Tyler Warren earns major national award, becomes first Mackey winner in Penn State history

Tyler Warren may not be heading to New York this weekend as a Heisman Trophy finalist, but the Nittany Lions star tight end isn’t ending the season empty-handed. On Thursday night, Warren was named the 2024 John Mackey Award winner as the nation’s top tight end. He is the first player in Penn State football history to earn the honor.

Selected during The Home Depot College Football Awards, Warren edged Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin Jr. and Michigan’s Colston Loveland for the award. Warren has 88 receptions for 1,062 yards and six touchdowns so far during his record-breaking senior season. A multifaceted threat for the Nittany Lions offense, he also has rushed for 191 yards and four scores and has 35 passing yards with one touchdown this year.

“He’s a beast, and I think the point is that everybody goes into it saying you got to stop Tyler Warren,” James Franklin said after the Nittany Lions’ regular-season finale against Maryland. “Everybody’s defensive game plan is we can’t allow 44 to impact the game, just like for us, it was [Terrapins receiver] Tai Felton. We went into this saying Tai Felton was going to make some plays; he’s a really good player, but we got to limit his impact.

© Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

“Everybody said that every single week with Tyler Warren; no one’s done it. They ought to bring the Mackey Award tonight, put it on a private jet, fly it to Tyler Warren, give it to him on Sunday, and then he should get an invitation to New York. 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.”

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Warren is just the second tight end in Penn State football history to be named as a finalist for the Mackey, joining Mike Gesicki in 2017. Earlier this season, Warren surpassed Gesicki for all-time touchdown receptions from a Nittany Lions tight end with 17.

Ironically, while Warren was picked as the top tight end in college football, it was Fannin Jr. who earned Walter Camp first-team All-American honors during the awards show. To be considered a consensus All-American, Warren will need to collect first-team honors on at least three of the following lists: Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Sporting News, and the Football Writers Association of America.

Warren was not the only Nittany Lion to earn national recognition on Thursday night. Center Nick Dawkins became the first player in Penn State football history to win the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy, the sport’s premier community service award. On the defensive side of the ball, edge rusher Abdul Carter was named a first-team All-American by Walter Camp. Carter becomes the program’s 103rd first-team All-American.

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