2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Penn State TE Tyler Warren

All my scouting notes on the strengths, concerns, usage/role, skill set summary, NFL comparison and grade/projection for Penn State TE Tyler Warren

Penn State TE Tyler Warren

Height: 6-5 1/2
Weight: 256
Arm Length: 31 3/4
Hand Size: 9 1/2 inches
Birthdate: 5/24/02 (23 year-old rookie)
Production: 56 games, 153 catches, 1,839 yards, 25 TDs (6 rushing)
Injuries: None
Games Watched: USC, Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame

Notes

Having a 17-catch, 200-yard game (against USC) without running more than a couple real routes or having to create separation against man coverage one time is pretty crazy. USC’s lack of acknowledgement of Warren’s skill set was pretty appalling, allowing him to run free and collect as many touches as Penn State wanted him to. Warren didn’t run many real routes or have to beat many defenders 1v1, but his YAC ability and toughness were on full display, forcing five missed tackles and picking up 145 yards after the catch.

Ohio State defended him much differently. Defenders made it a point to re-route Warren in his release or at the top of the route, and it was a defensive priority to cap him wherever he aligned. I thought he fought through it admirably and physically was up for the challenge, but his opportunities were limited as a result. In some ways that showed his value, as Ohio State’s focused attention on shutting him down made it clear how important it was to their defense to take him away.

To understand Warren is a prospect is to understand how he was used at Penn State. This is not a profile I have seen with any other tight end prospect I’ve ever scouted. Warren was heavily targeted in the screen game and in the quick game, while rarely running many real routes. He lined up all over the offense, including quite a bit at quarterback, where he took direct snaps and ran the ball 26 times for four touchdowns.

Warren was a targets/catches merchant in this scheme, force fed the ball every conceivable way Penn State could get it to him. That could be fun to watch on Saturdays, but thinking about how it translates to Sundays is a totally different process of evaluation.

Currently, Warren is all over the place as a route runner, with very little attention to critical details and basically no nuance in his route breaks to separate from man coverage. Combine that with technique that needs to be built from the ground up as a run blocker, and you can see why there should be plenty of concern with a 23-year old, Taysom Hill-like college tight end who must find a way to adapt his jack-of-all-trades skill set to a cerebral and detailed position in the NFL.

Having said that, Warren has the physical and mental makeup of someone who finds a way to make it work. His rugged brand of football shows up in the trenches, where he’s tenacious as an in-line blocker despite how far away he is from being ideal technically and mentally. Warren has the frame and demeanor for big boy football, which shows up most frequently when the ball is in his hands. He’ll demolish tacklers in the open field, running through the chest of defenders like few tight ends we’ve ever seen in college ball. Warren’s 19 forced missed tackles last year were far more than the rest of the tight ends in the class, other than Harold Fannin.

Warren’s ball skills also stand out. He rarely dropped the football in 2024 after struggling in this area in 2022 and 2023 (granted, small sample sizes thanks to minimal targets), and tight windows catches are all over his tape. I don’t think he’s a springy, above-the-rim athlete, but he can certainly track and rip the ball away in contested catch situations. There is a swagger to his play style that is endearing, even if there are questions about how much of an edge that will give him against better competition.

Warren has a lot of cherry-on-top skills, but if he can’t improve on his weaknesses, getting on the field will be tricky in the NFL. The Penn State product has the size, strength, intensity and enough athletic ability to project as a do-everything tight end, but because he hasn’t developed into that type of player by age 23, it will take some faith to believe he can get there. More than any other tight end in the class, Warren needs whatever team that drafts him to buy into him as a playmaker and offensive creator, rather than asking him to fit directly into traditional team concepts right away.

Are teams going to be willing to do that? If they do, will Warren be enough of a needle mover with the ball in his hands to be worth the commitment? How fast can he become an impactful blocker at the NFL level? If that doesn’t happen, what situations/personnel groupings present the best opportunity to get Warren on the field early in his career?

Warren is absolutely one of the most fascinating prospects in the class. I could absolutely see a future where he carves his own unique path to success at the tight end position. Ultimately, that may need to be the case if he can’t find a way to fill more traditional roles in the NFL.

For really detailed discourse and more thoughts on Tyler Warren, please check out this recent episode of The Read Optional podcast (subscribe - it’s cheap!). I think football junkies will really enjoy the discussion on how he’ll translate to the NFL.

Grade/Projection

I’m very interested in Tyler Warren’s pro day coming up in a week, but for now I have a second round grade on the big tight end. Admittedly, that feels like a bit of a cop out, because he should probably be seen as more of a boom or bust prospect. I just think his boom won’t be top-10-tight-end-in-the-NFL good, and I’m betting against him busting. He’s got too much dog in him.