, but he could serve to be a very valuable backup for the Colts, and I feel he would be a good fit in Steichen’s offense. Joe Flacco thrived as a backup due to his willingness to hit the layups, and Gabriel can definitely do that.
He should be available to be taken early in Day 3.
Josh Simmons — Offensive Tackle — Ohio State
Josh Simmons is a well built offensive player with experience at left and right tackle. With questions surrounding the future of Braden Smith and Bernhard Raimann’s contract extension looming, the Colts might need to find some backup or longterm options at offensive tackle. They took a couple of swing at some depth guys over the past few years, but they might need someone to replace Smith as of next season.
Cue Josh Simmons, who has a beautiful blend of power and athleticism. He is quick out of his stance and packs a punch when he’s initializing blocks. He has quick feet as well and can stay with linebackers in space. While an injury cut his 2024 season, he still showed enough good play on film to warrant a high draft pick. He isn’t as polished as a Kelvin Banks or Will Campbell, but he sure has the same upside and if paired with the right offensive system and coaches, he could be an All Pro as his ceiling is close to that of Trent Williams’. It is rare to see a big powerful athlete like him with such quick feet. He isn’t a finished product, but he’s far from raw
Simmons projects to be taken in the late 1st or 2nd round, so while it would be too early for the Colts to take him at 14, if they trade down he could certainly be an option or the front office would have to hope he drops a bit and is available in the middle portion of the 2nd round. It might be too much to ask for him to drop, but you never know.
