The Colts clearly got their guy with the 14th overall pick—who surprisingly slid, and the rest will be history!
Longtime Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard indicated that after having prized Penn State Tyler Warren surprisingly fall into their laps with the 14th overall pick, that it’s the best he’s felt about calling in a card since selecting 5x NFL All-Pro Quenton Nelson back with the 6th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft:
“I’ll tell you this, the last time I felt that good about pulling a pick, and I’ve felt good about all of them, but (it) was Quenton [Nelson],” said Ballard in his post-Day 1 of the NFL Draft press conference, when meeting with members of the media.
“It was just an (easy pick). It was easy. It was easy. There wasn’t a lot of discussion.”
Despite the potential uncertainty that Warren would slide to the Colts near midway through the first round, the thought of trading up never actually crossed Ballard’s mind:
“Nope, nope, nope,” said Colts general manager Chris Ballard on whether he looked to get closer to within the Top 10 to safely land Warren. “Had a good feeling.”
“We work really hard at this to kind of figure out team needs. Our pro scouts do an unbelievable job of ‘Alright, here’s what they need.’ No, felt good about it.”
On Warren himself, Ballard offered some initial high praise for one of the top tight end prospects in this year’s class—and one of the most complete players at his position to come out in recent draft memory:
“He can do a lot,” added Ballard after Day 1. “He can play multiple spots. He’s got the quarterback background. He can play in the backfield. He’s a great 50-50 ball catcher. And after the catch, he’s violent after the catch. I mean he brings an element of toughness that I think we needed to add offensively.”
“. . . You can do a lot with him. He’s excellent inside the 10 and 5 (yard line) because of the things you can do with him. Not only throwing him the football, but running the football. That’s going to be an added advantage for our offense to think what Shane (Steichen) can do with him.”
In addition to his obvious fundamental football skill-set, Ballard was really impressed with his football IQ which was showcased as part of his positional versatility last year—with the ability to line up all over the field for the Nittany Lions last year:
“Look, none of them are finished products entering our league. They all have to learn. He’s still got some growth to do. One, it tells you about his football IQ. To be able to go into the slot, lineup at tight end, line up at wide (receiver), lineup at quarterback, line up at fullback. I mean they put a lot on that kid’s plate, and he handled it mentally, so that tells you he’s going to be able to handle a high volume on Sunday of whatever we ask him to do.”
The Colts clearly got their guy, as Ballard didn’t waste any time calling in the pick donning a big grin on his face. For good reason too, as Warren could be the next great tight end in Colts franchise history for an Indy offense that’s desperately needed one as of late.
