With Michael Pittman now on the Pittsburgh Steelers, how will the Indianapolis Colts make up for his lost production this season?
Pittman led the team in targets with 110, and he was first in receptions with 80 and totaled 784 receiving yards with a team-high seven touchdowns, per PFF.
Pittman’s departure has created a competition on the Colts’ roster for the WR3 role. Likely in the mix for this playing time will be Ashton Dulin, Laquon Treadwell, Deion Burks, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
However, replacing Pittman’s production won’t only fall on the shoulders of one of those players. It’s going to be a group effort, and that includes tight end Tyler Warren.
“He does a lot obviously as a player,” Warren said of Pittman recently. “He’s a great teammate and can do a lot in the run game and the pass game as a receiver. So being a tight end, that’s kind of similar to what we do. So there certainly will be things he did last year that I might have the opportunity to do and that really is kind of across the table with all the receivers and ball carriers just being able to do some of that stuff that he was doing.”
Warren already was a key factor in the Colts’ offense as a rookie, which included him hauling in 76 receptions for 817 yards with four touchdowns.
But where his role could expand in Pittman’s absence is in the variety of routes he’s asked to run as well as what’s asked of him in the red zone, where Pittman was a go-to target.
At wide receiver, the weekly matchups and in-game situations could dictate who sees more playing time at that WR3 position, while Alec Pierce and Josh Downs will also factor into this equation, not only with more opportunities coming their way, but in how they are utilized within the offense.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: What Michael Pittman’s departure means for Colts’ TE Tyler Warren
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Bretl, Colts Wire | USA TODAY Network
