Chris Ballard sounds pretty bullish on the Colts tight end room

It is a position group with no in-house free agents, multiple draft picks invested in it, and some off-the-field issues that cannot be overlooked.

But Chris Ballard sounded quite optimistic about the Colts’ tight end room heading forward, even if it lacks a clear No. 1 option.

“I think their skillsets are kind of different,” the Colts GM says of the team’s tight ends. “Do we have an elite tight end, like a (Travis) Kelce? No. But what we have is a good room, with some pretty good players that all have a different skillset.”

In recent years, Ballard has made significant investments in draft picks at tight end position.

Jelani Woods was picked in the third round. Kylen Granson received a fourth-round draft pick. Will Mallory was picked in the fifth round. Drew Ogletree was drafted in the sixth round.

Mo Alie-Cox is the group’s most experienced member, and Ballard has long admired him. While Alie-Cox earns $5.4 million, Ballard continues to praise him publicly, despite the veteran tight end catching only 32 balls in 34 games over the last two years.

Woods is coming off hamstring injuries that kept him out for the whole 2023 season.

Woods, who was expected to be a breakout player in 2023, had his second NFL season end in training camp.

Nonetheless, the Colts continue to have high expectations for the big guy.

“Not having Jelani Woods, who we had big hopes for with him being hurt all year, this new staff doesn’t even know who he is,” Ballard explained at the Combine. “They haven’t had a chance to really work with him. And we think he has some upside.

“He really has a unique skillset because of his length and his ability to run and stretch the field. He’s really good when you are talking about the shallows, the seam routes, the dovers, the long crossers you can run with him. And he’s a big target for the quarterback so getting him back will be a big add.”

Last season, no one emerged as the clear leader in the tight end depth chart.

Yes, as Ballard said, numerous different tight ends stepped up at various stages during the season, but Granson topping the group with 30 catches is not typical of No. 1 tight ends (Granson finished 31st among all NFL tight ends in catches last year).

When it came to Ogletree’s off-the-field concerns, Ballard kept quiet about them. Domestic violence changes for Ogletree were dismissed this week, but he remains on the commissioner’s exempt list, and the Colts will have to make a decision on him later.

Still, Ballard likes the sum of the pieces in a tight end room where he has spent significant draft picks, especially given the positional worth of TE.

“I think in totality it ended up being a productive room for us,” the GM says. “When you add up what everyone did together it ended up being productive room. We don’t necessarily have a (George) Kittle or a (Travis) Kelce but we have really good players in that they all have a little bit different skillset in what they can do.”

Of course, is Georgia tight end Brock Bowers someone Ballard would consider handing his room a Kittle or a Kelce?

Or is Ballard satisfied with what he has already put in tight, hoping Woods stays healthy in 2024 to demonstrate more of his potential?