Warren went through his first few practices as a member of the Colts last weekend during rookie minicamp.

Larra Overton

Tyler Warren stepped off a charter bus at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center on Thursday and quickly began to assimilate among the rest of the Colts' rookie class.

With the brim of his Penn State ball cap tipped low and grazing his glasses, and with signature shoulder-length hair tucked underneath, the tight end slung a backpack over his shoulder and rolled a singular piece of luggage into the facility for the start of rookie minicamp. Surrounded by a swell of excitement from the rest of the rookies, Warren humbly deflected the additional attention drawn upon the player who the Colts selected with their first round pick.

However, when he stepped on the field Friday, it was evident he approached his first day on field as very much a veteran.

"I'm excited to be here and get back in the flow of football," Warren said after the first day of the team's two-day rookie mini camp. "Actually getting on the field and playing football after this long process where I was doing a lot of stuff that wasn't football. It was good to be out here with everybody and get back in the flow."

While many rookies are wide-eyed at the reality of their first NFL opportunity, the No. 14 overall pick was laser focused. Warren quickly displayed the same reliability and physicality that was evident in his Penn State career, highlighted by 153 receptions for 1,839 yards and 19 touchdowns.

"(He has) good movement skills," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. "Had some good catches, obviously a physical presence out there, but did some good things today."

Among those good things was a quick connection with quarterback Riley Leonard in the team's first seven-on-seven session Friday. While the time on field was limited to just an hour, there was no limiting Warren's display of athleticism, leaping at full extension for a few grabs and also showcasing the punishing running style that earned him the nickname "Truck" from Colts area scout Chad Henry.

Warren also earned the respect of his fellow rookies in the time they shared on field.

"Look, Tyler, he's a football player," Leonard said. "Like, he went out there yesterday and just very easily adapted he's a quarterback-friendly guy, catches, soft hands and things like that. Tyler Warren is like, you strap up those pads, that's another version of that dude. Some guys are just football players and he's definitely one of them."

Those exact characteristics are what caught the attention of Colts tight ends coach Tom Manning in the pre-draft process.

"You can see the character and attitude on tape," Manning said on The Last Word. "Sometimes, that's a hard thing to see, but his is so obvious."

In translating the tape to the practice field, Manning said rookie mini camp is the first step in the process of learning the Colts' offense as Warren will quickly transition to working with his offensive veterans over the final month of the 2025 offseason program, which will include OTA practices and a three-day minicamp.

"You gotta start with foundations, the fundamentals and the techniques of what is required to play in the base framework of our offense," Manning said. "And then two is the vision of Shane and Jim Bob on, okay, so where exactly and how do we utilize this kid to maximize his abilities."

The next step in fulfilling that much-anticipated vision is for Warren to get reps with his veteran teammates and begin carving out his role alongside a deep group of Colts skill position players.

"With a guy that is so versatile, I think those things get really interesting to see how you fit those within the framework of Josh Downs and (Michael) Pittman and (Alec) Pierce and AD (Adonai Mitchell) and all those guys," Manning said. "So I think putting all those together with also JT (Jonathan Taylor) and those guys back there, I think its going to be a really unique and fun opportunity."

It's an opportunity that Warren approaches with the excitement of a rookie fulfilling his dream, but also the no-nonsense work ethic that stood out to Colts coaches and scouts in the pre-draft process.

"They say you're never working if you're doing what you love, right?," Warren said. "That's what I've been doing my whole life so continuing to do that. Doing what I love and what I feel like I'm supposed to be doing. It's a lot of fun."