Young Colts Cornerstones Reflect On Their Time Spent In Central Indiana

The Indianapolis Colts are counting on two of their youngest players for the foreseeable future.

Second-year tight end Tyler Warren has quickly become a focal point of head coach Shane Steichen's Colts offense, while third-year defensive end Laiatu Latu is expected to take the next step in his development in 2026.

Regardless of whether the Colts' regime that drafted them is still around after the upcoming season, these two players are viewed as eventual franchise cornerstones, so long as their development remains at the upward trajectory it's currently at.

During a one-on-one interview on the Indianapolis Colts' team podcast, The Colts Show, host JJ Stankevitz asked both Warren and Latu about their experiences living in Central Indiana so far.

Given that it's most likely that the Colts will exercise each's fifth-year option, and subsequently do everything in their power to retain them for the long run, it's interesting to hear them reflect on their time in the Indy area thus far.

Tyler Warren

Tyler Warren has never been one for theatrics or attention. He typically shies away from social media bits and isn't big on media availability, but he certainly appreciates the genuine intentions that seek out his opinions. The Colts' rookie phenom from 2025 is poised to continue what he started, but he'd be remiss to not point out that he's already started to feel at home in Indiana.

"I think kind of just the quality of living, I guess, is a good way to put it. I'd never been to Indiana or Indianapolis before this, and I wasn't sure what it looked like, but there's a lot of different places," Warren explained.

"You got Carmel if you want more of a, you know, not downtown Indie vibe but more of a cit,y and then Zionsville is a little more spaced out and still you know everyone's really nice. The support you get and just kind of the the friendly faces you see around Indiana has been been awesome and I'm starting to really feel like I'm at home here."

Tyler Warren has come to appreciate the well-documented Hoosier Hospitality throughout his calendar year in Indiana, and has even gone as far as to say Central Indiana feels like home. After spending most of his life in Virginia and then Pennsylvania, the Colts' second-year tight end is no longer feeling homesick after just one year spent in Indiana.

Laiatu Latu

Before he was drafted 15th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, defensive end Laiatu Latu had exclusively lived on the West Coast. This drastic change of lifestyle from beach boy to farmboy was going to inevitably be shell-shocking, but Latu has slowly but surely began to discover the Indy area's hidden gems.

"Turkey Run State Park - I actually appreciate that a lot," Latu said. "You don't think that's out here and it's just an hour away. It's a state park where there's a bunch of trails to go hiking and stuff like that. Some are rugged, some are not. And it's just a place to go out there, you know, get away from people or the city."

"It does," Latu agreed once Stakevitz said that Turkey Run State Park feels farther away than it is. "I mean, there's certain parts of it that like you feel like you're in a different world. It's lit. Yeah, it was dope out there. I took some of my buddies this past two weekends ago and yeah, it was lit."

Sign Up For the Colts Daily Digest - OnSI’s Indianapolis Colts Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google