Penn State tight end Tyler Warren is starting to build a compelling Heisman Trophy case

The Heisman Trophy has often been reserved, not just for the best quarterback in college football, but in many cases, simply for the quarterback of the best team in college football. The award has gone to a quarterback 20 out of the 24 times it has been awarded since the year 2000. Yet this season, without a bonafide No. 1 QB prospect and with no statistically dominant passers emerging, Boise State running back and Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter have dominated the Heisman conversation. 

Jeanty is having a statistically absurd season, with 1,248 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground in six games, and he’s sat out the second half twice in blowout wins. Jeanty could carry the Broncos to the Group of Five spot in the 12-team CFP. Hunter is a two-way star like we’ve never seen in the sport, playing nearly every snap of offense and defense for Deion Sanders at Colorado. Well, on Saturday in Week 7, Tyler Warren entered his name onto the list of unconventional Heisman Trophy candidates with a historic performance. 

Warren’s 17 catches in Penn State’s 33-30 overtime win over USC at the LA Coliseum tied the record for the most single-game receptions by a tight end in FBS history. His 224 receiving yards were the second most by any player in program history and the most ever by a Big Ten tight end. The performance earned him AP Player of the Week.

Warren was a former high school quarterback, a fact so overused on broadcasts it’s attempting to enter Matthew Stafford/Clayton Kershaw high school teammates' territory. But, that’s because offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki continues to use him there, and frankly everywhere on his offense. The former high school quarterback added a completed pass for nine yards, a rush for four, and a touchdown grab as the center. That’s right, like an intramural flag football all-star, Warren snapped the ball to backup quarterback Beau Pribula and ran to the end zone as Pribula threw back to Drew Allar on the boundary, who then found Warren for a touchdown. Even with all the trickery, it wasn’t an easy catch to make. 

For the season, Warren has 40 catches for 513 yards and four touchdowns, has run for 38 yards and a score on five attempts, and has completed both of his pass attempts for 26 yards and a touchdown. Kotelnicki’s usage of his 6-foot-6 261-pound senior is certainly gimmicky, but in a lot of ways, it’s also necessary. 

The Nittany Lions came into the season hoping that the oft-injured Harrison Wallace III or the underwhelming Ohio State transfer Julian Fleming would emerge as a clear WR1 for Drew Allar, but the former five-star quarterback has been forced to lean very heavily on his tight end in the passing game. Wallace was great in Week 1 but hasn’t played as well since, and aside from converting two fourth downs on the game-tying drive Saturday, Fleming has been an afterthought in Kotelnicki’s offense. 

Warren is the first name at the top of every opposing scouting report, even with Penn State’s excellent junior running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, Warren is the team’s best offensive player, so the coaching staff is forced to get creative to make sure the ball gets into his hands, especially with the space to make something happen. 

Warren has been great on contested catch opportunities, coming down with four of his five chances, but he’s also elite after the catch, averaging 7.4 yards after the catch per reception, the ninth best of any FBS tight end and top 50 in the country among all pass catchers with at least 25 targets. By yards per route run, arguably the best efficiency metric to judge receivers, Warren is 15th in the country and second among tight ends. 

Once you layer the context of the Big Ten and the constant attention Warren sees onto his staggering numbers, you have easily the best tight end in the country, the favorite for the Mackey Award, and maybe even a player worthy of a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. 

No, Warren isn’t going to win the Heisman, only four wide receivers have ever won the award, Johnny Rodgers, Tim Brown, Desmond Howard, and DeVonta Smith, and no tight end has ever taken home that kind of individual hardware, but why couldn’t a player so obviously dominant and uniquely versatile earn the recognition as a finalist. Only 14 tight ends have ever finished in the top 10 for Heisman Trophy voting and just three have finished in the top four, which would earn Warren a plane ticket, Bill McColl (Stanford, 1951), Ted Kwalick (Penn State, 1968), and Ken McAfee (Notre Dame, 1977). McAfee is also the most recent top 10 finisher. 

Heisman voters love players like Warren. Playing multiple positions, or both sides of the ball catches the attention of voters. Jabrill Peppers finished 5th in Heisman voting in 2016 mostly because he carried the ball 27 times for 167 yards and three touchdowns, mostly in meaningless games. In Michigan’s two losses that year, to Iowa and Ohio State, Peppers carried the ball a combined six times for 15 yards. He wasn’t exactly the two-way star that Travis Hunter is, but the illusion was enough. 

Warren has that with his snaps at quarterback, but after throwing a pass on the road against USC in a game that Penn State trailed nearly the entire way, that’s meaningful, and it could point to more opportunities down the road. 

On his merit as a tight end alone, Warren is worthy of being considered one of the best players in college football, but imagine if he threw a touchdown in a win over Ohio State, the voters couldn’t resist that Heisman Trophy buzz. Penn State hasn’t had a Heisman Trophy winner since John Cappelletti in 1972 and hasn’t produced a finalist since Larry Johnson in 2002.

The sportsbooks, however, don't agree with Warren's Heisman candidacy. His Heisman Trophy odds are not listed at FanDuel or DraftKings while Drew Allar is +3000 at both.