Penn State Sports Magazine
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6 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T ight end Tyler Warren accounted for a significant chunk of Penn State's statistical production on offense last year when he won the Mackey Award and firmly established himself as a first-round NFL Draft pick. We're stating the obvious there. What's less obvious is how the Nit- tany Lions will replace Warren. James Franklin was asked that question at Big Ten Media Days in July, and it came up again at the start of preseason camp in August. Based on his response, it ap- pears the plan is not as complicated as some might have thought. Whether it works or not is another matter, but un- less lightning strikes twice, more vari- ety will be needed this fall. "What we hope to do is to spread that ball around," Franklin said. "In a lot of ways, I think it makes us more difficult to defend when there are more guys on the field that we think can im- pact the game at any moment." The list of playmakers in Penn State's offense begins with senior running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. After becoming the first PSU duo to ever rush for more than 1,000 yards apiece in a single season, the two running backs are both within reach of Evan Royster's career rushing record of 3,932 yards. Second-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki will make sure they are both fed early and often on game day. "From a historical standpoint at the running back position, [Penn State has had] a ton of really good players," Franklin said. "It's amazing to me that both Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen have a chance to be the all-time leading rushers in Penn State history, one and two, and they've been sharing carries their entire career. Obviously, they're going to play a big role in [replacing Warren's productivity]." The Lions also hope that their re- tooled receivers room can be a bigger part of the equation this year, and hopes are high that redshirt senior Khalil Dinkins is sitting on a breakout season as the likely leader of the tight ends room. He'll get help from sopho- mores Luke Reynolds and Andrew Rappleyea, the latter having returned to action after suffering a season-end- ing injury in last year's opener at West Virginia. Penn State will look to spread the workload around more equitably than it did a year ago when Warren was the team's most dependable pass catcher by a wide margin. "We've had as much production out of our tight ends room as anybody in the country," Franklin said. "Khalil Dinkins is a guy who not a whole lot of people are talking about, but I think should be. Andrew Rappleyea was in position to play a bunch last year and then had a season-ending injury, and then there's Luke Reynolds. They're three guys who we think will be very productive in the tight ends room. Our tight ends room has been as good as anybody in the country the last five years." Franklin also cited the receiver corps, which includes three se- nior transfers in Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross and Trebor Peña. Hudson and Peña proved them- selves at USC and Syracuse, re- spectively. And while Ross comes to PSU from a Group of Five school (Troy), he shined against Iowa last year, pulling in 5 catches for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns and also scoring on a 77-yard punt return. "I've got a lot of respect for the University of Iowa and how they play defense and special teams," Franklin said. "Being able to watch Troy and this young man have a lot of success [was impressive]." It all sounds good on paper and in the media room. But now the plan has to work on game day. With senior quarterback Drew Al- lar leading the charge under Kotelnicki for the second season in a row, there is a strong reason to believe everything will work out. How exactly it will do so, however, will not be revealed until late August, at the earliest, and in totality, probably not until Oregon visits Bea- ver Stadium on Sept. 27 for this year's White Out game. "We're going to play to our strengths," Franklin said in August. "If our wideouts are our best unit, we'll be in 11 personnel. If our tight ends are our best unit, we'll be in 12 personnel. If our running backs are our best unit, we'll be in 20 personnel. They're not just competing with guys at their posi- tion. They're competing with who's going to be that 11th player to put on the field, the third wide receiver, the second tight end or the second running back. "We'll do a little bit of all that, but it's important that we figure out what our identity is going to be and what puts us in the best position to be suc- cessful." ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM To Replace Tyler Warren, PSU Will Need A Team Effort THE LAST WORD Running back Nicholas Singleton is within reach of Penn State's career rushing record, as is his backfield mate Kaytron Allen. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS