What Warren did was join Indy as the No. 14 overall pick in the 2025 draft and subsequently make the Pro Bowl on the strength of 76 receptions for 817 yards and four touchdowns, as well as a second on the ground. His 817 yards set a franchise rookie record by a tight end and marked the most by a Colt at the position since Dallas Clark’s 2009 campaign.
Perhaps more impressively, he was a big difference from the get-go – and in countless lineups.
Warren had 70 or more receiving yards in three of his first four games as a pro, and in Weeks 4-7 he had a four-game hitting streak. He still spent the majority of his time at the line (466 snaps, per PFF), but he also played 384 combined snaps at wideout, taking 60 snaps at quarterback and three at fullback.
“You saw it at Penn State, he’s very instinctive, he’s very smart,” Ballard said of Warren. “I think for any rookie, especially on both sides of the ball but offensively, a tight end that needs to — I think it’s a really tough position because you learn the blocking schemes, the pass schemes, the pass defense, the run game. There’s so much you put on them and his ability — we knew that coming out, that he could’ve handled it well, but we didn’t have a feel for it right now. it.”
The one big knock on Warren’s rookie season is that he lost momentum as the campaign wore on, though that felt more tied to the Colts’ spiral than anything Warren did individually.
Indianapolis emerged as an early surprise Super Bowl favorite, riding an 8-2 start behind running back Daniel Jones and running back Jonathan Taylor. Rigoberto Sanchez didn’t even attempt a point until Week 3.
Then, already on a two-game slide, Jones tore his Achilles in the first quarter of a Week 14 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the floodgates of futility opened for Indy. After failing to reach 20 points just once to that point, the Colts scored in the minors in three of their last five contests (including against the Jags). The retired Philip Rivers couldn’t save them from finishing the season 0-7 after a top-seeded Week 11.
Through 12 games with Jones healthy from start to finish, Warren averaged 4.8 receptions and 57.0 yards. He scored his final touchdown of the season in Week 13. Including Week 14 when Jones went down, Warren averaged 3.6 catches and 26.6 yards over the team’s last five games.
As the Colts look to reset — whether with Jones, a pending free agent or someone else under center — they’re counting on Warren to bounce back and build on the success of his stellar first season.
Despite a lull as the team faltered late in 2025, everything Warren has shown so far suggests he can.