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James Franklin: Versatile TE Tyler Warren 'a blue collar guy' in Penn State offense

Stephen Samraby: Steve Samra11/01/24SamraSource
Tyler Warren
Oct 12, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions tight end Tyler Warren (44) runs by USC Trojans safety Akili Arnold (0) in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

James Franklin recognizes how special Tyler Warren has become within the new-look Penn State offense throughout the 2024 campaign.

The tight end has become one of the most dynamic players in college football this season, and that’s a testament to his athletic ability, standing at 6-foot-6, weighing-in at 261 pounds. He’s thrown, caught and rushed for touchdowns this season, and Franklin waxed poetic about him to Pat McAfee on Friday afternoon.

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“Tyler, you’ll get a chance to spend some time with him. He’s said, literally, fourteen words in five years at Penn State. He’s a blue collar guy,” Franklin told the namesake on The Pat McAfee Show. “He was, actually when I, you know, when we first started recruiting him, he was committed to Virginia Tech as a quarterback, and I think that speaks to the type of player he is.

“What I mean by that is, our offensive coordinator is doing a heck of a job in being really creative, but you better have a player that can do those types of things. He can take a snap under center. He could do the cadence. He can throw the ball, he can run the ball. When you’ve got a smart player, that’s also athletic enough to do those things, that’s when you can really take advantage.”

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Alas, Warren’s versatility has been a game-changer, and the fun isn’t expected to stop anytime soon. If Penn State wants to make a run in 2024, they’re going to need their tight end to keep it up over the next couple of weeks, beginning with this week’s clash against Ohio State.

“Obviously we’ve been having a lot of fun,” Warren said, when discussing the versatility of Andy Kotelnicki’s Penn State offense on “The Triple Option” podcast Wednesday. “And I think Coach K has brought a new energy to this offense and kind of what he does. It looks like a bunch of crazy stuff to the outside, but really it’s just 11 guys. 

“We each have a job on each play, and we can move around and do it in a lot of different ways. But I think that’s kind of what makes it work is our preparation and knowing we have our one job on that play and being able to move on from it. Whatever we can do in the offense to help it out is kind of how we approach it.”

James Franklin, Tyler Warren and the Nittany Lions will be hoping to protect home-field advantage and take the next step towards becoming one of the top teams in college football this weekend against the Buckeyes. The game is slated to start at Noon ET on Saturday, and you can bet it’ll have the unwavering attention of the college football world in Week 10.

On3’s Andy Backstrom contributed to this article.