Penn State is forever known as “Linebacker U,” but the tight ends of the last 10 years are right up there with some of the best in college football.
Tyler Warren is the latest that is rated on the high end of the best tight ends eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft. He put up his best effort of any of the past great tight ends in Saturday’s 34-27 win over Bowling Green.
Warren had 146 yards on eight catches to lead the Penn State’s receiving for the day. The 146 yards is a record for a Penn State tight end.
“I think he’s super consistent,” PSU quarterback Drew Allar said. “I don’t think he gets the recognition he deserves in the run game, and how big of a physical blocker he is. His playmaking ability is off the charts. He was in a groove today. Coach K (OC Andy Kotelnicki) was dialing it up, and he was open.”
Warren’s huge day came after backup tight end Andrew Rappleyea was unavailable for Saturday with what PSU coach James Franklin said was a very recent injury.
“Tyler Warren was the guy today that got a bunch of opportunities and made the most of them,” Franklin said. “His play count went up because we didn’t have Rap available. Last week everybody was talking about Trey (Wallace). That’s kind of just how things are going to go.”
On a day when the Penn State defense struggled heavily in the first half, it was the offense that kept PSU afloat.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence right now,” Warren said. “We’re trusting (Kotelnicki). I think that’s where it all starts. I think we all really trust each other.”
Warren hosted Allar when he took his official visit to State College, and Allar said the two have had a great relationship ever since that day.
“We’ve had a really good summer and a good fall camp,” Allar said. “He’s playing really well right now, and we have to continue that the rest of the season.”
And there is a lot of season left to be played, starting with the last non-conference game against Kent State in two weeks. But first, Warren is looking forward to a little bit of down time with the first of two bye weeks next weekend.
“We’ll just look at the last few games — what I did good, what I did bad, what I need to work on,” Warren said. “We should just try to stay in shape. It will be good to get the time off. But for us on offense, it will be about staying the course.”
