If there is one thing we know here at Saturday Tradition, it is tight ends. After all, this site is the home of the Big Ten – and you can’t rely solely on a 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust when the B1G grow tight ends like Georgia grows peaches.

And while Brock Bowers also fully sprouted in the Peach State before splashing big in the NFL, the 2024 college football season has also seen the emergence of another big-bodied tight end who could well be next.

World, meet Penn State’s Tyler Warren.

Although it is virtually impossible to hide somebody 6-6 and 257 pounds, Warren could well be the sport’s best kept secret — and not just because he was an underrated 3-star prospect coming out of high school. The Nittany Lions’ senior leads his team with 92 receptions – over twice as many as wide receiver Harrison Wallace – and 1,095 yards (409 more than Wallace) and 6 touchdowns.

And if feeding Warren the ball through the air at a shockingly high rate isn’t enough, the tight end also has 24 carries for 197 yards and 4 touchdowns.

“I feel like being a tight end in general, you’re going to be able to do a little bit of everything,” Warren told told reporters. “I’ve done a little bit more than what a usual tight end does. But I enjoy doing that. Knowing I’m doing something to help the offense in whatever way that is, week to week, is something that I take pride in and what my goal is each week.”

The Nittany Lions (12-2) will need Warren at full bloom Tuesday night, of course, when No. 6 seed Penn State takes on No. 3 seed Boise State (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl – which is a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game. Penn State is favored by 11 points, via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Warren was an absolute machine against Southern Cal on Oct. 12, catching 17 passes from Drew Allar for 224 yards, tying the FBS record for most catches by a tight end in a game and posting the 2nd-most receiving yards in school history. Perhaps the wackiest play of the 2024 season came against the Trojans courtesy of Warren – who lined up as the center, snapped the ball to backup quarterback Beau Pribula, who lateraled it to Allar, who then found Warren in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown.

“It’s just a lot of different ways that we like to use him, which makes him difficult to defend,” Penn State coach James Franklin said during preparation last week for the Broncos. “Because as a defensive coordinator, you don’t know where he’s going to line up.

“His physical skills, his athletic skills, and his intelligence allows us to use him in a ton of different ways and combine all of those things we have done throughout his career and do it all in one year — and sometimes all in one game.”

Warren’s output, not to mention versatility, is the prime reason he earned this season’s Mackey Award – which is given annually to the nation’s top tight end – and was also named the B1G’s Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year and is a consensus All-American. In addition to the Mackey, Warren finished 7th in the Heisman Trophy balloting – becoming he highest-placing tight end since Notre Dame’s Ken MacAfee placed 3rd in the voting in 1977.

And while he earns comparisons to the NFL rookie star Bowers, Warren also is compared to Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro Travis Kelce. Incidentally, Warren also lined up more than once in 2024 at quarterback – going 3-for-6 for 25 yards out of the Wildcat formation with a 17-yard touchdown pass against Kent State.

Of course, lining up at quarterback isn’t much of an adjustment. Warren played quarterback throughout high school, twice earning All-State honors in Virginia.

“Tyler Warren is elite, and that’s not just my opinion,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson told reporters. “I’m very positive he’s going to be probably the first tight end taken off the board in the NFL Draft.

“We’ve got to know where (No.) 44 is at all times. And even when you’ve got him covered, he’s the type of athlete that he’s still not covered, because of how tall he is, how athletic he is. He can go up and get those jump balls anytime he wants.”

For anyone south of State College looking for a bit of good news, top-ranked Oregon was able to stifle Warren when the Ducks and Nittany Lions squared off in the Big Ten title game on Dec. 7. Oregon relied on 6-5 safety Kingston Lopa on multiple 3rd-down situations, a strategy that kept Warren out of the end zone in the Ducks’ 45-37 victory.

Lopa was only so successful, alas, as Warren still snared 7 catches for 84 yards against the Ducks – both statistics leading Penn State receiving corps. And you better believe that Warren, with the bright lights of the Playoffs shining on him in the desert, will continue to bring the good stuff against Boise State on New Year’s Eve.

“He’s done it week in and week out. He’s a big-time player, and he’s doing it when all eyes are on him and he’s the focus of the game plan,” Franklin said. “He’s a special guy.”