Ex-QB developing into all-around tight end at Penn State
Oct. 12—Tyler Warren came to Penn State as a project of sorts.
A solid enough prospect at quarterback in his Virginia high school days that Virginia Tech offered him a scholarship to play the position there, Warren knew his days slinging passes and running read options were finished if he wound up in Happy Valley.
Penn State viewed him more as a tight end.
A good evaluation for him, perhaps, as arguably he became one of the best in the Big Ten.
The longtime backup has emerged from the shadows of one of Penn State's deepest positions, racking up 14 catches for 115 yards, both numbers that rank behind only junior wideout KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Warren's four touchdowns lead the team.
Head coach James Franklin has praised Warren's effort as a blocker, not to mention his overall development as a complete tight end since joining the program in 2020. But Warren insists that didn't come easy, or quickly.
"There's more that goes into the stuff you see at tight end than the outside eye sees," Warren said. "For me, it was probably a year before I felt like I was a confident tight end, and that only came with the blocking and the route running. I always felt like I had a pretty good knack for catching the ball, but there was always all this other stuff I was going to have to do."
He did plenty of it out of the spotlight, too.
Longtime Nittany Lions starter Brenton Strange wound up being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of April's NFL Draft, and his top backup, Theo Johnson, came to Penn State as a four-star recruit and one of the top-rated high school tight ends in his recruiting class.
Warren didn't have Strange's elite size, or Johnson's pedigree when he arrived at Penn State. But, he carved out a niche alongside them, he said, by being a complementary piece in an offense that has used two-tight-end sets 16 percent more than the average team did in 2022, according to Sports Info Solutions.
"We've been playing with each other for four years now," Warren said. "It's just kind of knowing what we're both thinking without really having to ask. I think that's something that's really hard to explain, but we've been doing it in practice every day. (Johnson) is an all-around tight end, and I think we both kind of can do a little bit of everything. So having us both out there has been a big help for both of us, and the team."
Not that giving up his quarterbacking past has been easy.
Warren said he still feels able to give quarterback Drew Allar some pointers on the position if needed, but he insists that advice gets more sparse the further away he gets from his time under center, the more he develops into the player he went to Penn State to be.
"It's really just about taking care of my body the best I can, since availability is the best ability," Warren said. "I've really enjoyed this, so I'm focused on being the best tight end I can be, making sure the unit is the best it can be and being the best I can be within the offense."
Contact the writer: dcollins@scrantontimes.com; 570-348-9125; @DonnieCollinsTT and @PennStateTT on X
