Tyler Warren has been described as "the ultimate 'whatever, wherever' player" in the upcoming draft. In fact, the Penn State tight end made that clear in several different answers he provided during his NFL Combine news conference at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this week.
"I think I can do a lot of different things," Warren said. "That's what's kind of fun about the tight end position — you get to do a lot of different things within an offense. That's what I try to focus on.
"So whatever the offense needs from week to week is what I'll do. And that might change from game to game, so I think I'm a guy that can do a lot of different things and fill a lot of different holes."
Warren at 6-6 and 261 can create a lot of holes with his blocking, a part of his game that he knows is an essential part of his position. But his receiving skills are what made a huge splash when the Nittany Lions turned him loose in their 2024 offense.
He racked up 104 receptions in his 16 games, most by a receiver in the Big Ten and second-most in the FBS behind only Harold Fannin's 117 catches for Bowling Green. Fannin is one of the TEs, along with Michigan's Colston Loveland and Gunnar Helm of Texas, who trail Warren in virtually all analysts' predraft rankings at the position for the late-April draft.
Warren also racked up 1,233 receiving yards, seventh in the nation, and a good chunk of that came after the catch — he had a healthy YAC average of 5.2 yards after each cast last season. And he set a number of career TE receiving marks for the Nittany Lions on his way to Indy this week.
A lot of his success has much to do with the coaching he received growing up in Mechanicsville, VA, not just from his high school coaches but from his father, Terry, a former four-year safety at Richmond.
"I wear 44 because when I was younger, my dad put on John Riggins film and said, 'This is how I want you to run the ball,' " he said. "Another guy I saw this summer was Jeremy Shockey and the way he played. His mentality running the ball is something I kind of liked and tried to do a little of this year."
Riggins started his Hall of Fame NFL career as No. 44 at fullback for the Jets, while Shockey began his career as the Giants' brash, aggressive, confident tight end from 2002-07.
Warren can be all those things as well, although any brashness appears to have been polished away from his classwork earning two degrees at PSU, in advertising/public relations and telecommunications. And that wouldn't be a bad base to take to either team in the New York City market. The Jets may have to replace Tyler Conklin, who can become an unrestricted free agent, and the Giants might like to work Warren into their TE room, which already includes a former Nittany Lion in Theo Johnson, drafted in last year's fourth round.
Yet both the Green &White, drafting No. 7 overall, and Big Blue, sitting at No. 3, have other needs and may or may not be able to select Warren, who's been pegged anywhere from No. 5 overall to No. 14 and a few spots in between.
But Warren has a good idea he'll earn his keep wherever he ends up. He's been described as playing with a swagger and a "best player on the field" mentality. And that attitude may have flagged only once, at the start of his Peen State career.
"When I started playing football, it was something that I wanted to do, kind of what my goal was," he said. "Then getting to college, I honestly wasn't too sure my first year, I had a little bit of growth to do in the physical aspect of it. I guess in the middle of college, the coaches sat me down and said I would have an opportunity and what that would look like.
"I wasn't sure at the time, I still had a few more years. But I'd say that's when I realized I might have a chance to extend my career and have the opportunity to play in the NFL."
Warren will only increase his opportunity for some TE-hungry team through his combine work this week.
