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Indianapolis Colts Need Production From Dwayne Allen In 2016

By Garrett Hagan

Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) and tight end Dwayne Allen (83) talk before the game against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) and tight end Dwayne Allen (83) talk before the game against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Indianapolis Colts re-signed tight end Dwayne Allen this past offseason to a four-year deal. Allen will need to have a productive season to prove to the Colts that they’re getting their money’s worth.

Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen signed a four-year, 29.4-million-dollar contract back in March at the start of the free agency period. The significance of the re-signing was that it ensured that Allen would be the team’s tight end moving forward, as opposed to Coby Fleener — whom signed with the New Orleans Saints on a five-year deal worth $36-million, via Spotrac.

The move to retain Allen over Fleener came as a surprise to many mostly due to the fact that Fleener had the more productive season in 2015 between the two tight ends.

Looking deep into things however, the decision for Allen to be the tight end of the future for the Colts doesn’t appear to be as questionable as it initially was.

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During his four-year tenure with the Colts, Fleener more often than not was beaten on the 50-50 balls and was a liability in the blocking game. Allen on the other hand, proved his worth as a reliable blocker and showed no struggle with catching the football.

Perhaps one of Fleener’s biggest issues — unlike Allen — was that time and time again would he drop a pass that was catchable. As stated earlier, he struggled mightily to win those 50-50 battles to come up with a catch against an opposing defense.

While General Manager Ryan Grigson may have made the right decision by retaining Allen, it is now up to the former Clemson tight end to prove to Grigson and the rest of the Colts that they’re getting their money’s worth.

Allen saw a very productive 2014 season in which he caught 29 passes for 395 yards and eight touchdowns. While these aren’t the most eye-popping numbers, he showed the Colts just how productive and versatile that he can be in the passing game when mostly healthy.

The lack of production for Allen this past season could also be attributed to the Colts going through three different starting quarterbacks not including Andrew Luck. Allen caught just 16 passes on 29 targets for a mere 109 yards, as well as a single touchdown in 13 games.

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With offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski having a full season to work with the Colts’ offense as well as Luck hopefully remaining healthy throughout the entirety of the season, it wouldn’t be wrong to expect a highly productive season from Allen in 2016.

He’ll need to have just as good of a year as he did in 2014 if he wants to live up to his rather-large contract.

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