Penn State Football: excluding any QB or offensive lineman, who are the most important players in 2022?

The tight ends

Brenton Strange, Theo Johnson, and Tyler Warren have been clumped together the entire offseason. When you talk about one, you usually talk about all three.

One of the common themes that all of the best offenses of the James Franklin era have had in common have been outstanding tight end play, among other things of course. Not surprisingly, the four highest scoring offenses of the Franklin era were also the winningest seasons: 2016-2019. Mike Gesicki and Pat Freiermuth were key pieces of each of those offenses – Gesicki in 2016 and 2017, and Freiermuth in 2018 and 2019.

Last season, Penn State Football averaged just 23.9 points per game, their lowest since 2015. The play of the quarterbacks and the offensive line was the primary culprit, but the tight end unit was far from being as productive as some of their predecessors, which did the offense no favors.

The Nittany Lions’ trio of tight ends combined for just 499 yards on 44 catches, including five total touchdowns in 2021. Not great, and they’ll need to step up for the Nittany Lions to have success this season.

If Penn State’s offense gets back to scoring 30+ points per game in 2022, the tight end unit will have to play an important role in helping to get them there.