The Indianapolis Colts completely annihilated the Miami Dolphins 33-8 in their season opener, with major credit going to Daniel Jones for his stellar Colts debut.
But rookie tight end Tyler Warren also turned heads. In his first NFL game, Warren caught a team-leading seven passes for 76 yards. That’s a level of receiving volume the Colts have not seen in a long time.
The most catches by a Colts tight end last season was 4 by Mo Alie-Cox in a Week 6 win over the Titans. Prior to that, the last time Indianapolis had a tight end catch at least seven passes in a game was in 2022 by then-rookie Jelani Woods, who had 98 yards on eight receptions against the Steelers in Week 12. Woods would only play five more games for the Colts before missing back-to-back seasons with hamstring and toe injuries and was cut by the team on roster deadline day in 2025.
Tyler Warren pro debut:
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) September 7, 2025
- 7 receptions on 9 targets
- 76 receiving yards (10.9 avg)
- 1 rush for 3 yards (from fullback)
- 5 first down gains
📸: @Colts pic.twitter.com/zlgHTzEMuN
The Colts didn’t get nearly enough out of Woods after that performance as they hoped, but Warren achieving such high volume in his first regular season game is a massive reason for optimism. Clearly, they’ve found themselves a special player.
If Warren can keep this momentum up, then the Colts have undoubtedly found themselves not just a game-changer at the tight end position, but also a franchise cornerstone.