Colts Camp-TE Battles Part 1

Jack Doyle & Eric Ebron Edition

(Indianapolis)- When Frank Reich arrived last season, not too many people knew what to expect from Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator. The man who wasn’t even in Chris Ballard’s top five coaching candidates proceeded to exceed expectations across the board. Exceeding expectations may even be an understatement, but what made the offense so much more successful this season?

It doesn’t take an NFL analyst to recognize a key component of Reich’s offense: he loves him some tight ends. More specifically, he loves lining up in two tight ends sets. In Part 1 of 2 for TE’s, I’ll analyze the two Colts TE’s at the top of the depth chart who I consider 1A and 1B.

Going back to his 2017 Super Bowl Champion Eagles roster, they carried three tight ends that all carried a role in bringing a title to Philly: Zach Ertz, Trey Burton, and Brent Celek. Each of them played a part in their Super Bowl victory whether it was Celek’s blocking contributions, Ertz’s pro-Bowl receiving abilities, or Burton catching the famous Philly special TD.

When you look at what role those players had, the comparisons and similarities start to flood in for this Colts team. They laid out the blueprint for Reich’s offense in the 2018 season and should continue in 2019.

Jack Doyle is entering his seventh season in the National Football League. I often refer to him as Pro-Bowl TE since he was selected to the league’s all-star game after the 2017 season. In the league of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately, that season may as well been ten seasons ago.

Unfortunately, Doyle has battled through several injuries which have been his only downside as of late. He’s currently not practicing while dealing with an oblique injury. Besides the injury concerns, he’s the ultimate package for a tight end. When he was placed on IR last season a void was left in the offense.

Two different tight ends had to step up for the loss of one player. One was Ryan Hewitt playing the role of a modern day fullback/lead blocker. They even sprinkled in some Spider2YBanana made famous in Gruden’s QB Camp before Luck was drafted (see Hewitt’s lone catch during Week 17 for an example). A nicked up Erik Swoope had to step up in the receiving department. Even then, neither player executed at the level that Doyle did. That’s when I realized he basically was those two players combined and that speaks volumes to the valued versatility he brings to the team.

Doyle has everything you want in a tight end: excellent blocker, reliable hands, and an ability to create separation. It’s crazy that the Titans cut Doyle the same season they used a 6th round pick on him in 2013. Tennessee hoped to sneak the Cathedral alumni through waivers in order to sign him to their practice squad, but the Colts claimed him before they could do so.

The native Hoosier has remained on the team ever since with great results emerging as Andrew Luck’s security blanket. Luck missed him more than ever against Kansas City in the playoffs. Nobody seemed to get any separation against what was labeled a terrible Chief’s secondary the entire week leading up to the game.

With that being said, Doyle is a different type of receiving threat than Eric Ebron. You hear the word “play-maker” a lot in the NFL. It’s no disrespect to Doyle’s game, but you probably wont see many flashy “play-making” catches from him. Instead he makes up for it in another crucial (if not just as important) area, and that’s creating separation to help move the sticks.

We’ve seen countless, clutch third down conversions stemming from Luck-Doyle connections. Most of these seem to come from short-to-intermediate routes. Having Doyle raises this offense’s ceiling even higher, and I think that’ll be the case if he can stay healthy.

This is especially true when you pair him with Ebron who is a downfield “play-making” receiving threat. Doyle’s hip and kidney injuries only gave us a handful of games to see them on the field together last year. Hopefully this season gives us more than a glimpse of them on the field together. And believe me they will line up on the field together. Prepare again to see several multiple tight end looks this season in Reich’s offense.

In hindsight, signing Eric Ebron seems like an absolute no-brainer. His 13 touchdown catches last year sent him to his first Pro Bowl. Chris Ballard inked him to a 2-year deal ($7.5M a year approximately) after being labeled a bust in Detroit. Expectations were high out of the gate after being picked 10th overall in the 2014 NFL draft.

His struggles in Detroit were headlined with drops; something that still pops up from time to time. Lions fans and execs couldn’t fathom that he was picked with Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Donald still available. Donald was just voted the No.1 player in the NFL in the most recent edition of the Top 100 players in the NFL.

While Ebron is far from being the best tight end in the NFL (let alone the best player like Donald), Ebron came in as the 66th best player in the league according to his peers. Best of all, it seems the former Tar Heel may have found his football home and according to him, he’s never been happier.

The 2018 season was a renaissance year thanks to an elite QB and a tight end friendly offense. Of course, it’s much easier to be happy when you’re being targeted and winning football games. The real test comes when those things aren’t happening. How will/would he respond to adversity?

After watching Amazon’s All or Nothing: the 2018 Carolina Panthers, we saw how Devin Funchess handled adversity in a contract year: not very well. With this being a contract year for Ebron as well, Ballard will keep a close eye on him to see if he fits in the long-term picture. Questions about his on-field play have almost silenced (with the exception of some drops and blocking skills), but Ballard’s been extremely tactful in building a strong locker room culture.

This same monitoring applies to any upcoming free-agent in a contract year including Funchess who signed a 1-year deal. Players like those two will be under the microscope; not only on the field, but off of it. Winning usually cures all and Ebron was a positive influence on the locker room so we can only hope for an encore.

This off-season, even Ebron himself acknowledged that he needs to improve as a blocker if he wants to see his maximum share of reps. But just as play-making isn’t Doyle strong suit, blocking isn’t Ebron’s. Even if it is a vital part of the position, this offense allows him to line up in more than just the line.

Last year, we saw him lining up in the slot frequently. He’s a match-up nightmare; plain and simple. He’s too fast for linebackers and too big for defensive backs to cover. Eric Ebron’s mismatch ability will keep defensive coordinators up at night figuring how to slow him down. My one recommendation for stopping him in the red-zone: do NOT play man coverage.

🗣 DON'T PLAY MAN COVERAGE AGAINST 85!@Ebron85 makes his #NFLTop100 debut.

🎥: @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/4GN4trakef

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) July 26, 2019