Last season, Tyler Warren became the first tight end since Ken MacAfee in 1977 to finish top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting. That doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a tremendously talented player, of course, but it also requires an incredibly creative offensive play-caller to get the ball into his hands.
First-year Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki had Warren catching passes, throwing passes, playing wildcat quarterback, and even snapping the ball. Kotelnicki did everything to set Warren up for a huge year, and he finished with 1,233 receiving yards, eight receiving touchdowns, 218 rushing yards, and four more scores on the ground.
As former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge explained on the NBC Broadcast of the Nittany Lions’ Week 5 matchup with the Ducks, that’s exactly what Will Stein wants to do with Kenyon Sadiq.
“Their offensive coordinator, Will Stein,” Blackledge said of the Oregon Ducks in the first quarter on Saturday night, “told me this week, he studied Andy Kotelnicki and what he did with Tyler Warren last year. He studied Todd Monken and what he did with Brock Bowers at Georgia because he has a versatile guy in Sadiq that can play a lot of different positions and do a lot of things for his offense.”
Sadiq had a highlight reel play in the Ducks’ 45-37 Big Ten Championship Game win over Penn State in Indianapolis last season, hurdling a Penn State defensive back on a long catch-and-run touchdown. It was one of his two touchdowns in the game. However, he finished with only 308 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns, an underwhelming statistical season considering his immense talent at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds.
Now, back for his junior year, Sadiq has become a focal point of Stein’s passing game. He became an even more important piece of the puzzle when No. 1 wide receiver Evan Stewart suffered a long-term injury in the offseason that has forced him to miss the entire year so far. True freshman wide receiver Dakorien Moore has been the No. 1 receiver, but with 155 yards and three scores, Sadiq has had a hot start.
The Nittany Lions will hope that Stein doesn't break out too much from Kotelnicki's playbook on Saturday night after Sadiq's big game in Indy last year.