Gabe Burkle is nearing his Penn State debut and he'll need to carve out his role quickly

Matt Campbell spoke to the media on Tuesday ahead of Penn State’s trip to Philadelphia to play Temple in Week 2 and shared an optimistic update on two injured Nittany Lions who missed their 45-0 Week 1 win over Marshall: linebacker Alex Tatsch and tight end Gabe Burkle. 

Both are recovering from significant offseason injuries and, according to Campbell, both will "certainly be available" to make their season debuts at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday. Tatsch will ease his way into a talented linebacker room, but the bigger question is how Burkle will be deployed. 

Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser uses plenty of two- and three-tight end sets in his offense, so there are snaps to be had. Burkle, whom Campbell has called the best blocking tight end in college football, will likely take over the 29 snaps Finn Furmanek played in Week 1. However, with Benjamin Brahmer and Andrew Rappleyea both showing clear improvement as blockers on Saturday, it’s not clear what the pecking order will be when all three are healthy. 

Benjamin Brahmer is becoming more than just an oversized receiver

Benjamin Brahmer saw the second-most targets on last year’s Iowa State offense, which Campbell and Mouser largely imported to Happy Valley this offseason. A huge red zone threat at 6-foot-7, he led the team with six touchdown catches and was a clear mismatch problem. However, Brahmer has had glaring deficiencies in the run game throughout his career that have held him back from becoming one of the most difference-making players at the position in college football. 

Brahmer doesn’t necessarily need to be an elite blocker, but Penn State does need him to be more than just an oversized slot receiver to keep one of their most explosive pass catchers on the field nearly every down. In Week 1, granted, against a Sun Belt opponent in Marshall, he cleared that bar. 

And Rappleyea, the most well-rounded of Penn State’s tight end trio, did look like a difference-making blocker:

Brahmer had more leg drive as an in-line blocker and anchored much better to absorb contact and not get knocked back. In short, he looked stronger. Plus, the one pass he hauled in was an eight-yard touchdown, immediately reinforcing his reputation as a red zone cheat code. 

Andrew Rappleyea is Penn State’s best tight end

Rappleyea was even better. He had a huge blitz pickup on Koby Howard’s catch-and-run touchdown and led the way for Brett Eskildsen on his trip to the end zone after catching a jailbreak screen from Rocco Becht. 

He may not be as dynamic a pass-catcher as Brahmer, but his blocking more than closes the gap. So, where does that leave Burkle? In slightly unfamiliar territory as TE3, though as a blocking specialist in Mouser’s offense, that role still comes with a fairly significant workload. 

The determining factor for whether Burkle plays 30 snaps a game or 15, though, is how explosive he looks as a pass-catcher off his injury. The blocking should be there, but is he the player who caught 26 passes for 302 yards and a touchdown last season, or is he a diminished version who will struggle to separate in the Big Ten? 

If he’s the latter, he could become a bit of a run-tell for defenses. It’s good to have different skill sets at the position, so long as both players can do the other thing sufficiently. Brahmer seems to be reaching that level as a blocker. Will Burkle be there as a pass-catcher, or will he need time? That’s worth monitoring whenever he returns, either in Week 2 or Week 3.

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