Dwayne Allen: Don't forget about Indy's tight ends

By foxsports
Published

Indianapolis tight end Dwayne Allen knows all about the wealth of talent the Colts have at wide receiver this season.

T.Y. Hilton. Andre Johnson. Donte Moncrief. Phillip Dorsett. Duron Carter. 

The list is long.

And with that in mind, Allen also knows that the tendency may be to try to get as many of those receivers on the field at the same time, perhaps at the expense of the Colts' two-tight end formations.

He'd like to avoid this, as having fewer tight ends on the field means fewer opportunities for him.

“I want to make sure that the two tight end sets stay a staple here in Indianapolis,” Allen said on Wednesday, according to Pro Football Talk. “Coach is going to do the best job, (offensive coordinator) Pep Hamilton that is, with putting the best group of guys out there that are going to allow us to score. If it’s three wide receivers and one tight, I’m working my tail off to make sure that I’m that one tight. Or hopefully it’s, again, three tights, one back, one wide receiver. But we’re putting a lot of money into that wide receiver room so I doubt that will happen.”

With both Allen and fellow tight end Coby Fleener entering contract years, his concern is understandable. Head coach Chuck Pagano said Allen doesn't need to worry about seeing the field.

“We’re not going to abandon the two tight end sets, three-tight-end stuff,” Pagano said.

While the amount of talent Indianapolis has brought together on offense may pose problems for Allen in terms of playing time, he understands why people are optimistic about the Colts' chances.

“I sometimes have to catch myself because I do, I get like the fans and ogle over Andre Johnson or Frank Gore” Allen said. “I’m just like, ‘Man, we’re going to kill it this year.’ Then I have to remember that there is a process and that process is we work on techniques and fundamentals this time of the year. We get to training camp, we put the pads on, see where the top guys are and then we build the team going from there. I have to respect the process this time of the year. I don’t have the privilege as the fans do of just jumping the gun and booking their tickets to Santa Clara.”

(h/t Pro Football Talk)

Photo credit: AJ Mas/AP