INDIANAPOLIS -- Eric Ebron is the talkative one of the group. He's having a Pro Bowl season while making everybody in Detroit wonder why he wasn't this effective his first four seasons.

There's Jack Doyle, who made Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener expendable with his reliable, less-than-flashy style of play. There are the two former college basketball players, Erik Swoope and Mo Alie-Cox. And you can't forget Ryan Hewitt, a former teammate of Andrew Luck's at Stanford.

There are no headliners such as Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz at tight end for the Indianapolis Colts. But what those five players have given the team is not only its best pass-catching group on the roster but also arguably the best group of tight ends in the NFL.

"It's up there, absolutely," said offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni of the group. "We knew coming into this year, based off of the OTAs and training camp, that we were pretty special at that group."

Sirianni didn't want to brag too much, but the numbers show it. They lead NFL tight ends in touchdowns, with 15 (three teams are tied for second place with eight), and are second in the league in receptions, with 70 (Philadelphia has 98, including 75 by Ertz). The 2011 New England Patriots have the record for touchdowns by tight ends in a season, with 24, including 17 by Gronkowski.

"You could see pretty quickly they were very athletic, smart players, instinctive players. [They had] length, speed and [were] good route runners," Colts head coach Frank Reich said. "So I think it's played out like we thought it would."

It was no secret that the tight end position would be a big part of Reich's offense coming from Philadelphia with Ertz the past two seasons. The thought of having a special group of players at that position became evident during offseason workouts. One of the reasons the Colts' group has worked so well together is their different playing styles.

"We have such a deep group that everyone brings something different to the table," said Doyle, the longest tenured of the group. "That makes it work so well. There are other groups in the NFL that have a lot of good tight ends, but what I think makes ours ... so effective is that everyone brings something different, and Frank is dialing up and putting guys in the position to be successful, and Andrew is finding us."

Each player has had a significant role at different points of the season due to injuries and matchups.

Ebron, who was known for his drops while in Detroit, has essentially been a hybrid receiver and a significant red zone target for Luck. Ebron's nine touchdowns lead all tight ends and are one off the overall league lead in TD receptions. He's also three off the franchise record for touchdowns at the position.

"They don't call me '7-11' for nothing, I'm always open," Ebron said after his three-touchdown performance against Jacksonville, which included one TD on a handoff.

Doyle has been the most consistent tight end the Colts have had and one of the quarterback's favorite targets over the past three seasons. However, a hip injury cost him five games this season.

That created more opportunities for Swoope, Alie-Cox and Hewitt, a blue-collar, blocking tight end.

Think about a point guard leading the fast break and throwing an alley-oop to a big man for a dunk. That's how it has been for Luck with Swoope and Alie-Cox, who played basketball at the University of Miami and VCU, respectively. Alie-Cox had possibly the catch of the season when he went up and snagged a touchdown pass one-handed against Oakland in Week 8. Sirianni liked it so much that he had the Colts get a picture of the catch for him. Luck said Alie-Cox "swallowed the ball," and it "truly was some type of gravitational pull."

"Maybe one characteristic you see with basketball guys is they just have a spatial awareness of where the ball is in the air," Colts tight ends coach Tom Manning said. "I think that is a pretty natural thing with Mo. He has played above the rim for a long time. I think just having the ability to judge the ball maybe comes a little bit more naturally [for them] than you would think."

What makes this a dynamic group is Reich and his staff can use them in so many ways, allowing everybody to get their snaps. Doyle and Hewitt are basically fullbacks at times. Ebron dominated the Jaguars in the first half Sunday with his three touchdowns, but then he had fewer snaps in the second half because the Colts wanted to run the ball more, which meant more playing time for Doyle.

"You have to stop them," receiver T.Y. Hilton said. "They all bring something different to the table. They're all athletic. When they're in the game, it's a mismatch. You can't cover every one of them with your backers and your safeties."

The Colts wouldn't have it any other way.