Following an impressive rookie season, all eyes were on Tyler Warren ahead of year two. The talented tight end was one of the brightest spots in the Indianapolis Colts' roller coaster of a season, and he drew rave reviews in training camp.
Shortly after dominating the New England Patriots in joint practices, the Colts shut him down for the remainder of training camp with groin and abductor injuries, but he was always expected to be ready for the start of the season.
Notably, that might be the only thing that would justify his slow start to his second campaign. Thus far, he hasn't been the game-wrecking YAC machine Colts beat writers advertised, and he hasn't even been the team's primary pass catcher.
The Indianapolis Colts need more from Tyler Warren
Through the first three games of the season, Warren has hauled in a grand total of 18 receptions on 22 targets for 89 yards and a couple of scores. That's not necessarily bad, and the efficiency has been remarkable, but it hasn't been as impressive as we all hoped.
The craziest part is that, while he's not breaking loose for big gains (he's averaging roughly 4.0 yards per target and 4.4 yards after the catch), he's been a problem-solver for Daniel Jones; one-third of his catches have either gone for a score or a first down.
Maybe it's a scheming problem, or maybe defenses are trying to keep him off the second level, but the Colts need much more from him than just being a short-and-intermediate-route guy; that's what Keenan Allen is there for.
The Colts will be without Alec Pierce for the long run, and not having their big-play specialist out there will inevitably have a ripple effect on the passing game. Defenses can shorten the field, play closer to the line of scrimmage, and focus on holding down Jonathan Taylor with a 'bend, don't break' approach.
While Daniel Jones is slowly but steadily getting into a rhythm and doesn't need to rely on the big play to stay ahead of the sticks, that can also make this offense somewhat predictable and vanilla. That's where Warren should come in handy.
There was all that buzz coming out of training camp about how he was catching everything near him and dominating in contested-catch situations. The catch percentage has been high in those three games, but they haven't really put him to the test to let him showcase his ball-winning skills.
Even with a healthy Pierce, one might argue that Warren is the Colts' best weapon in the passing game, and he should be used as such. Otherwise, Shane Steichen is just driving a Ferrari at 20 mph.
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