Chris Ballard said it best Thursday night.
"Sometimes you get a little lucky."
For months, mock drafts around the country had it set; the Colts, with the 14th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, would select tight end Tyler Warren. Done deal. But anything can happen come draft night.
So as the picks started rolling in Thursday night, Warren – sitting on his couch surrounded by friends and family – felt the nerves kick in a little bit. But Ballard, sitting in the Colts' draft room at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, felt good. Really good.
When it came time to pick up the phone, Ballard called just who he hoped he would – and Warren joined the Colts.
"We were patient," Ballard said Thursday night. "Had a good feeling. The last time I felt that good about pulling a pick – and I felt good about all of them – was Quenton (Nelson). It was easy. There wasn't a lot of discussion."
The Colts selected Nelson sixth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft and the guard, now a seven-time Pro Bowler, has proven indispensable to the Colts' offense. The hope, and expectation, is Warren will do the same. And as someone who's somewhat reserved and mild-mannered off the field but plays with violence on the gridiron – just like Nelson – Warren is fully prepared to make that same kind of impact.
When Warren met with the Colts during the NFL Combine in February, he immediately felt a connection to the organization. His private visit with the team only solidified that feeling. The feelings were mutual; Ballard knew early on he had an opportunity to create a relationship with a special athlete.
"It was a team that I really enjoyed the staff and my meeting with them," Warren said Thursday night. "I was really excited. It's a great place to go play football, and I'm excited to work with that program, that organization."
Warren said, in his talks with the Colts, he didn't get a specific idea of how the team intends to use him. So for the 22-year-old, for the time being, his goal is simple: do whatever he needs to do.
"I'm just going to come in and do whatever is asked of me, and do it to the best of my ability," he said. "That's kind of what I try to do as a football player, so whatever that looks like is what I'm going to do."
First and foremost, that means being available.
"It's important as a football player to be able to be on the field as much as you can, help the team out as much as you can," Warren added. "And then as a tight end, it helps the whole offense being able to block and being a threat in the passing game opens up everybody else in the offense and kind of just a scheme in general. So I think that it is really important for a tight end to be able to be on the field for all three downs."
In 56 games (31 starts) over five years at Penn State, Warren totaled 153 receptions for 1,839 yards and 19 touchdowns. In 2024 alone – undeniably his breakout year – the 6-foot-5, 256 pound tight end had 104 receptions for 1,233 yards with eight receiving touchdowns, as well as four rushing touchdowns. He became one of four tight ends in FBS history to have at least 104 receptions in a season, and set a program record with 17 receptions for 244 yards in Penn State's game against USC.
It was that game that solidified in Ballard's mind that this was the guy he wanted to get.
"That was as dominant of a game that you saw from any offensive player in college football this year," Ballard said. "To catch 17 balls on the road at USC, and they know he's getting the ball and they just kept feeding it to him. He's unique. He's a unique player. Really excited to get him."
It's not just Warren's pass-catching that makes him stand out, though. If anything his physicality and aggressive mentality are just as, if not more, appealing – especially because they're just as crucial to his game as scoring touchdowns.
"(Blocking) is just as important as anything else I do," Warren explained. "I think having the right mentality and having violent intentions is part of it, but also understanding technique and angles and aiming points and stuff like that. So I think there's a little bit of both from, you know, playing with an angry mentality but also being smart about it and knowing what you're doing."
"When he gets the ball in his hands, there's some violence to him," Ballard said. "And that aggressive mentality I think is going to benefit him very well."
The Colts might have been a little lucky Thursday night, but what really happened was the culmination of time and hard work from everyone involved. They got their guy, and he's going to fit right in.
"I'm excited to have an opportunity to play in the NFL, and to play for Indianapolis is really cool," Warren said. "That's what my focus is, and I'm just excited to be a Colt."
