Colts Worked Out a Trio of Tight Ends on Monday—Including Veteran Jordan Matthews

According to NFL Insider Aaron Wilson, the Indianapolis Colts worked out a trio of tight ends on Monday: Daniel Helm, Michael Jacobson, and Jordan Matthews:

Helm was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019. The 6’4”, 255 pound tight end has also spent time with the San Francisco 49ers (twice), Kansas City Chiefs, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers organizations. Helm appeared in 5 games for the 49ers in 2020. He was 3rd-Team All-ACC with Duke back in 2018.

Meanwhile, Michael Jacobson is a 6’7”, 244 pound converted former Iowa State basketball player who previously spent time with the Seattle Seahawks organization this past offseason and was part of their early season practice squad.

Of course, the Colts have some familiarity with that, as tight end Mo Alie-Cox, an ex-hoopster for VCU, just caught two touchdowns for Indy this past weekend against the Miami Dolphins and continues to blossom at the position.

Lastly, and easily the biggest name on this list is veteran Jordan Matthews, who is another player making a tight end conversion—only this time, from proven NFL wide receiver. Now 29 years old, the former 2014 second round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles is looking to rejuvenate his once promising career at a new position.

Having posted consecutive 850+ receiving yards and 8 touchdown reception seasons to start his pro career (and with 274 career receptions and 3,288 receiving yards respectively), Matthews now at a listed 6’3”, 235 pounds, is hoping that by bulking up, he can make an impact again at the NFL level—where his lack of elite speed/separation is less of a deficiency.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Colts bringing in these three tight ends is a precursor to one of the team’s current three tight ends: Alie-Cox, Jack Doyle, or Kylen Granson being revealed as injured—as was the case last week, when Indy hosted a number of cornerbacks and then placed veteran T.J. Carrie on injured reserve shortly thereafter.

However, it could just be the Colts kicking the tires at the position—especially on some intriguing recent tight end conversions.