Since Jack Doyle retired, the Indianapolis Colts have sorely missed the skills of a blocking tight end.
During his tenure with the team, Doyle was one of the premier blockers in the league. It’s fair to say that the team could have efforts like those during the 2022 season.
The offensive line struggled to create ample running lanes, and pass blocking also dived. The unit finished the season in the middle of the pack, a far cry from the elite line it was in seasons past. An extra effective blocker, such as a tight end, might have eased the load.
Unfortunately, that option was not on the roster this season, either. Blocking is not something that any current Colts tight end outwardly excels at. That’s why it made sense that the team signed Pharaoh Brown this week.
Brown’s offensive production doesn’t leap off the page, but he has experience being utilized as a lead blocker. His signing could take the pressure off the Colts to find a blocking tight end in the later rounds of the draft.
However, it does bring up an intriguing question: would the team still draft a tight end anyways?
Possibly.
The team doesn’t know what it has in Andrew Ogletree after he went down with a season-ending injury during training camp. The same can be said about Jelani Woods, who showed much promise but was underutilized.
Finally, though the team believes in Mo Alie-Cox, a report earlier this season suggested that Alie-Cox could be traded in favor of leaning on other talents.
If the team decides a different tight end is needed, this year’s class is deep with plenty of options.
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