Colts Tight Ends Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen Face Defining Year in 2015

It took a minute for Indianapolis Colts fans to recover from shock when general manager Ryan Grigson drafted Dwayne Allen during the third round of the 2012 draft.

Grigson had just spent the team's second-round pick on tight end Coby Fleener, and the Colts had a wide variety of holes to fill after they purged the roster of veterans from the Peyton Manning era. Tight end isn't exactly a high-impact position unless you have one of the two or three elite guys in the league. Drafting two in the early rounds? There was plenty of confusion.

But with the Colts' desire to run two-tight end sets and the talent that both Allen and Fleener possess, the move has worked out.

Though neither have broken out as stars just yet, they represent a core piece of the Colts offense, especially under offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. The two tight ends combined for 16 touchdowns in 2014 and became the first tight end teammates to each catch at least eight touchdowns, per Director of AFC Communications Jon Zimmer.

Certainly, the Colts still hope that one or both of the two tight ends can emerge as a star, but core offensive pieces is a decent enough return on investment.

Now, however, the Colts are approaching a crossroads. Both tight ends enter the final year of their rookie deal in 2015, and both have significant questions remaining. The Colts certainly want to keep both around, but it might not be financially feasible to keep both.

Consider the contract former Miami Dolphins tight end Charles Clay received this offseason, for example.

Now, Clay is a touch more established than Fleener and Allen, but if either has a strong season in 2014, reaching that level wouldn't be surprising.

So with the final year remaining, where does each player stand in Indianapolis, and what is most important for both of their 2015 campaigns?

Coby Fleener: Staying Consistent

Though criticized heavily by many due to high-profile drops and a collection of disappointing performances in fantasy football, the Colts' main receiving tight end has certain skills that made him a key part of Pep Hamilton's offense last season.

Fleener's size and speed combination is unique among NFL tight ends, and it showed with Hamilton's usage. Fleener led the league in deep targets (20 yards or more) among tight ends in 2014 and subsequently led the league in both deep receptions and yards among tight ends, per Pro Football Focus.

But it wasn't just a bulk of attempts for Fleener; his deep targets were fairly efficient as well.

Player	Team	Deep Tgts	Catches	Yards	Yards/Target
Coby Fleener	IND	18	9	291	16.17
Antonio Gates	SD	10	6	161	16.10
Jared Cook	SL	13	5	183	14.08
Delanie Walker	TEN	14	4	183	13.07
Luke Willson	SEA	11	3	128	11.64
Rob Gronkowski	NE	13	5	150	11.54
Zach Ertz	PHI	16	7	173	10.81
Jimmy Graham	NO	10	3	72	7.20
Jason Witten	DAL	10	2	59	5.90

The Colts also tried to use Fleener's size to their advantage in the red zone, where he received 13 targets, the third most on the team (and more than T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne or Dwayne Allen). At 6'6", Fleener was one of the few receivers whom Hamilton felt comfortable throwing jump balls and fades to in 2014.

But while Fleener's role was important for Indianapolis, he was very inconsistent in that role.

Those red-zone opportunities? Fleener had just the eighth-best catch rate in the red zone on the team, nearly 25 percent worse than Dwayne Allen's red-zone catch rate. Though eight touchdowns on the season is great, three drops on potential touchdowns and two poor routes or adjustments to the ball meant that Fleener really should have had 12 or 13 on the season.

In addition to two drops on deep passes (leading to a below-average deep-drop rate of 18.2 percent), Fleener had four other drops on the season and was 29th among 39 qualifying tight ends with a 10.53 drop rate, per Pro Football Focus.

Fleener has struggled with drops and contested catches throughout his career, leading to a low catch rate. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, Fleener caught just 55.4 percent of his targets in 2014, ranking 39th out of 49 tight ends (min. 30 targets).

Though Fleener raised his yards per catch to over 15 in 2014, making a low catch rate more acceptable, he still remained below average (as adjusted for yards per catch) over the last three seasons.

Pro-Football-Reference.com

Each of Fleener's three seasons have fallen below the line, as his inability to consistently get adequate separation creates more difficult situations, situations he struggles with.

He still gets numbers under Hamilton with Andrew Luck throwing him the ball, but he'll need to create more favorable situations for himself against man coverage, take advantage of accurate throws by Luck and hold on to the football in 2015.

The problem with Fleener isn't that he's a bad football player, it's that he has the potential to be a stellar receiving tight end, but he ends up looking mediocre because of the missed opportunities left on the field. Under Pep Hamilton, with Luck throwing the ball, Fleener could earn himself a huge contract in 2015.

But make no mistake, it would have to be earned. The inconsistencies of 2012-2014 won't cut it for a top tight end.

Dwayne Allen: A Glass Jaw

The Colts have seen far too many promising young players crash and burn because of injuries in the last 10 years.

Bob Sanders. Austin Collie. Marlin Jackson. Ben Ijalana. Donald Thomas.

This isn't a new phenomenon.

But man, oh, man, are they praying that is not Dwayne Allen's fate.

Don Wright/Associated Press

Allen was spectacular as a rookie, with dependable hands, stellar blocking and an insightful demeanor. Dropping just three passes as a rookie, according to Pro Football Focus, and finishing with a catch rate of 68.2 percent, Allen wasn't much of a deep threat, but he didn't need to be.

With Pro Football Focus' second-highest pass-block grade and highest run-block grade for a tight end, Allen finished second only to New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in the total grades that season.

Injuries awaited him in 2013, however, as Allen injured his hip in the Colts' Week 1 win over the Oakland Raiders (in which he caught a 20-yard touchdown). Needing surgery, Allen was forced to sit out for the remainder of the season.

Coming into 2014, it was clear Allen wasn't quite the player he seemed to be becoming back in 2012. But once the regular season started, he appeared to be assimilating well.

He wasn't a huge receiving threat, but he caught at least three passes in seven of the Colts' first nine games and caught a touchdown in seven of nine games as well. That included a 41-yard touchdown catch-and-run in Week 1 that was reminiscent of a similar play in his rookie year against the Detroit Lions.

But in the Colts' blowout loss to New England in Week 11, Allen was carted off the field early with an ankle injury. The high ankle sprain would keep Allen out for two more weeks, and he was never the same upon returning. Allen caught just three passes for the rest of the regular season, and his efficiency plummeted.

Remember that yards per catch vs. catch rate chart?

Let's go back to that, this time with Allen highlighted in yellow.

Pro-Football-Reference.com

Allen was right on line with his rookie year's efficiency before the injury, with a catch rate of about three or four percent higher than the average when considering his 14.38 yards-per-reception average. But after the injury, his stats plummeted, as he caught just three of 10 targets for 21 yards on the back half of the season.

Allen also added two drops, which killed his drop rate and brought him down to 35th out of 39 qualifying tight ends, per Pro Football Focus.

Now, Allen did recover in the playoffs a bit, catching an astounding 85 percent of his targets, albeit for less than nine yards per reception, including one touchdown.

If Allen can stay healthy in 2015, he could earn himself a nice pay day. Even with his injury woes, Allen finished the season as Football Outsiders' sixth-most efficient tight end by DVOA, and his eight touchdowns trailed only Julius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham among tight ends. Prior to his ankle injury, Allen was 13th among tight ends in yards per route run as well.

Especially effective as a red-zone target, Allen's ability to block effectively made defenses susceptible to play-action passes when Allen was on the line, accounting for three of Allen's red-zone touchdowns. Allen also was dependable to catch passes in traffic, a useful skill in the congested red zone.

Rank	Player	Target	Catches	Catch%	TD	TD%
1	Julius Thomas	15	13	86.7%	9	60.0%
2	Dwayne Allen	9	7	77.8%	5	55.6%
3	Rob Gronkowski	17	11	64.7%	9	52.9%
4	Antonio Gates	19	10	52.6%	9	47.4%
5	Mychal Rivera	9	7	77.8%	4	44.4%
6	Jimmy Graham	21	12	57.1%	9	42.9%
7	Travis Kelce	13	10	76.9%	5	38.5%
8	Jermaine Gresham	13	9	69.2%	5	38.5%
9	Coby Fleener	13	7	53.8%	5	38.5%
10	Jason Witten	9	4	44.4%	3	33.3%
11	Greg Olsen	18	10	55.6%	5	27.8%
12	Martellus Bennett	22	12	54.5%	6	27.3%
13	Larry Donnell	22	11	50.0%	6	27.3%
14	Owen Daniels	15	9	60.0%	4	26.7%
15	Delanie Walker	12	4	33.3%	3	25.0%

Few tight ends boasted Allen's red-zone prowess in 2014, and he may regress in touchdowns scored in 2015.

But make no mistake, if Allen is healthy, he's a weapon in both passing and blocking, and that's something the Colts will value, especially in Pep Hamilton's schemes. Hamilton used Allen often as a tackle in the Colts' unbalanced line schemes.

Allen's ability to block defensive linemen, whether it was at the end of the line or on the move as a fullback or H-back allowed Hamilton much more creativity than he'd have with somebody like Fleener. It also allows the Colts to eschew having a fullback on the roster, giving them another spot for more critical positions.

Above all else, the Colts have valued versatility under Hamilton, and Allen may be the most unique, versatile tight end in the game outside of Rob Gronkowski.

Of course, that's assuming he's healthy.