ROOKIE TIGHT END TYLER WARREN IS STARTING TO FIND HIS FIT AT INDIANAPOLIS COLTS TRAINING CAMP
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyler Warren still appreciates the blue-and-white team colors.
Everything else has changed — his number, the shade of blue he wears, even his new decals-laden helmet.
This is what happens when the best tight end in college football turns pro. Warren, Penn State’s most versatile player in 2024, now finds himself on a steep, speedy and increasingly steady learning curve at training camp with the Indianapolis Colts.
“I think it’s been kind of normal installing and learning the offense, just taking your time and trying to understand it,” he said after just a couple of workouts. “It does take stuff (to do) on my own, right? We go through it in the meeting, but when I go back to the hotel room looking over it again, doing walk-throughs with somebody is, I think, is the most helpful.”
Starting over isn’t easy for anyone, though Warren seems uniquely suited to make a smoot transition.
He played center and quarterback as a prep star in Virginia. He played fullback at Penn State before moving to tight end. Then last season the Nittany Lion coaches threw out the vanilla playbook and tailored it to Warren’s unusual skill set.
It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do.
Warren set a single-season school record with 104 receptions, topped the 1,000-yard mark, emerged as a short-yardage rushing beast and became the first Big Ten tight end to rush for four scores in one season since 1956. He even threw a TD pass and returned a kickoff.
The resume was so impressive, he earned the John Mackey Award and All-American honors, helped Penn State reach the CFP Playoffs all while improving his draft stock.
Indy took him No. 14 overall in the draft and it hasn’t taken long for Warren to showcase his skills in camp, including Thursday night when he made an off-balance, one-handed stab while falling down for a first down. The play drew a loud roar from the crowd and praise from coach Shane Steichen.
“It was an incredible catch,” Steichen said. “But I did get some backlash because some of the guys thought it was a sack and it might have been. I’ll take that back. It probably, definitely was, but I was watching the route. It was a heck of a catch, and you saw that on his college tape.”
It’s a major improvement from Warren’s first few practices when he struggled to hold onto the passes thrown by Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, who are battling to be the Colts starting quarterback.
Indy has plenty of depth with seven tight ends on the roster and five with NFL experience, but they’ve not had a reliable go-to player at the position since two-time Pro Bowler Jack Doyle retired following the 2021 season.
Just how much do the Colts think of Warren?
Because linebacker and four-time captain Zaire Franklin, last year’s league tackling leader, wears Warren’s college number, 44, they gave him No. 84, Doyle’s old number, and started experimenting with the playbook — just like the Penn State staff.
“We’re putting a lot on his plate, and sometimes you push them a little bit beyond their threshold,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “I think he’s going to be a very versatile piece for us. We’re going to try a bunch of different stuff with him, give him a bunch of shots at a bunch of different aspects playing offensive football.”
Now, Warren is starting to figure out exactly where he fits in this offense.
He’s starting to make the explosive and wow plays Colts scouts envisioned after watching him in college. He’s already lined up in the backfield, too, and it’s unclear just what else might have happened behind closed doors. Warren isn’t dropping any hints, either.
Next up is his first big test: At Baltimore, not far from his aptly named hometown of Mechanicsville, Virginia, or the campus in State College, Pennsylvania, where he wore dark blue.
The Colts and Ravens square off Tuesday in a joint practice and again two nights later in royal blue.
Steichen said the coaching staff anticipates determining who plays and how much in the Indy’s preseason opener by Monday, and Warren can’t wait to start showing the NFL his true colors.
“The biggest difference between being a pro compared to college, I mean everybody’s a pro, right? Everybody’s really good and it’s tough competition,” he said. “But that’s a blessing. Great competition is a gift. Being around really good players is only going to make me better.”
COLTS SIGN CB CHRIS LAMMONS, RELEASE CB COREY BALLENTINE
Westfield, Ind. – The Indianapolis Colts today signed free agent cornerback Chris Lammons and released cornerback Corey Ballentine.
Lammons, 5-10, 190 pounds, re-joins the Colts after spending time on the team’s active roster and practice squad last season. He was originally signed by Indianapolis as a free agent on July 27, 2023. Lammons has played in 60 career games (two starts) in his time with the Colts (2023-24), Kansas City Chiefs (2019-22), Miami Dolphins (2018-19), New Orleans Saints (2018) and Atlanta Falcons (2018). He has compiled 32 tackles (19 solo), 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, four passes defensed, one interception, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 12 special teams stops. Lammons has also appeared in three postseason contests and has registered two special teams tackles. In 2024, he saw action in 14 games (one start) and tallied 10 tackles (eight solo), 1.0 tackle for loss, 1.0 sack, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and two special teams stops.
Ballentine, 5-11, 196 pounds, was signed by Indianapolis as an unrestricted free agent on March 14, 2025. He has played in 69 career games (11 starts) in his time with the Colts (2025), Green Bay Packers (2022-24), Arizona Cardinals (2022), Falcons (2022), Detroit Lions (2021), New York Jets (2020-21) and New York Giants (2019-20). Ballentine has registered 77 tackles (57 solo), nine passes defensed, one interception, two forced fumbles and 23 special teams stops. He has compiled 37 kickoff returns for 876 yards (23.7 avg.).
