Indianapolis Colts’ general manager Chris Ballard was pretty straight forward in his assessment of the production that the offense got from the passing game this season.
“We didn’t get enough production from them,” Ballard said on Friday.
Leading this Colts’ team in 2024 in receiving yards at the tight end position was Kylen Granson, with just 182 yards on 14 receptions.
For some context around the lack of production, if we combined the receiving yards of all four of the Colts’ tight ends, the unit hauled 467 yards this season. Compared to the rest of the NFL, there were 25 individual tight ends–not entire tight end units–who had more receiving yards than the Colts entire group.
Now, the blocking element is an important part of playing tight end and Ballard did acknowledge that the Colts’ tight ends were “excellent” in that regard. However, the lack of production in the passing game really limits the offense, especially for an offense under Shane Steichen that utilizes two tight end sets as often as Indianapolis does.
Having what were essentially non-factors in the passing game puts the offense in a difficult spot. With opposing defenses not all that worried about the one or two tight ends in the passing game, there isn’t any additional attention or that position group isn’t dictating what the defense does coverage-wise.
It almost creates a numbers disadvantage for the offense with the defense not worried about the ball going to that player.
“Our inability to control the middle of the field,” added Ballard, “which we’ve gotta be able to do, I’ve got to be able to give Shane [Steichen] and them a guy that can really control the middle of the field, that teams have to account for and defend.”
On the flip side, a tight end who can impact the passing game can be a matchup problem that not only creates opportunities for himself but potentially others with the attention he draws.
In addition to that, a well-rounded tight end who can impact both the run and passing games adds a layer of unpredictability to the offense. With a tight end who can block, catch, and move around the formation, it becomes more difficult for the defense to decipher what’s coming just based on who is in the game or where that player is lined up because there is a do-it-all aspect to the skill-set.
Ballard stressed the need for more competition throughout the roster and how he failed to do that in 2024. That, coupled with the production from 2024 at tight end, along with Mo Alie-Cox and Kylen Granson both set to be free agents, and the tight end position is one that we could see get a lot of attention this offseason.