Will the Penn State tight ends be more involved against Delaware?

One of the odd stat lines from the West Virginia game is that the Penn State tight ends were held with only one reception. During the offseason, many around the Penn State football program had high expectations for this position group. But after a batted down pass, a drop, and a quarterback sack, Theo Johnson did not secure a catch, and Tyler Warren only caught one ball. That doesn’t mean they didn’t impact the game in other ways such as pass blocking and leadership. On Tuesday afternoon, James Franklin spoke to the media and gave us an in-depth look at the game plan.

Will the Penn State tight ends be more involved against Delaware?

It goes without saying that Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren are key to the Penn State offense this season. But they were unable to get heavily involved in the passing game against West Virginia. James Franklin provided some context around this on Tuesday.

Franklin said, “You know it’s interesting because as a coaching staff, if you look at our notes on Sunday and Monday it’s how do we get the ball to Theo [Johnson] and Tyler [Warren]. But the reality is I think our production on Saturday shows that we want to spread the ball around. I mean nine people touched the ball. But what we’re not going to do is we’re not just going to force the ball to somebody if they’re not open.”

It did feel like West Virginia had a game plan to try and limit the tight ends as much as possible. But at the same time, other Penn State wide receivers were consistently able to get open. Drew Allar found them in key moments of the game. That doesn’t mean Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren wouldn’t play a major role this fall.

Theo Johnson and Tyler Warren should have a big role this weekend

Although both Penn State tight ends were unable to get heavily involved in the first game, expect that to change against Deleware. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them both get early targets in this game. James Franklin spoke about what they have earned heading into this season.

Franklin said, “…but I can guarantee you we go into saying you know, Theo and Tyler specifically those two guys have shown and earned the right to be a big part of our game plan.”

Penn State will need both tight ends to come up with big-time plays as the season goes on.

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