Tyler Warren was the power source of Penn State’s passing game last season. The tight end single-handedly accounted for 1,451 of the team’s 6,883 total yards, simultaneously becoming quarterback Drew Allar’s most reliable weapon and one of the most important players in college football. Without Warren, Penn State football likely doesn’t make the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Allar, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and the Nittany Lions are in the early stages of understanding their offense without Warren. In reality, replacing Warren’s production will extend beyond just one player or position group. As Penn State searches for its new offensive identity this spring, coach James Franklin has a program-record 104 receptions to replace.
Tyler Warren’s departure drives competition
Franklin called spring practice an “exciting time” for Penn State, given the position opportunities and competitions. Offensively, Penn State has the luxury of returning a dominant run game, most of its offensive line and a third-year starting quarterback.
Yet the passing game has a whole lot of vacancies to fill and questions to answer. Without Warren and its top two receivers from last season, that pass game is getting a full reset as it replaces 171 total receptions.
“If I’m a wide receiver or a tight end, I’m excited because Tyler Warren had [104] catches last year. Those catches have to go somewhere,” Franklin said before spring practice began. “The wide receivers need to understand, they’re not just competing with the wide receivers. … The tight ends are doing the same thing. They’re competing with the other tight ends, but they’re also competing with the other rooms, the receiver room, the running backs, for touches.”
The tight end room will be young. Khalil Dinkins is the lone veteran, while sophomore Luke Reynolds, redshirt sophomore Andrew Rappleyea and newcomer Andrew Olesh are inexperienced to varying degrees. As for the wide receivers, transfer additions Devonte Ross and Kyron Hudson both enter their fourth years in college football but must prove themselves in Happy Valley.
The beauty of such turnover is that any of those six players, or young receivers like Tyseer Denmark or Peter Gonzalez, could have strong springs, step into starting roles and blossom as targets for Allar. April is about assessing who is ready.
“[We need] guys that everybody in the league [is] concerned about and scared of. That’s going to be important for our development,” Franklin said. “I think we’re going to have to do that through development of the wide receivers. We’re going to have to do that through the development of our scheme. We’re going to have to do that through the development of our quarterbacks.”
Receivers Ross, Hudson impressing early
Now that the transfer receivers have acclimated, Franklin offered early assessments of Ross and Hudson, both of whom are expected to lead the wide receiver room.
“In terms of their attitude, in terms of their work ethic, in terms of their demeanor, in terms of their fit in our locker room, all those things have been really good,” Franklin said. “It’s been interesting to watch those guys grow. They’ve been awesome, and I know they’ve been a hit with their teammates.”
Franklin often has preached adding transfers that fit both culturally and on the field. With Hudson, he was attracted to the former USC receiver’s success in the Big Ten, praise from former coaches and a few highlight-reel catches. In particular, Franklin was impressed with Ross’ 142-yard, three-touchdown game against Iowa last season.
“I have a ton of respect for the University of Iowa’s football program, what [Kirk] Ferentz has been able to do there specifically on defense and special teams,” Franklin said. “For [Ross] to do it against that type of opponent on that stage gave you a lot of confidence that that could translate to us. That game carried a lot of weight with us.”
A theme of Penn State’s 2024 season was understanding when it wanted to get the football to Warren, its best offensive player, vs. sticking to the game plan. Now, there’s less clarity about who those go-to targets will be. Perhaps it’s one of the transfer wide receivers, a young tight end or even a spring portal addition. No matter who asserts themselves this spring, the players vs. plays mentality will stick with Franklin.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure that we’re getting our best players the ball. And I think the other thing that we’re going to have to do, is we’re gonna have to make sure we have enough of those people,” Franklin said. “You got two proven commodities in the backfield … Who’s going to be the guys that step up in the tight end room? Who’s going to be the guys that step up in the wide receiver room? And that’s going to be very, very important for the development of our offense, for the development of our team, and for us to take another step this year.”
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