Listen Live

INDIANAPOLIS – A renaissance man who watches film of Jack Doyle?

No wonder the Colts fell in love with Kylen Granson.

Entering the 2021 NFL Draft, the Colts had a need at tight end, and for a player with Granson’s skillset.

“We are very excited about Kylen and the dimensions he brings,” Frank Reich said after the Colts took him No. 127 overall. “When you watch the tape, you see he is explosive. He has explosive speed, he has quickness, foot and body quickness. He’s also dynamic with the football in his hand as a tight end, which that can be a great element for our offense.

“We like to think we know what we’re doing when we’re using that position, but I think he’ll complement the other guys well. Very versatile, we can put him in the backfield. This is a highly intelligent player. That room is a very productive room and they need to complement each other and I think he adds an important piece to our offense.”

Back when Granson was drafted in the 4th round by the Colts, he explained what his conversations were like with Reich leading into the draft.

“I know he was really excited,” Granson said of Reich. “He acknowledged that I was an intelligent guy coming from SMU and Rice. Tight ends, you have to be renaissance men. You have to be smart, so that along with my package as far as my athleticism and being able to be a big playmaker, I feel like that was the perfect sell to him.”

It’s not often you hear an NFL player describe himself as a ‘renaissance man’ but Granson has some Reich-type confidence.

Even though Granson is a much different tight end than Doyle, the college wideout (at Rice) who grew into a tight end (at SMU) wanted to see some of his film.

“I like the way he moves as a tight end,” Granson says of Doyle. “I actually watched a lot of his tape.

“He has good hands and he’s able to create separation. Granted, he’s not the same skillset as me, but he still gets down the field and he’s able to make catches, and he’s also a good blocking tight end as well.”

In Indy, Granson will be the team’s third tight end (behind Jack Doyle and Mo Alie-Cox). But given Granson’s propensity to make plays down the field—he averaged 16.1 yards per catch in his last two years of college along with catching 14 touchdowns—he’s going to have a role in Reich’s offense.

Granson fully expects to play all over special teams, too.

Offensively, Reich is likely to move Granson around a bit, and that won’t be foreign to the 6-1, 241-pound tight end.

“I’ve really done it all except play quarterback at SMU,” Granson says of being moved around as an h-back, split out wide and lining up in the slot.

As long as Granson catches the football like he did at the Senior Bowl, this new ingredient to the Indy offense is something Reich will want to use.

Leave a Reply