As the Indianapolis Colts get closer to the 2025 NFL Draft, it has been widely assumed that they will be choosing a tight end with their first round pick. The two candidates most often considered as top candidates for the Colts are Michigan's Colston Loveland and Penn State's Tyler Warren, both of whom would be excellent additions to the Colts roster. Warren is considered the best pick for the Colts, but there is no shortage of interest in the star TE, which means he might not make it to the 14th pick. But if he does, it would certainly be a a huge win for Indianapolis.
Yet for one NFL analyst, drafting Warren is somehow a "nightmare scenario" for the Colts.
At the 33rd Team, Ian Valentino named nightmare first-round landing spots for a handful of teams, which included Indianapolis. It's full of burning hot takes, including that drafting Warren would somehow be a bad thing for Indianapolis. According to Valentino, drafting Warren could be a poor strategic decision, as he believes their needs at defense are greater.
"Warren is an exciting athlete who would help Anthony Richardson, but would Richardson utilize him enough to justify taking Warren here? Loveland has a more traditional game where he doesn't need schemed touches to move the chains. At least the argument that the Michigan product would stabilize the Colts' offense on third downs has more functional reasoning to it.Ian Valentino
The Colts also need to weigh the importance of finding a future starting player and an immediate contributor at defensive tackle or linebacker. With DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart now both 31 years old, that position calls for some fresh talent. Fortunately, this year’s draft features a strong class of defensive tackles, making it reasonable to choose an impactful prospect at the No. 14 pick."
This, quite frankly, makes no sense. Tyler Warren is such a good fit for the Colts that some have even argued he would be worth trading up for, and the tight end room is currently their most pressing need. As Valentino himself noted, the entire unit had just 39 receptions last season, and the Colts haven't had a tight end break 500 yards since 2018. Warren would be a great fit for Anthony Richardson, as he can block and catch, and however Penn State used him, he excelled. There's no world in which Warren would be anything but helpful in the Colts offense, unless he turns out to be one of the biggest draft busts of all time.
Tyler Warren is the best tight end in this year's draft class, far and away, and it takes some serious mental gymnastics to claim landing him would somehow be a "nightmare" scenario for the Colts. Yes, the Colts defense needs work, but it's not as high of a priority as the tight end room - and Indianapolis has also put in considerable effort in the offseason already to improve their defense. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was fired and Lou Anarumo brought in as his replacement, and Chris Ballard also nabbed several big names for the defense in free agency, most notably Cam Bynum and Charvarius Ward. The defense does still need some work, and the draft will definitely help with that, but it's not so urgent a need that picking Tyler Warren in the first round could be anything other than a huge success.