All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. This edition will look at third-year tight end Tyler Warren.
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 256 pounds
Hometown: Mechanicsville, Virginia
Before Penn State: Along with being an All-State baseball player and four-time All-Region selection in basketball, Warren captained the football team in three of his four seasons at Atlee High School. He had a successful career at Atlee, three times earning all-region honors and twice making all-state.
Warren played quarterback in high school, which is far different from his current position at Penn State. A duel threat, Warren threw for 1,149 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior and also rushed for 677 yards and 10 scores that season.
ESPN rated Warren as a four-star recruit and Virginia’s No. 7 Class of 2020 player. Rivals and 247Sports had him as a three-star. He committed to Penn State the day before the Fourth of July in 2019.
2020: Warren played in two of Penn State’s nine games in a pandemic-shortened season, making his college debut against Iowa at Beaver Stadium Nov. 21.
2021: Warren, along with Theo Johnson and Brenton Strange, received playing time at tight end for Penn State.
Warren appeared in 11 of Penn State’s 13 games, catching five passes for 61 yards and scoring his first touchdown– a rushing score– against Auburn Sept. 18.
Warren later had his first touchdown catch against Michigan Nov. 13.
2022: Warren played in 12 of Penn State’s 13 games, starting three. He ended the year with 123 yards and three touchdowns on 10 catches. Perhaps the highlight of his season was when he caught a career-long 38-yard touchdown pass in Penn State’s White Out win over Minnesota, the longest catch of his career.
Where he stands: Even with Brenton Strange now in the NFL, there’s still plenty of competition in Penn State’s TE room. Theo Johnson is back, as is Khalil Dinkins, who some, including James Franklin himself, see as a breakout candidate. Penn State also has former blue-chip recruit Jerry Cross back for year two after being unable to show much of what he could do as a freshman due to injury, as well as true freshmen in Andrew Rappleyea and Joey Schlaffer. Even with the large crowd of tight ends, Warren is one of the most experienced in the room, so there’s no reason to think he won’t get a solid amount of playing time.
A quote by Warren: “I think a lot of it was actually when people saw some of the basketball tape (you can check out his senior basketball highlights above). That’s when I started getting more of the interest for the tight end position. Virginia Tech is a great school, but I just wanted to be able to see all of the options were when that happened.” Warren to Lions247 on his change to tight end ahead of the 2020 season.
A quote about Warren: “I’m really impressed with Tyler. Obviously, he just got in the meetings since he just graduated from high school or whatever the NCAA allowed him to come in, but he just got in. I know he’s really impressed me with the amount he’s known on the offense. I saw videos of him in the winter dunking and playing basketball, and I think he’s a really athletic guy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play football other than his Hudl film in person, but he looks like a great kid and a great football player. So I’m excited to get to work with him and mentor him.” — Former Penn State and current Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth to reporters on Warren ahead of the 2020 season.
