Colts Coach Frank Reich Has Big Plans for Eric Ebron
By Andrew Ites
New Colts head coach Frank Reich loves to feature the tight ends in his offense, and he’s excited in what he has in Eric Ebron.
It was a disappointing free agency period for the Colts as they entered the offseason with $80 million in cap space, and one of their premier signings ended up being Eric Ebron.
Ebron has been a solid tight end during his four years in the NFL, but he’s only topped 575 receiving yards once in his career which is a disappointment for someone who was taken 10th overall in the 2014 draft.
The Colts signed Ebron to a two-year $13 million deal in an attempt to bring in an athletic weapon at the tight end position for Frank Reich’s offensive scheme.
Reich detailed how he he expects to use Ebron in an interview with the Indianapolis Star.
"“There is a lot of man coverage in this league — the league is going more and more man coverage — so, now you put an elite tight end on the backside, it’s like clearing it out for LeBron (James), or something, in basketball. Just get everybody on one side of the court and get this guy one-on-one. Well, that’s the analogy here. So, in football, get all the receivers on one side, get the back on the other side, and then just put the tight end back here and see what (the defense) does. And some teams will double him. And then (if) you get a linebacker, you get a safety, and if you get a tight end like Ebron — and even when they have a corner on him, you feel like it’s still a winning matchup, because of his size and catch radius,” said Frank Reich."
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Eagles tight end Zach Ertz had a career year in Frank Reich’s offense last season as he racked up 824 receiving yards on 74 receptions with 8 touchdowns. Colts fans can expect Ebron to be featured in a similar role in Indianapolis this season.
Philadelphia liked to target the tight end position a lot last year as they had two other tight ends combine for over 300 yards receiving.
Jack Doyle is still the best tight end on the roster, but Colts fans should probably think of Ebron as a big wide receiver as he has never been a very good blocker. Ebron’s talent always creates a lot of offseason hype, but we’ll have to wait and see if his production can match the hype in 2018.