Colts Expecting Violent Play Style From Tyler Warren
INDIANAPOLIS – For Chris Ballard, just pop in the USC game to know what Tyler Warren can do.
17 catches, the most ever in the illustrious history of Penn State football.
224 receiving yards, the most ever in the rich history of the entire Big Ten conference.
Down 20-6 at halftime, in the first marquee game of the season, Penn State was about to take quite the air out of their playoff balloon with a loss to 3-2 USC.
But with Warren putting on his Superman cape, not only did he keep Penn State’s dream season alive, he also left quite the impression on the man who ended up taking with him the 14th overall pick.
“That was as dominant a game that you saw from any offensive player in college football this year,” Ballard said after the Colts took 14th overall in the 2025 Draft. “To catch 17 balls on the road at USC. They know he’s getting the ball, and they just kept feeding it to him.
“He’s unique. I mean, he’s a unique player.”
The overtime victory for Warren and the Nittany Lions was massive in their eventual push to the Big Ten Championship Game.
For Warren, the game brings up a different memory.
“Yeah, the numbers were pretty good in that game, but honestly, my favorite thing about that game was I never had a game-winning field goal like that where you get to storm the field,” Warren, sounding like a true college kid, says. “In overtime, we got to kick the field goal to win it. So that was honestly my favorite part that I got out of that game, because I never had gotten to do that in my football career.
“It was my last college season, so to do that was really cool.”
Penn State fans would argue Warren did a lot of cool things in compiling arguably the greatest college tight end season the game has seen in more than 40 years.
As Warren was routinely mocked in the top-10 of drafts leading into late April, the Colts still wanted to do a little more homework on him.
Eventually, Ballard would call Warren the cleanest prospect he’s selected with the Colts since Quenton Nelson (No. 6th overall) in 2018.
But the Colts still brought Warren in for a top-30 visit, (each team gets to host 30 draft prospects at their own facility during the process).
The thought is to delve even deeper into the character/makeup of these players.
For Warren, it seemed a tad odd, given the fact that none of the other 31 teams asked him to visit on a top-30.
Clearly, that long 1-on-1 sit-down with Ballard left a strong final impression.
“Just the overall vibes I got from them really kind of just gelled quick,” Warren says of his draft connection the Colts. “I remember my formal (interview) at the Combine, just kind of got in, got straight to work, started going over install with them. Then my (top) 30 visit, it was never kind of uncomfortable being here. I was always comfortable meeting new people and just getting right to it, talking about life, football (and) all that stuff.
“So, I’ve enjoyed being here and getting to know everybody. I’m really looking forward to really get into it and start being a part of the team again.”
That will come this weekend when the Colts begin their rookie minicamp.
Coming from a family of athletes, Warren was actually a quarterback in high school before transitioning to tight end at the collegiate level.
While No. 44 won’t follow Warren to the NFL, the roots of it comes from his dad’s desire to instill some rugged running style into his son.
John Riggins was Terry Warren’s favorite player growing up, and that had dad dialing up some YouTube highlights to show his son how he wanted him to run.
One of the most impressive aspects to Warren’s historic final season at Penn State came from his ability to make plays after the catch.
The style is more bully-like, versus make you miss via speed.
And if you need any more evidence, the Colts GM has already told you the game to turn on.
“When he gets the ball in his hands, man, there’s some violence now that he’s going to deliver to the defender, especially at the second level,” Ballard says.
“That aggressive mentality, I think is going to benefit him very well.”