Colts scouts reveal what intrigued them about Kylen Granson

With the start of training camp just a few weeks away, the tight end position remains a polarizing topic of discussion among Indianapolis Colts fans.

Of course, Trey Burton played out his one-year contract and Indy expectedly bypassed re-signing him this offseason. Until the draft, Burton’s departure left Jack Doyle, who’s struggled with injuries and consistency in recent years, and Mo Alie-Cox to battle it out for the starting job.

Luckily, there was a surprise opportunity in store on draft day when the Colts selected Kylen Granson in the fourth round, opening up even more questions about how the snaps will be split.

Like most rookies, Granson has been garnering some offseason buzz following his performance during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. In light of this hype, Colts scouts recently disclosed what drew them to the former wide receiver, and fans will love what they had to say.

Here’s what intrigued Colts scouts about Kylen Granson.

The Colts’ scouting department really provided a full scouting report on Granson. We imagine fans would prefer to hear the good news first, so let’s start there. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say the former SMU star is poised to be a matchup nightmare for Indianapolis.

"“A little bit undersized, but a total mismatch tight end,” said assistant director of college scouting Matt Terpening of Granson’s physical tools. “His main trait that drew him to us was his speed. He’s got big-time speed.“He’s got excellent hands and route feel. He had 15 touchdowns his last two years. He can beat linebackers in coverage and that’s imperative of the ‘F’ tight end position. We may flex that guy out to the slot. He may be against a more athletic safety. He’s got to be able to win on third down and catch the ball, and he can definitely do that.”"

That’s what we like to hear. If Terpening’s praise told us anything, it’s that Granson should play a big role as a rookie as long as he has a solid grasp of the playbook. However, if there’s anything that could prevent the 23-year-old from seeing the field as often as his athleticism would suggest, it’s his struggles in the blocking department.

"“Granson’s main issue with us is probably going to be having his hand down the whole time in a three-point stance and learning to block a little bit better,” Terpening continued. “Now, he tries hard. He plays some fullback, some H-back, played some receiver, plays all these different spots, but that’s going to be his biggest hurdle, trying to learn how we want our tight ends to block.”"

Granson’s hands were also a concern heading into the draft — he recorded two drops in a blowout loss vs Cincinnati last season — but the former Mustang quelled all that speculation with a strong showing at the Senior Bowl and during pre-draft meetings with the Colts.

We normally refrain from buying into hype about rookies, but that’s irrelevant when it comes to the Colts, who might have the best front office in the league as far as evaluating elite college performers and projecting their success (or lack thereof) at the professional level.

In other words, get excited about Granson, because he could end up being another mid-round steal for general manger Chris Ballard and Co. down the road.

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